Take Your Calcium

Well, I had my Dexa Scan today and it looks like I have osteoporosis in my spine and osteopenia in my hips.  My own fault.  While I have always taken calcium I knew I didn't take enough for a malabosorptive surgery.  I probably took about 1/2 of what I needed.  And I had low D for a long time which didn't help.
After my doctor reads the report we will talk about what kind of treatment I should have.

 Oh honey, I'm so sorry to read this.  I don't know if this is something that can be reversed?  I hope that your doctor has some good suggestions for how to stop the process before it gets worse.

May I ask how much and what type of calcium you have been taking.?  I think there are some good lessons for all of us here.  Thank you for sharing and helping the rest of us.

Swinging some critters for you.

I don't know if it can be reversed but it can be treated.  I am going to do some research on what types of treatment would be best for a WLS patient.
I was taking Citracal for years but I only took about 1000 mg a day.  I knew that wasn't enough but I thought I was getting some from my food and I didn't worry about it.  A few years ago I started taking Vitalady's calcium which has 500 mg plus D and magnesium but I still need to take more.  My surgeon told me after my revision that I only needed to take 1000 mg a day but I don't think that will be enough.
It is a good lesson for everyone especially if they have malabsorption.  Follow the guidelines for your surgery!

Tazz,
Here's my osteoporosis routine:

Hormone replacement therapy: 1 estro/test a day (no progesterone since hysti)
1 Fosamax a week
3,600IUs of Vitalady's calcium citrate only (300mg elemental calcium per capsule)
1 - capsule of magnesium citrate with every calcium dose (600mg per dose)
1 - 3mg tablet of boron with every calcium dose
1 - 50,000IU capsule of Vitalady's vitamin D and 2 10,000IU sublinguals of vitamin D
1 - vitamin K2 capsule of 150mcg twice a day

Note: You shouldn't start Fosamax until your D is up near 100 because it causes D to dip and PTH to go up. If you're prone to constipation, magnesium oxide capsules can be added as needed with every calcium batch. If your labs are deficient right now, it wouldn't hurt to go on my routine for 3 months and retest. You're not absorbing as much calcium as you might think since you've been rerouted unless he took down your DS totally and gave you VSG routing. Then you MIGHT be able to get away with 2,400IUs of calcium citrate (elemental). When I was first diagnosed, my PCP was very clear, she wanted me to double my calcium and up my vitamin D, and she only knows normie anatomy.

--gina
 

Gina, do you really take 70,000 IU of Vitamin D each day and 3600mg of Calcium? I just want to make sure I understand this right.

Now I wonder if I'm getting enough....I take 10,000 IU of dry D around 3x per week and try to take 1500 mg calcium a day....some days I only get 1000 mg.

I take this much according to my labs and situation with osteoporosis. I was osteopenic as a pre-op and low in vitamin D. Normally a DSr on VitaLady's plan only takes 50,000IUs of dry D3 a day and 1,800mgs of elemental calcium citrate. An RNYr could start with 20,000IUs of dry D3 and 1,200mgs of elemental calcium citrate, and adjust up or down from there depending on labs. Dry D3 is much much safer than oil based D and you won't go toxic on it as many of the medical community believe. You want D3 labs to be around 100.

Here's the basic Vitalady RNY plan:
Vitamin A 25,000IU; Vitamin B-1 100mg; Vitamin B-12 1,000mcg; Vitamin C 1,000mg; Vitamin D3 20,000IU; Vitamin E 400IU; 1 B-50 Complex; 2 Complete Multi-Vitamin/Mineral; Calcium Citrate 1260mg (elemental); Iron 150mg (elemental); Magnesium Citrate 280mg (elemental); Zinc 50mg; Vitamin B-9 Folic Acid 1,200mcg; Vitamin K-1 100mcg.


--gina

Have you ever considered taking the IV Reclast once per year instead of the weekly Fosamax?  I know fosamax can be so hard on your stomach, causing reflux and possibly ulcers.  The IV is supposed to be very successful and only takes like 20-30 minutes once per year and you are done.  Just a thought.  I know my Endo told me when the time comes, that is what she will put me on

I guess I hadn't thought too much about because I thought Relast was for the folks with really really bad osteoporosis.  I'll ask about it next time I go to the PCP who orders and gets my labs for dexa scans. This will be my 2nd full year on the Fosamax and my dexa scan will be this Spring. We'll see.

Thanks,

--gina 

Just explain that you suffer from severe malabsorbtion and that an IV is a much better option for you than having to swallow a pill.  Swallow a pill also puts you at risk for ulcers which you really don't need.  If she gives you a hard time, I would go to an Endocrinologist, they specialize in Calcium disorders including osteoporosis and order Reclast for patients all the time.  That is who orders my DEXA scans and all my post op labs.  I never go to my PCP for any of this stuff just a once per year physical.

Thanks for sharing this. You've just slapped me in the face with some reality. I have NOT been doing well with my Calcium and D.