CALCIUM SCARE | Arthritis Information

See this

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sundaystartimes/4211606a6442.html

I actually have not been taking my calcium since it started giving me stomach ache. Don't know what to do now. Sorry, I don't know why this link is not clickable. But please take the time to copy it out and open it, it's important.
chico39350.062025463Chico, Thanks for the link. I printed it out for my wife. Regarding your stomach ache, I read somewhere that one should take calcium citrate, not calcium carbonate. I would guess either should be taken with food. Maybe your dose is too high.Yeah I know Bob, I just haven't had a chance to speak to the doc and ask for the different form of calcium. Altho the article did not mention any form of calcium specifically. I did try taking Losec, to protect my stomach, but didn't like it. In light of this new info I think I will just not take extra calcium for now, and make sure I get plenty in my diet. I don't know how wise that is, as pred does wreck bones, but as the professor says in the article, that's not quite as bad as a heart attack.

I'd say that the calcium supplement story will break in the US and other places soon, as the results of the different trials are going to be announced in Hawaii this month.
Chico, I did miss this before....I don't know why. It is a very interesting post and I am going to bump it back up. I have read nothing about tests in the US. Isn't that strange. I think the drug companies are ruling what tests are taken. After all calcium supplements are big business here in the US.

I'll post the link and see if it turns up clickable. Thank you for bringing up this important post again. I know I a going to cut back of calcium, especially now that I am off of prednisone.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sundaystartimes/4211606a6442.html

I'm not sure if clickable or not...maybe after I post the message it will be. Mary

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sundaystartimes/4211606a6442.html

Should be now.....

Something else to worry about. I Googled the risks involved in taking calicum and the only thing I came up with is the lead risk......nothing about heart risks. I take calcium citrate 1000 with magnesium ....that is four capsules, two in am and two in pm along with Vit D 400mg.

When I was diagnosed with PMR at 62, my doctor ordered a DexaScan in order to establish a baseline in case prednisone were to cause problems down the road. You could have knocked me over with a feather when the results showed that I already had osteoporosis in my hip and osteopenia in my spine.

I dutifully started taking Actonel, but it made me quite sick and I had to stop. So, both my regular doctor and my rheumatologist pressured me to start with Forteo injections.....it not only had a black box warning because it causes cancer in rats.....but it was fairly new and I didn't want to be a guinea pig. I did a lot of research on my own and joined a couple of discussion groups on osteoporosis. One in particular (HealthBoards) has discussed calcium and cited some ongoing tests in the U.S. Here's one of them that is fairly recent:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_59207.html

It is scary, isn't it? Hard to know what's safe to take anymore.

Louann