Bone Mineral Density Scan--Results

[sylviayasgur]

hi bina,
i'm so sorry to hear about this. would you believe that joey, a male, has osteoporosis?!
his vitamin D levels were found to be very low and when he went for a bone density test they discovered his osteoporosis.
his sister got him in to see one of the most reputable osteo doctors in ny and she told him to start taking calcium, and prescribed actonel as well. he will be starting the actonel next month.
she was not thrilled about forteo and did not want to go that route.
naturally, we are all concerned, but she seems to be in close touch with joey and feels that this is controllable.
my mom takes actonel and although it can be such a pain to fit it into your day, it is once a month and you do what you have to do.
hope this works out for you.
feel well,
sylvia

 

[Bina]

Update:
Today seemed like a good day to start the Actonel pill.
I woke up a bit early, managed to swallow the pill with a goodly amount of water, and sat like a lump on the bed watching TV for 30 minutes until I could take the next pill (Metoprolol) and then wait another 20 minutes or so before getting my hot chocolate. Good thing hubby was at work, cuz I just may have gotten cranky if anybody came near me. LOL
So far, so good.....gotta get those chewy calcium supps tomorrow.

 

[djacq]

Bina,

Glad you are doing better with the meds. I still think that being on Coumadin had affected my bones, 2 fractures and osteopenia but two fractures moves you to the Osteoporosis side. Does it have to do with not taking inenough Vit K? Who knows but I do think there should be a study of all these funky things that show up post AVR!

I couldn't take any oral osteo meds. Severe headaches.

I am into my 6th month of Forteo daily injections. It is a committment, expensive ($75.00 co pay a month) but easy to remember and administer. I still get headaches but they are rare and no changes in my INR.

I am anxious to see next year when have my bone density, if I have rebuilt any bone.

I hope the meds continue to work for you.


Best of luck with it.

 

[njean]

Update:
Today seemed like a good day to start the Actonel pill.
I woke up a bit early, managed to swallow the pill with a goodly amount of water, and sat like a lump on the bed watching TV for 30 minutes until I could take the next pill (Metoprolol) and then wait another 20 minutes or so before getting my hot chocolate. Good thing hubby was at work, cuz I just may have gotten cranky if anybody came near me. LOL
So far, so good.....gotta get those chewy calcium supps tomorrow.

Well my friend, I too was given an Rx for my osteoporosis, but for Boniva. This is actually the 2nd time my PCP has prescribed it & I've yet to comply!

He said that even though there wasn't a significant change from my bone scan a year ago, he still insists that I need to start on this drug because not only does being menopausal contribute to bone loss but, coumadin also tends to deplete bone density over the years! And he said, "I don't think you want to risk falling & breaking a hip or something that would require surgery in your present condition!!! DRATS!!!!!!

So....it looks like I'll be sitting like a "bump on a log" for 30 minutes too as soon as I have this Rx filled!! .....not in any big hurry though!!

 

[Lynlw]

Bina,

Glad you are doing better with the meds. I still think that being on Coumadin had affected my bones, 2 fractures and osteopenia but two fractures moves you to the Osteoporosis side. Does it have to do with not taking inenough Vit K? Who knows but I do think there should be a study of all these funky things that show up post AVR!

I couldn't take any oral osteo meds. Severe headaches.

I am into my 6th month of Forteo daily injections. It is a committment, expensive ($75.00 co pay a month) but easy to remember and administer. I still get headaches but they are rare and no changes in my INR.

I am anxious to see next year when have my bone density, if I have rebuilt any bone.

I hope the meds continue to work for you.


Best of luck with it.

There are a few studies on pubmed about bones and coumadin because of the role of vit K, but it is still pretty new, since they just recently realized what a large role Vit K plays in bone density. I first heard of it on my CHD list a couple years because alot of the ped card were having bone scans done on the kids that are on coumadin and there seemed to be problems with broken bones healing. At the time there weren't any published studies just Moms passing on what their docs were saying, but I noticed there are getting to be more studies showing up, of course not all of them are showing the same results,because that would just make life to easy

 

[Eva]

Good luck, deatr Bina. I just want to share that I tried Evista a while ago and it caused me elbow and knee joint pain. My GYN did not believe me and pushed me to stay on it...I did, but reached a point I gave up. After stopping it by about a week, my pain was gone!! My GYN said I was the first patient who had that side effect!!

Thanks for sharing this...I will be more steady in taking my calcium and vitamin D.

 

[TXGal]

Bina,
I did a search for this post.. I'm so sorry to hear about your test results! I'm going to take your advice and have the test ASAP.. especially since I went 30 years without breaking a bone and now have a broken wrist.. oh this is not fun!

 

[Bina]

I should post an update on my med since I'm usually the one to have horrible side effects.
Actonel tablet 35mg once weekly was prescribed and I take it on Thursday morning.
Surprise, surprise, no problems so far.... ...and i just took my 5th dose.
But I find that my heart will get a bit fast from the calcium supplements, so we'll see how that evolves.

 

[Guest]

I should post an update on my med since I'm usually the one to have horrible side effects.
Actonel tablet 35mg once weekly was prescribed and I take it on Thursday morning.
Surprise, surprise, no problems so far.... ...and i just took my 5th dose.
But I find that my heart will get a bit fast from the calcium supplements, so we'll see how that evolves.

Bina, I had digestive issues with Actonel. My digestive system is very sensitive, and the GI Doc said I'm also lactose intolerant. Actonel has lactose in it. I wish you the best of luck and hope Actonel works for you, but if it does not, Reclast is a good option. I'm considering it as well. I do not have osteoporosis yet, but I do have bone loss in my spine. I'm lazy with calcium supplements, I have them on hand, just not very good at taking them.

 

[Rebecca]

At 50 I was told that I have osteopenia. I have not done well taking calcium pills, even viactiv cacium. Last month I started taking adora calcium the gourmet way. It comes in milk chocolate and dark chocolate. It taste like real chocolate. Each chocolate is wrap in foil and is 500mg of calcium, 100iud Vitamin D, 40 mcg of Vitamin K and 30 calories. The bad thing is the cost is $7.99 for a bag of 30. I love milk and now every evening I have my chocolate. I start my morning off with tamoxifen, nifedipine, metoprolol and
diovan. Sometime during the day I need to take repliva (iron) on a empty stomach and then not eat for a few more hours. Most morning I have oatmeal and also eat Kellogg's fiber plus chewy bar (35% fiber). I have the book "Strong Women Stay Young", it is a good book. Last month one of the authors of "Age-Defying Fitness" was at the library and gave us some of tests that are in the book. I got the book at Barnes & Noble and it comes with a free thera-band that you send away for.

 

[Andrew'sMom]

Bina, Sorry to read about your new added problems. It's tough to have so much to deal with at one time. I hope you figure out a plan that works well for you. I was recently diagnosed (age 37) with osteopenia, due to Crohns disease. I am awaiting word from my doc on further testing (DEXA scan) to see a more detailed diagnosis of the condition of my bones!

 

[Cooker]

Sorry to read this ... you might want to think about quitting bronco-goat riding