Calcium

I'm just going to admit defeat and start on a Bisphosphonate, probably Boniva. Prednisone is a nightmare for osteoporosis and I haven't even taken that much over the years. I fractured two ribs by just swinging a golf club, so obviously it's getting pretty bad.

Have you tried Calcium citrate? I think it's gentler on the gut and more easily absorbed.

I'm vegan and I have been eating a lot of vegan yogurt. Some are kinda gross, but the Silk soymilk yogurts are really good, particularly the vanilla flavor. I'm also able to eat greens and steamed broccoli, but it sounds like you don't do well with those. I've also been drinking orange juice fortified with calcium most days and plant-based milks are almost all fortified.

I have been taking a few different types of calcium and Vit. D. I did a lot of reading about which is the best to take. Calcium citrate and calcium carbonate are the two most widely studied and used the most in supplements and it seemed to me that both were equally absorbable. With the carbonate form, you need to take it after a meal to absorb it. There is also a type from algae, but it hasn't been studied much. I took the algae type for a month. Never had any issues with it. It was an Amazon brand, very affordable. I also have Deva Calcium and Vit. D. You have to take more of those pills than I had to with the Amazon algae ones, which is a little annoying. I just bought a bottle of Now calcium citrate and the pills are HUGE. I don't think I will buy those again.

Anyway, this probably isn't helpful if you can't take supplements, but thought I'd share anyway. It really is important you get at least 1,000-1,200 mg calcium per day (combined from supplements and food), so I hope you can figure out a way to do that.

Just curious, how many DEXA bone scans have you had done? Regaining bone mass takes a long time.... Also, how old are you?

Hi, Look into angstrom colloidal minerals. There is the Angstrom brand and others, but they are all considered angstrom because the term refers to the size besides being the name of that one company. They are absorbed quickly into the bloodstream without needing to go through the digestive process. I took them for quite a while when my gut was so messed up. I should probably take them again. They are spendy but they sell combinations that help keep the price lower over buying every mineral individually.

VanJordan said...
I'm 35 and male. Last time I was in remission, I regained 17% of my lumbar spine in 1 year from weight lifting and a good mineral protocol. My doctor was amazed. The problem is that I can only do that when my bowels are not in flare and I'm absorbing properly. Also I need to be off prednisone otherwise my bones just get worse. If I worked out that hard now, I would just ruin myself.

I don't know that I agree with the RDA of 1200mg calcium. In a lot of the osteoporosis focus groups, people say that magnesium, boron, and even strontium are more important to regaining bone density, and calcium can just be found in most standard diets.

I've done 3 DEXA scans. The first two showed osteoporsosos in the lumbar spine and hips. The third scan last summer showed 17% increase in density. But I've flared since then and been on prednisone for 4 months so far. So... I have definitely lost ground. If I can get back into remission again, I know I could heal my bones. But getting off pred has been challenging this time.

Thanks for the calcium supplement suggestions. Unfortunately I can't take any of those. If I took one of those calcium horse pills now I would be having BMs all day and night. My raw mucosa just can't handle all those minerals passing through. If only calcium were doable by injection!

I haven't researched those other minerals you mention, so I can't really comment on that. I do know Vitamin K is important to bone health, too. I was not getting much calcium in my diet the last couple years, but I'm vegan and wasn't paying attention to it.

That's great you were able to increase your bone mass so much. Gives me some hope for myself...