Newly diagnosed

[Carrigggirl]

Hello, I am newly diagnosed and will be going for a consult with a rheumatoid arthritis doctor. I will listen to what she has to say but at this point I am going to decline medication.Im 65 years old, I excercise daily. Never had a fracture and on the service appear fitter than most 40 year olds. I immediatly went to a holistic pharmecy upon dxs and got supplements. One is a blend with Calcium and Vitamen D, plus other minerals, the other is Vitamen K2. Ive also started taking collagen. I want to go in to my consult armed with information.

I need help interpreting my numbers.

Lumbar Spine -2.4

Left Hip - 1.4

I do not see a number for my left femur but the note says there is standard deviation from normal of 2.5, indicating osteoporosis.

So conclusion is osteoporosis in left femoral neck and osteopenia in lumbar spine.

Are these bad numbers? What else can I do?

Thank you.

[Pretsini]

Good to be prepared! I found that Calcium citrate is a bit more expensive but probably the better choice. Some of the pills are ridiculously large, though, like horse boll uses. I buy the smallest size and cut it in half, taking it with food. Kidney and other issues have been reported from taking too much calcium in pill form, so do try to get most of your calcium from food, using the pills only to supplement. Will the doctor order other tests, such as a blood test, or rely solely on one test?

[Carrigggirl in reply to Pretsini]

Thank you. Im definitly trying to get alot of calcium through food as well. My ob/ gyn ordered blood tests after scan and everything was normal. I Have an appointment with RA doctor Tuesday. It should be interesting.

[Fruitandnutcase]

I’d be very happy to have your numbers looks like you’ve probably got time to do something about it with weight bearing exercise and a really good diet.

I don’t take much calcium, I try to get my calcium from food - lots of dark green leafy veg - this might help you. I top up with a little calcium - I use calcium that comes from seaweed - it has other trace minerals in it . The calcium carbonate I was prescribed really didn’t agree with me. Like you I take vitamin D3 anything between 1000- 3000iu but I test regularly to see what my levels are. I also take K3-Mk7 Natto, boron 3mg, Omega 3 250mg DHA algae oil,

I really like the Margaret Martin melioguide.com/about/margar... website for exercises and general discussion - she covers balance etc and she seems very sensible. I do Pilates three times a week with a very special teacher who is also a physical therapist and who specialises in people with osteoporosis but you need to be very careful about choosing a teacher.

Good that you are having blood tests - if your osteoporosis is caused by hyperparathyroidism you will need to have that fixed first.

[Met00]

Wow, those t-scores are nothing to worry about. Your left femur is -2.5, which is just on the cusp of osteoporosis, but considering there can be quite a large margin of error, shouldn't be used alone to diagnose osteoporosis. As you've not fractures, it's likely your fracture risk is low, so I would ask for that, as they shouldn't prescribe medication on the basis of t-scores alone.

[Carrigggirl]

Thank you all for responding. I wasnt sure about the numbers but it seemed to me they werent too bad. I feel better about advocating for myself about no meds.

[Bubba3xt]

Hi carri. I would just like to add one mineral that I think is important, magnesium. I take it at night with melatonin and one unexpected plus is I sleep through the night which I haven't done for years. Mine is only 100 mg but I do eat nuts, greens and avocados almost every day so I'm hoping that's enough. Here's an interesting article about it.

universityhealthnews.com/da...

[Carrigggirl]

Bubba, I looked at my supplement and it includes 600mgs of magnesium. I go to a pharmecy that componds their own supplements and they made one specifically for bone health.

[Carrigggirl]

Just an update. I went for my consult today, prepared to argue about taking medication and to my delight, the Dr. was all for me going with supplements and weight bearing. As a matter of fact she said there is some evidence out there indication weight bearing can reverse osteoporosis back to osteopenia. She couldnt find the podcast but will send it to me when she finds it. I will share.

[Texanna]

Adding prunes to your diet can help bone health, too. medicalnewstoday.com/articl...