Oscal D For Osteopenia

[floridanative]

I tagged this on another thread but no one replied so I had to start a new topic. My GI doc gave me my bone scan results (which show I have Osteopenia) and there were three numbers ranging from -.09 to -1.6. She told me to take otc Oscal D, 500mg daily. She also told me to make sure it was gluten free.....thanks doc. Now I've read what everyone else here takes for Osteopenia (which I know is not as bad as Osteoperosis) and most of you take Fosamax or Actonel. Is an otc supplement really what I need? I don't want to take something that is not strong enough but I also prefer an otc pill to an rx if it will do the trick.

Please give me some opinions as I'm seeing my pcp next week and I'm going to see if she agrees with the GI or not. But from personal experience I trust you people (other patients) more than I do any doctor I've met to date.

[tarnalberry]

make sure to take a magnesium supplement. studies have shown that magnesium is just as, if not more, important as calcium in celiac patients for bone density. the appropriate quanity is whatever makes for a 2:1 calcium to magnesium ratio. (so, for every 500mg of calcium you take, you want 250mg of magnesium.)

[jenvan]

Also--great "bone builders" are exercise, walking and weight-lifting. My mom raised her levels back to normal (from osteopenia) with walking and weight-bearing exercise. She did not take any medications.

[floridanative]

tarnalberry - yes I read another post of your about magnesium so I'm going to get that too. The Oscal D is gluten free - I called today. I'll get the magnesium and Oscal tomorrow. I have a shoulder injury so I can't do anything with my left arm but my pt excercises but I'll get on the treadmill for now. Hopefully my arm will heal and I can get back into power yoga which you can add weights to.

jenvan - how are you? Thanks for telling me about your Mom. I'm going to do the supplements for now and hopefully I can get off them eventually. I'm so glad to be off gluten but wish I'd found out about Celiac before I stopped absorbing so many nutrients. I'm about to go off iron but I'm staying on the folic acid rx and otc b12 for now. I feel like a 60 year old when I fill up my weekly pill box.

[Guest greengirl]

My ob/gyn thought that I had osteopenia based on a foot scan that she did in the office, however a full body DEXA scan showed that I was in the normal range. Anyway, if it had shown osteopenia she said she would have put me on Fosomax. I would probably get a 2nd opinion about taking only otc calcium. You wouldn't want time to go by and then find out that it wasn't enough to prevent osteoporosis from developing.

Christine

[jenvan]

Pming you

[floridanative]

For those of you who understand supplements - my pcp told me I have to take 1000mg a day of the Oscal and that my numers on the scan are not high enough to warrant a calcium rx (yea!) but I'm taking magnesium too so I guess I have to take 2 of those with the 2 500mg Oscal pills. The magnesium I bought is a cheap gluten-free drugstore brand and it starts crumbling before I can swallow it and it tastes nasty. Is there a brand of magnesium that is coated that others have tried? I'll take the rest of what I have but I have to find another magnesium pill that is not so chalky.

[floridanative]

Does anyone know if there are different types of magnesium supplements available? I can't take the magnesium I bought. It does not agree with my digestive system at all. I thought maybe I was getting glutened but then I stopped the magnesium and my symptoms stopped. Took it again and they came back...so I can not take what I have - Walgreen's cheap gluten-free 250 mg pills. Is there something better I should try? I keep reading if you take Calcium you have to take Vit. D and magnesium too. Well I know the Vit. D is vital to help absorb calcium but can anyone point me to the medical research that supports you have to take magnesium too? The Today show did a segment on Osteoperosis/calcium supplements the other day and they talked about Vit. D but didn't mention magnesium.

[Satori]

Does anyone know if there are different types of magnesium supplements available? I can't take the magnesium I bought. It does not agree with my digestive system at all. I thought maybe I was getting glutened but then I stopped the magnesium and my symptoms stopped. Took it again and they came back...so I can not take what I have - Walgreen's cheap gluten-free 250 mg pills. Is there something better I should try? I keep reading if you take Calcium you have to take Vit. D and magnesium too. Well I know the Vit. D is vital to help absorb calcium but can anyone point me to the medical research that supports you have to take magnesium too? The Today show did a segment on Osteoperosis/calcium supplements the other day and they talked about Vit. D but didn't mention magnesium.

I've read a lot of stuff on needing the mag and I have to agree with it. My T-score is -1.4 and I've opted not to take the fosamax and just do the supps for a couple years and I do take higher then normal mag since I have chronically low levels of it when tested. (I still have serious malabsorption issues) There is stuff on it here on celiac.com https://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodi...-36103509980.9e and they list several studies at the end.

[BRUMI1968]

Side effects of fosamax:

Stop taking FOSAMAX and call your doctor right away if you get any of these signs of possible serious problems: