Bone Health

[Nadtorious]

So I misjudged a jump on my bike today and broke my collarbone. It turned out to be a fracture, something the doc called a "green line" or something, meaning my bone bent on impact and only fractured part way through. He said it was rare to see this happen in an adult (i'm 23), as this is what happens when kids break bones. Supposedly this is a good thing. Problem is, my boyfriend saw the crash and swears i didn't hit that hard. But then he felt my collar bone and was shocked that its so much smaller and thinner than his-as i'm a girl, of course.

I haven't had a bone density test done in a couple years, so i don't know where i'm at bone-health wise. I've taken quite a few good crashes with no breaks. Doctor said my bones look strong, but bf is still worried as he thinks i should have been able to take a digger like that and walked away unharmed. Any thoughts?

Nadia (typing one-handed)

[nettiebeads]

So I misjudged a jump on my bike today and broke my collarbone. It turned out to be a fracture, something the doc called a "green line" or something, meaning my bone bent on impact and only fractured part way through. He said it was rare to see this happen in an adult (i'm 23), as this is what happens when kids break bones. Supposedly this is a good thing. Problem is, my boyfriend saw the crash and swears i didn't hit that hard. But then he felt my collar bone and was shocked that its so much smaller and thinner than his-as i'm a girl, of course.

I haven't had a bone density test done in a couple years, so i don't know where i'm at bone-health wise. I've taken quite a few good crashes with no breaks. Doctor said my bones look strong, but bf is still worried as he thinks i should have been able to take a digger like that and walked away unharmed. Any thoughts?

Nadia (typing one-handed)

I would definitely recommend the bone density test. You really do need to know where you are regarding your bone strength. As a woman, your best years of building bone strength are behind you (yes, I read your age) and you do need to think about the future. My mother didn't ingest enought calcium for over a decade, and now she has to look up to me (I'm 5'7", she used to be 5'10") and is in a wheelchair for spinal stenosis (but she is 84) I know I want to be way more active that she is when I get to be her age. Anyhow, maybe you didn't hit that hard, but the angle of your fall and such may have been a bigger contributer to your break than the force you hit with. Get the test, it's painless and may save yourself from future problems.

Annette

[cmom]

I am presently nursing a broken bone in my right foot (second metatarsal). Apparently, I broke it back in August but no clue how. It began swelling and causing alot of pain. Dr. had an xray done and said it didn't show anything so on the second visit he gave me a shot in the top of my foot stating I had an inflamed nerve. After the third visit, he sent me to a foot dr. She xrayed it again and VOILA! broken bone!!! So I walked on it for six weeks before I got an accurate diagnosis so I more than likely made it worse. I was diagnosed with osteopenia over the summer so don't know if I tripped on something which unknowingly caused by bone to break. I go back to the foot dr. Dec 8 which will be about 13 weeks since it happened. I am not happy!

[aaascr]

No broken bones lately -

but I did have a bone denisity

test done after the celiac dx.

Something my orthopaedist said stuck

in my head when I had a broken hand 3 years ago:

that my bones looked small and fragile

even for someone my age.

Fortunately my bones were "above average"

in the hip area, and just slightly "below average"

in the upper back. So I've added

working out at the gym to my activities.

And calcium in the morning, calcium at night....

[kevsmom]

I broke my ankle two years ago (December 8, 2003). I just had my third surgery for it. It never healed right. I continued to have a lot of swelling and pain.

I wasn't diagnosed with Celiac until 6 months ago. I had a bone density test a few years ago, which did show that I have Osteopenia. I am currently taking Fosimax, which is supposed to help replace bone loss.

I haven't been able to vacuum or mow the lawn in two years because the action hurts my ankle. Now, afer surgery I can't go downstairs to do laundry. My poor 17 year old son has been doing it for 8 weeks. My famly room is also downstairs, and there are always a bunch of teenage boys hanging around. After my last surgeries, the first time I could go down the steps I was appalled!! There were piles of dirty clothes all over the place. He figured if he didn't need them right away, they could wait to be washed. The whole basement hadn't been dusted or vaccuumed in 8 weeks. Yuk.

Hopefully after another bout of physical therapy, my ankle will be o.k., and I can get back to doing what has to be done.

Now that I'm gluten-free and starting to get back some energy, I really would like to get my kitchen painted.

[oateater]

Hi - sorry for your injury

Besides being celiac I am a Nurse Practitioner (nurse who had a graduate degree so I can diagnose and prescribe).

Many foot/hand fractures are impossible to detect in the first few weeks after they happen. It is not until the bone starts to heal and grows some new bone (which shows up whiter on the xray) that some fractures can be seen.

So don't be too hard on your doctor!!!

