I have had PMR for two years. I finally took
last Prednisolone tablet on 9 January and have been off them now for 10 days and feeling fine. I also stopped taking alendronic acid in November and omeprazole once I stopped my Prednisolone. Can I ask, if you have also stopped taking your steroids are you still continuing with the Vitamin D and also calcium. I feel I should take Vitamin D but perhaps not the calcium. I am 70 years old. Thank you in advance for any advice.
I’m still taking my VitD/Calcium supplement - 4 years after finishing Pred. My GP suggested I continued- and when J had a DEXA scan 2 years ago, although I have no issues, the report suggested I continue with it.
Thank you that is good. I will continue with them too.
I am still taking vitD and calcium nearly a year after stopping prednisolone. Rheumatologist did not suggest stopping it at my appointment in December
A lot will depend on your dietary intake - we need more anyway. And if you cut the calcium you almost certainly need to get vit D supplements. I don't take calcium for various reasons even though I am still on pred but I do take 4000 IU vit D
Unless you live in the tropics you'll need a Vitamin D supplement part of the year anyway. And as we all have to stay out of the sun and our skin gets less efficient at producing Vitamin D from the sun as we age, all the more reason.
At this point I always add, take Vitamin K2 (not K1) as well.It appears that people with good levels of Vitamin D and/or Vitamin K2 have a significantly higher survival rate if they get covid which signifies to me that they are important for our overall health and perhaps regulating our immune system also.
Funny I have just returned from hosp appt cons told me to continue with omeprazole for a couple of weeks after stopping pred. I would suggest keeping the calcium going also
I understand you ahve to taper the PPI or you get rebound acid production. Nothing like the pred taper of course, hence the couple of weeks.
Thank you everyone. I will keep taking the Vitamin D and Calcium until I can speak with my doctor.
Hi Trek2,As far as I am aware, there is no evidence that taking calcium alone makes a great difference to your bone health. Vitamin D does slightly increase bone density, but not hugely. Having a healthy mixed diet, with lots of weight bearing exercise outdoors is the right way of doing things (but is not wonderfully sociable in this climate).
Omeprazole decreases the risks of Prednisolone causing stomach ulcers. There will be a hangover peiod between stopping the Pred and regaining full stomach lining health, so it would probably be of some benefit to continue with Omeprazole for a couple of weeks after the Pred has finished.
Stay well
PPIs are a cause of bone thinning when used longterm (not recommended by the manufacturer btw, although doctors prescribe it that way) so it's good to taper off Omeprazole as quickly as possible once no longer needed.
Vit D is an essential for bone health because without it calcium cannot be absorbed properly in the first place. A healthy diet is essential - but you cannot get enough vit D through diet alone since very few foods contain it and it is very unusual to eat enough of them. You would need half apound of salmon a day or a couple of pounds of mushrooms with a dozen or more eggs. The exercise stimulates the bones to make new bone tissue - but they can't do it without calcium and vit D.
orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/stayi....
It’s actually the calcium I am not sure whether to continue as I have read reports it can cause heart and kidney problems. I do eat a varied diet. However I will take them for a few more months and then hopefully I can talk it through with my doctor.
The study that caused the furore in the media found that calcium alone taken by healthy younger women with no health conditions was associated with cardiac and renal problems. There was no identifiable parallel in women who were also taking vit D. And it was an observational dietary study - never entirely reliable.
Plus, however we look at it, we are not younger nor entirely healthy ...
on the contrary, the elderly have problems with calcium, I am an example. I am 66 years old and I cannot take calcium from pills because it automatically triggers my fibrillation. So I take care to take calcium 400-500 mg / day from food, it is enough for me!.
I don't see how THAT is "on the contrary" - it is a different factor. And not a universal one - I am older than you and calcium doesn't make my a/f worse. A G&T does ...
we are different, but the study that only young and healthy people have problems if they take calcium is totally wrong, not young people have problems but the elderly. If you have no problems it is not valid for others. Calcium hurts those with cardio problems..
You probably don't need a particularly high dose of calcium if you do decide to continue it. But Vitamin K2 is supposed to handle the side effects of calcium supplements by moving the calcium into the bones so it doesn't settle where not wanted and cause the problems you mention. Some of us get enough K2 in our diet but because of the way our animals are now raised in much of the world, probably especially but not limited to North America, many of us are now deficient in this vitamin. We need D to absorb calcium in the first place, but D doesn't direct it into the right place.
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