Welcome to the Osteoporosis after WLS Forum

My brittle-boned arms are thrown wide open in welcoming anyone that is interested in sharing the details of their bone health journey!

I am 4+ yrs out from BPD DS and have been struggling with this issue for several years. I had several lower leg surgeries spanning the last 16 months that kept me off of my feet. During this time my dexa scan swung from osteopenia to osteoporosis; -2.3 at hip, -2.7 at L spine.Despite really increasing VitD3, upping the Cal. citrate, mag citrat, adding boron,zinc, DHEA, walking 2-3 mi every day off (am om my feet for 13 hrs on work days, stress enough) , I was so hoping that my next PTH would drop, as my previous had. (104 down to 74) Aurgh!!!! No! it is now 134!
I am taking supplements 8 x throughout the day now. Not sure what to do next. Will see the endocrinologist again in a few weeks. Currently am waiting for the reslts from a 24 hr urine and another DXA scan.

I've written to that very busy, but wonderfullady, Vitalady.
Any words of wisdom out there for me? Other topics to discuss, explore are all welcome here.
 Susan

Sorry, no wisdom. I was JUST diagnosed with osteopenia myself and am here to learn. Thanks for starting this group!

Hi Susan,

I talked to Vitalady when I was first diagnosed with osteoporosis because I was osteopenic pre-op and had started following her plan as soon as I learned enough. I had perfect labs at 1 year post-op and was surprised I had slipped as I did at my first post-op dexa scan.  

My doc immediately put me on oral Fosamax once a week, which I'm learning probably isn't the best solution for WLS patients but I'll have to see a specialist to get an injectable med. Some WLS patients are seeing success with Forteo.

Vitalady suggested 3,600mg of calcium citrate (8 servings a day), 140mg of mag citrate with each calcium dose, 3mg of boron with each dose, 50,000IUs of D3, 300mcg of vitamin K2 (2 servings) and strontium away from calcium at bedtime with my Proferrin.

My labs went crazy at first. My D3 dropped, PTH went up and calcium went way down. My doc said all that was pretty normal given the Fosamax. Apparently, they give that stuff to folks who overdose on vitamin D. Anyway, I added 20,000IUs of D3 in sublingual form and stayed with that until just recently when my D3 came back at 137. Now I just take 50,000IUs in capsule form and I still tan once a week for 8 minutes. (Michelle doesn't agree with tanning)

My last 2 dexa scans indicate the bone loss has stopped but none of the numbers are showing improvement. Folks who are using Forteo are seeing improvement. I plan to talk to Dr Elariny about a specialist. 

Thanks for starting the group. I hope we can help each other. 

--gina
 

Gina,

Your posts are always very helpful. I have implemented some of your ideas into my plan.

Why the sublingual D3 rather than increasing the po intake? 

More questions, but I am going to be late to work if I stay here...


Susan

About the sublingual--I just wanted to see if another delivery method would work as well as increasing another 50,000IUs. It took longer to bring the D level back up than when I was taking 100,000IUs but it worked over time. Now I'm only taking 50,000IUs a day and tanning once a week. We'll see in a few months if my D goes down too far.

--g