Rheumy has ordered me to have bone density tests and prescribed a huge bucket of calcium tabs as well as monthly doses of VitD. As a preventative against osteoporosis. I wasn't too worried about this, but googled it and found a lot of VERY scary stuff. Like this:
http://www.bones.org.nz/health_prof/guidelines_a.html
http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/Profs/PUarticles/bone.html
So who else has been put onto calcium? What doses? Are you having any side effects from it? I'm supposed to take calcium carbonate 2 tabs, 1250mg each. Isn't that a heck of a lot? product info has a list of potential side effects, mostly gastro/intestinal but other stuff too like heart rhythm probs etc. And a monthly dose of VitD 1.25mg.
PS, what I'm finding scary is not the taking of the calcium, lol, but the devastation that prednisone can cause to our bones!
I take calcium and am about to start vit D. I just had my latest bone
density... so here is what I know:
Post-menpausal women are recommended to take calcium to avoid
osteoperosis.
Until this bone density test I showed well younger than my age and didn't
take it. I started now for 2 reasons 1) showing some osteopenia in the
hips, 2) I have all the risk factors for osteoperosis (early menopause, low
weight, family history, dairy allergy that keeps me from getting enough
calcium 3) all the stuff I have read on pred says to do stuff to help
reactivate adrenals
IMPORTANT!!! My gyn, rheumy and pcp ALL told me your body can't
absorb more that
phyl 500 mg calcium at a time - I take 500 mg with each
meal (they want me on 1500 total) AND they MUST be taken with food to
be absorbed.
If I remember correctly, CHICo, You as I are unable to have dairy - check
the calcium supplements- many are made from whey. Also, ask your docs
about flosinex - a prescription calcium supplement - don't know if it has
dairy
Vit D builds bone AND is really important for people living far from the
equator -- I am in Maine (furthest north you can get in the US). My gyn
who does very non-trad/complimntary medicine says everyone north of
the southernmost US should be taking therapeutic doses... I don't know
about your location but it would seem to be the same. I am waiting for
tested levels to come back before I know how much to start on. Even my
traditional pcp is telling m the gy is correct on this.
These thigs help CONTERACT the horrible pred that I never thought i
would afgree to take, but isn't being in so much less pain incredible!!!
Hope this helps!
Mayo prescribed Citracal with vitamin D for my husband. They said they could give him a prescription but this will do the samething and it is cheaper by far. He takes two pills a day, one in a.m. and one in p.m. for a total of 1260 mg of calcium as calcium citrate and 800 IU's of Vit. D.
Cap
I was taking calcium anyway, before the prednisone, but since being on prednisone I have upped my dosage. On a normal day, I'll take 300 mg Calcium with magnesium & Vit D tablet with breakfast & before bedtime, plus a chewable (Caltrate? 750 mg.) after lunch that I get from Costco.
One important thing to maintain (or build) bone density is lots of weight bearing exercise! That means walking, not swimming, and I expect cycling falls somewhere in between. My last bone density test was very good, I think because I do barn chores from 4 to 7 days a week: pushing a wheelbarrow of horse p**p around is about as weight bearing as you can get!
I think the biking doesn't count... I ride alot since ti doesn't hurt me ashey me again. Doc put me on Cal with vitd also. I also tried Boniva. The one a month pill. I had tried to take calcium before and had terrible stomach pain and cramps even tho I took it with food. This was around Christmas. I do not know if it was the pill or the calcium but Christmas day, i started getting very sick and feeling rather strange. My legs felt weird. When I sat they started going numb and prickly. The prickly feeling would travel up my legs. I now wonder if it was all that or was my diabetes starting to show its symptoms. I have been tempted to try it again now that I'm on insulin and have my sugar pretty much under control. Have any of you taking Cal or osteo pills had any kind of reaction like this? I try to make sure some of the food I eat is as high in cal as I can. I will be so glad when I can get off this pred.
take care
AnnaHi
There can be bad effects from too much calcim. This happened to my
mother when she had thyroid cancer, and had to have thyroid and
parathyroid glands removed. Consequently she was given a calcium
supplement, and after a few weeks they decided they had been giving her
too much. I looked on a web site and found the following list of
hypercalcaemia symptoms
'Too much calcium in the blood may cause:
abdominal pain
nausea and vomiting
constipation
loss of appetite
excessive thirst
excessive passing of water
tiredness
weakness
weight loss
Hypercalcaemia can also cause more serious problems such as
depression, dehydration, bone fractures, kidney stones and sudden heart
attacks.'
Another web site mentioned depression and mental confusion - which
she certainly had and which went away when they lowered the dose.
However it is tricky, as hypercalcaemia is usually associated with various
diseases, rather than overdosing, and there is also the issues of our
bodies not absorbing all we ingest, and how it interracts with Vit D.
Probably best to check with tour Dr before taking large amounts as
supplements.
My rheumy gave me a prescription for Fosamax. My sister had heard rumors about the side affects, so I thought I would look into it before getting the prescription. As it turns out, it has its drawback too. Many dentists now are not taking patients who are on the type of drug of Fosamax, Boniva, etc., because of problems it causes in the jaw.
I don't want to be an alarmist, but here is a site I found on the Google search I did just now. If you do your own search, you will find more. My rheumy didn't mention any side affects to me at all. I did have a bone scan done, and fortunately mine looked very good. I didn't get the prescription filled, I already was taking calcium, and just added to that. I got some of the chocolate chewy ones and ate one of those and took my regular 1400mgs a day.
Please be aware of the side affects of the bone building prescriptions.
Mary
http://www.bagoliefriedman.com/fosamax.shtml