Osteoporosis and the menopause

[Beaaware]

Recently I had a dexa bone scan for a pain in left hip, scan showed below average bone loss in the right hip. Was advised to take calcium supplements for the rest of my life, plus magnesium & vit D. This is a silent disease, it was by chance that I had the scan, this scan should be part of a well woman check up at 50 many women fracture their hips later in life and only then discover they have osteoporosis.
So glad I had the scan. I take food state supplements from Cytoplan, rather than the bulked up variety from health shops. Has anyone else discovered boneloss at 50?

Please convince me you are not a troll trying to sell Cytoplan whatever it is.

Yes, I had a scan at aged 47-ish and it showed the same- very low in my hips and not quite so bad in my spine. This was 6 years before my menopause.

There are changes in the pipeline to have GPs more aware of screening and picking up breaks & risks etc in younger women.

I am suprised you had pain- pain is not usually an indication of bone loss.

I am glad you have got your diagnosis but the information you have been given is inadequate.

Calcium alone is simply not enough.

I hope you are a genuine poster and not simply selling Cytoplan- never heard of it.

You need to re-assess your situation and do more than take calcium. You need weight bearing exercise, the right diet and more scans ever 2 years.

Hi purplepeony,
Thankyou for your reply, the pain in the right hip comes and goes but on the scan it was normal no bone loss, it was by chance they noticed the opposite hip had bone loss.
I am just a consumer of Cytoplan, they sell food state supplements, suitable for vegans & vegetarians, I was told by a consultant that a lot of vitamins and minerals from health shops contain bulking agents and are therefore of no benefit for me personally, that is why I opted for food state supplements. I am interested to know why taking calcium is not enough, I was recommended to take 400mg a day by my GP, plus magnesium for absorption, other than this what other things should I be looking at taking?

Sorry to be so suspicous.

I am under a consultant for my bone density- he treats one of the Royal family and is an expert on menopause and osteoporosis.

I have also done a lot of research myself.

First, after menopause you should be consuming up to 1500 mgs calcium and half that amount of magnesium daily. You need to workout how much calcium you are getting through diet and how much you need to top up.

I take 800mgs aday of Osteocare which you can buy anywhere and contains Vit D as well but I also take additional Vit D when I remember and eat lots of oily fish ( 3x a week) and eggs daily.

In order to get the calcium into your bones and to build bone you need to exercise. You need weight bearing exercise such as fast walking, jogging, running, dancing, tennis etc etc. Not swimming or cycling. Exercise builds muscle, muscle produces a strain or pull on bone, and the bone responds by building more bone = stronger bone.

You should be doing resistance building exercises for your hips such as squats, lunges and hip extentions to work the adductor muscles. You should also be lifting weights for your wrists, arms and shoulders, and exercises for your back.

You can do this at home on the floor with free weights or at the gym.

I suggest you contact the National Osteoporosis Society for their pack of free info and they also do some booklets on diet etc which are quite cheap. there is also a lot of info online.

I have had 3 bone scan in total over 7 years and the last one showed my bones were a better density than 7 years ago. I still could do more, but i walk up and down hill 3 miles most days, take my calcium and try to eat high calcium foods. In addition I am on HRT for other symptoms which is no doubt helping my bones.

Good luck!

Many thanks purplepeony that is excellent advice, maybe I should re-visit my GP and double check the calcium intake levels. I think many women are oblivious to this problem when they are at the menopause stage, unless you actually ask for a scan it seems that you are not offered one routinely for bone density. Shall be doing a lot of walking from now on

Good luck. The problem is that most GPs aren't clued up.

......on pretty much these days!