[Guest Rad]

This is my first message on this board! Had a stress fracture September. 2005 while walking 5 miles when I turned my right ankle ever so slightly. My favorite podiatrist suggested a bone density test, but developed horrible flulike symptoms that lasted the entire month of October, so didn't get around to the bone density test immediately. During the 3rd week of flu-like symptoms went to my general practioner and tested positive for Celiac (for WHAT? I asked the doctor). Once the gluten free diet was started and felt a little better (I said a little better, didn't I?); went for the bone density test. Bet you aware Celiac experts can tell where I'm going with this. You guessed it; I have severe osteoporosis resulting from the malnutrition, that resulted from the Celiac Disease. Unbelieveable ! ! ! ! Have been so athletic most of my life with Class A racquetball, thousands of miles of trekking the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and many miles of bicycling. Was absolutely in shock over the osteoporsis diagnosis. And am finding how the Celiac diagnosis is a life changing event. My best to all of you. Dianna

[celiachap]

This is my first message on this board! Had a stress fracture September. 2005 while walking 5 miles when I turned my right ankle ever so slightly. My favorite podiatrist suggested a bone density test, but developed horrible flulike symptoms that lasted the entire month of October, so didn't get around to the bone density test immediately. During the 3rd week of flu-like symptoms went to my general practioner and tested positive for Celiac (for WHAT? I asked the doctor). Once the gluten free diet was started and felt a little better (I said a little better, didn't I?); went for the bone density test. Bet you aware Celiac experts can tell where I'm going with this. You guessed it; I have severe osteoporosis resulting from the malnutrition, that resulted from the Celiac Disease. Unbelieveable ! ! ! ! Have been so athletic most of my life with Class A racquetball, thousands of miles of trekking the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and many miles of bicycling. Was absolutely in shock over the osteoporsis diagnosis. And am finding how the Celiac diagnosis is a life changing event. My best to all of you. Dianna

Welcome to this board, Dianna!

Your osteoporsis should be reversible, with Calcium supplements, and exercise. Another plus for you is that you are already in very good shape, and your bones would have probably been even worse had you not exercised as much.

I'm going for a bone-density next week, and I am prepared to be told that I have osteoporsis.

Stay off of gluten, and you'll be well on your way to recovery and health.

One more plug here for the the forthcoming book by Dr. Peter H.R. Green, director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University which is titled CELIAC DISEASE: A HIDDEN EPIDEMIC. It's coming out in Feb.

Open Original Shared Link

Good Luck, and feel better!

[Merika]

Hi,

I haven't had the test. No broken bones either though (ever, knock wood). You can build bone until you are about age 30. The best way to do this is through weight-bearing exercise. It's better than fossamax or any drug. Going out in the sun is good too (without tons of sunscreen all the time), as vitamin D is necessary for healthy bones.

i hate tests. i assume my bones are not great, even though I played lots of sports as a kid, was always active, and was a professional dancer until last year (and finally got too sick for all of it, and have since worked really hard at becoming a flabby couch potato -it's harder than you think, lol, being celiac!). But I'm also really leery of drugs, having had a few really bad reactions in the past, including the one that set off the celiac. So for me, I try to live the lifestyle that helps bones - activity (last year excluded) and healthy eating.

Merika

[Timber4est]

I too have been active all my life, but into extreme sports. After a bad snowmobile accident some ten years ago, my ortho did a P.E.T. scan. I didn't know I was Celiac at the time and discovered I had Osteoporosis. Since this time I have used weights more. I again had a P.E.T. scan three months after my doctor removed me from my estrogen. There was improvement and I was 30 the first scan, 39 the second scan, so yes ladies, you can build after age 30, but you have to get those weights out daily.

[tiredofdoctors]

My guess is your doctor said it was a "greenstick" fracture. They call them that because the fracture isn't as bad -- like a "green stick" on a tree wouldn't break as bad as an older one.

I have gluten ataxia -- so I fall all the time. Prior to my diagnosis, even, I can say that I have had a LOT of broken bones. Since my diagnosis, I have broken two toes, broken 1 long bone in my foot, chipped a bone in my left elbow, fractured a bone in my right forearm, broke a small bone in my right hand -- I think that's all -- but none of my doctors think I need a bone density test!!!! (I'm 43). Personally, with that many breaks, I think I should . . .

I'm a PT and use to lift weights -- now, I'm stuck in a wheelchair or using a walker -- I've increased my calcium intake -- both supplements and food-wise -- hoping to ward off osteoporosis. Still don't know though, whether it's working . . . .

[tarnalberry]

I'm a PT and use to lift weights -- now, I'm stuck in a wheelchair or using a walker -- I've increased my calcium intake -- both supplements and food-wise -- hoping to ward off osteoporosis. Still don't know though, whether it's working . . . .

Don't forget to make sure you're getting plenty of magnesium. Ideally, it would be half the amount of calcium you're getting. (Studies have show that increased magnesium intake is more important for celiacs than increased calcium supplementation.)

[Ursa Major]

I fractured my ankle four years ago. Being nearly 53, and knowing now that I had gluten intolerance symptoms all my life, and having tested to have low levels of vitamin D not long ago, I was assuming that I probably had osteoporosis. But my bone density test proved that theory wrong, my bones are, surprisingly, in excellent shape. So, don't assume anything, get tested if you haven't been, to know one way or another.

And I agree, often low calcium is due to not having enough magnesium and vitamin D to use the calcium you do get. And anybody who thinks it's bad to get sun, it has been proven that getting sun on unprotected skin (without getting a sunburn, of course) will actually PREVENT skin cancer, not cause it.

And those people who heard that a lot of Australians have skin cancer, because they are in the sun more, they have been misinformed. I read a study that said that the people there who are in the sun the most (life guards) have a very low rate of skin cancer, while the office workers, who rarely got any sun exposure due to being inside all day were actually the ones with high rates of skin cancer. More and more doctors agree that sunshine is very essential to overall health, and that sunscreens are harmful, and contribute greatly to the epidemic of illnesses caused by low levels of vitamin D.