Been taking Arimidex for 4 ½ years now and have just learned that I have osteoporosis. This is a really shocking discovery that is taking me time to digest. I have no history (except my grandmother but her eating habits were strange and she was a tiny stick insect!), I carry excess weight which is supposed to be good for something – osteoporosis. I exercise and ingest a fair amount of calcium in the form of milk and cheese. Never would I have thought this disease (?) – not sure if osteoporosis qualifies as a disease – would hit me, never.

Some time back a woman I met in London told me that she was taking Arimidex and asked if I was taking calcium. When she learned that I was not, she was adamant that I should be as she had been advised by her UK doctor to do so. Neither my Spanish or  American doctors had mentioned it. Now I am learning that it is vital and after scouring the Astra Zeneca website am seeing it more or less in passing rather than a stern warning – TAKE CALCIUM SUPPLEMENTS WHEN YOU ARE TAKING ARIMIDEX!! Bone loss is to be expected. Now I am on a quest to learn more about osteoporosis and will be blogging about it on www.elizabethcampbellsite.com  as well.

My GP advised that I should get a Reclast treatment but after reading some of the unpleasant side effects I will begin searching for alternate ways to rebuild and hopefully reverse my bone loss. The side effects of Reclast and some of the other osteoporosis drugs are too drastic and after the pain associated with the first two years on Arimidex I can’t bear the thought. So now I begin my quest. I state here and now that I will have a second bone density test as soon as it is deemed feasible to see if my self-sought treatment will work.

If you are on Arimidex – Take your calcium, vitamin D, zinc and magnesium twice daily with meals. Also follow my journey here and on the osteoporosis site I am building with the intention of getting the word out.

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Eureka!

I spoke to my doctor this past week and fessed up about my inability to be devoted to taking my calcium pills even though I am well aware of their importance. She then proceeded to tell me about a chewable, chocolate “candy” calcium supplement. Well, I couldn’t get to the drug store fast enough. Low and behold Viactiv plus D. Not only do they contain 500mg of calcium and 500 mg of Vitamin D ( the vitamin of the decade methinks – more on that in coming posts) they have 40mcg’s of Vitamin K and…..they taste really good! I bought the chocolate mint and they actually satisfy my sweet tooth as an added bonus. Rarely do I find a product to shout about like this one! I know some people will be put off by the fact that they use sugar instead of the dreadful aspartame, but at 20 calories each it is a small caloric price to pay for something that is sooooo good for you and tastes like candy to boot. Viactiv plus D. Check it out at the local drug store or Walmart, cheap too…about $7.50-8.00 for 60 chews.

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Diet and lifestyle are major factors in preventing osteoporosis.

A diet too rich in protein and sugar is very damaging to bone health as is a very sedentary lifestyle (and having babies when you have a gynae age of less than 4. Your Gynae age is calculated by the age you are when you first menstruate. A girl aged 14 who started menstruating at 12 and a girl of 16 who started menstruating at 14 both have a gynae age of 2). A diet deficient in Calcium is also damaging to bone health.

If hip hop dancers are prone to Osteoporosis I suspects its because they are undernourished rather than because of their activity.
I treated a lot of dancers when i practiced in the UK as the clinic I worked in had a contract with a dance school. They virtually all had eating disorders and were osteoporosis waiting to happen.

I suspect your low back pain is probably because you have a deep lumbar curve if you do a lot of dancing.

The purpose of this review is to put into perspective the many health benefits of vitamin D and the role of vitamin D deficiency in increasing the risk of many common and serious diseases, including some common cancers, type 1 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis. Numerous epidemiologic studies suggest that exposure to sunlight, which enhances the production of vitamin D3 in the skin, is important in preventing many chronic diseases. Because very few foods naturally contain vitamin D, sunlight supplies most of our vitamin D requirement.

25-Hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] is the metabolite that should be measured in the blood to determine vitamin D status. Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in infants who are solely breastfed and who do not receive vitamin D supplementation and in adults of all ages who have increased skin pigmentation or who always wear sun protection or limit their outdoor activities. Vitamin D deficiency is often misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia.

A new dietary source of vitamin D is orange juice fortified with vitamin D. Studies in both human and animal models add strength to the hypothesis that the unrecognized epidemic of vitamin D deficiency worldwide is a contributing factor of many chronic debilitating diseases. Greater awareness of the insidious consequences of vitamin D deficiency is needed. Annual measurement of serum 25(OH)D is a reasonable approach to monitoring for vitamin D deficiency. The recommended adequate intakes for vitamin D are inadequate, and, in the absence of exposure to sunlight, a minimum of 1000 IU vitamin D/d is required to maintain a healthy concentration of 25(OH)D in the blood.

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/79/3/362

Duration : 0:7:58

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2) LOAD bearing exercises absolutely increase bone density. Weight lifting and running are best examples. Biking is great for muscles…but NOT for bone density. There is another very recent study on this.

Does an increase in bone density guarantee a bone won’t break?? NO! An increase in bone density simple means the bones are denser than they would be otherwise.

So, keep up load bearing workouts and it will help you not only muscularly but also with bone density.

Duration : 0:7:13

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How to prevent Osteoporosis. Find out more natural solutions to health problems in the book “Cracking the Cancer Code.” bone loss

Duration : 0:4:25

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Expert: Dr. Susan Jewell
Bio: Dr. Susan Jewell is a trained doctor and scientist in clinical research medicine, as well as a stem cell scientist in oncology and AIDS/HIV.
Filmmaker: Nili Nathan

Duration : 0:1:47

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Duration : 0:2:59

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