THR Anyone have low bone density/ osteoporosis?

@Puggles I am so sorry you are running into these appointment and provider difficulties! I have found that the best time for me to make appointments with both my regular doctor and any other provider is first thing Monday morning - not convenient for me as I don't like getting up early. But that time means provider is fresh from a weekend off, has not had to deal with any office emergencies yet, his/her nurse/assistant is fresh and relaxed, and appointment is usually on time! Plus provider usually has a bit of extra time to talk.

If you have the option do send the NP an email with your questions! Without knowing the name of the medication she suggested it is hard to know if that would be helpful to you. Alas many insurance companies require patients to have "less invasive" (AKA cheaper) treatments before going in for surgery.

Getting a second or third opinion is a good idea. Do be aware that many surgeons are not known for their "warm and attentive" bedside manner. They are great surgeons but often do not have time or talent to really talk to their patients. Go in with a list of questions and be prepared to hand the list to the surgeon if questions are not answered during the visit.

I sincerely hope you have much better experiences in the future!
 
I too would like to know what others are doing, medication wise for their osteoporosis. I take A LOT of Vit D3 and Calcium. Cannot tolerate Fosamax. Very sedentary. My leg bones feel weak. I will be 74 next month. Trying to do more exercising but hard when your hip and knee hurts

Hi, how is your pain now? Did you end up having a stress fracture?
I bolded what you said about exercising---yes, it's a Catch-22!
I would *love* to be doing weight-bearing exercise, I miss it!

The NP told me that calcium should be taken in increments,
(sorry, I can't remember how many mg. she said I should take
at one time). Were you told this, too?

May I ask why you can't tolerate Fosamax? Since this is
such a new diagnosis, I haven't yet researched the
medications she's considering.

A few months before my bone scan, (and before NP knew
I might have ostopenia/ osteoporosis), she said my lab work
showed I needed to take D3 supplements, which I have.
She ordered more labs to be done soon, and I'm curious
how my D3 levels are now.

I hope your pain has decreased since you last posted! :)
 
@djklaugh --thank you for such great info! I may just start
making early morning appointments!
Thankfully, there is an online system where I send her
(or her nurse) questions.

They are both great at responding
promptly, and it is so much better to get info in writing
versus a very rushed appt. where I can't remember half
of what she said. :sad:
 
@subie2021 Thank you so very much, you're right! I just have to think about
it differently. Like you said, if they're rude, it realllllly doesn't matter.
Just get my doggone test done and I'll think of George's dad! (what was his name, Frank?)

I worked in healthcare for many years, also. I'm sure that makes
me biased, since I dealt with so many difficult/ rude, etc.
people, yet I always treated everyone with kindness. Everyone
has problems, of course, but I can honestly say I *never* let
my personal problems interfere with my job. I smiled,
I was kind, etc.

My Dad always told us to have compassion
for service personnel; that maybe they were a bit rude or impatient
because they'd just had death in their family, etc. I'll never forget
the time we had a rude waitress, but my Dad still tipped her 20 percent,
using the example of we don't know what she has going on in her life.



I think of George's father on Seinfeld...in awkward situations how he yells "Serenity now!!" and it helps lighten up my attitude.

Thank you for making me LOL! My family and I love to quote
the "Festivus" episode, too. "The yearly airing of grievances!" :loll:


Does your health care system send out post-visit surveys? That's a good place to complain about poor service. And there is always the option of writing or emailing the department head or even the CEO. I've worked in healthcare for a long time and I know that they pay attention to feedback

Yes! We get surveys after any and all appointments. And they
must *really* want the feedback, because we get it online *and*
in snail-mail. Funny you asked about it---after the bone scan,
I was very honest in my paper questionnaire. I am always very
fair and honest, and always try to give positives along with
the negatives.

The pre-paid (gasp---*paper!*) envelope was long-forgotten
in my purse, and I resisted sending it, because I didn't want
the bone scan/ mammogram lady to "get in trouble". Welllll....
yesterday I decided to go ahead and send it after all. I was
very fair, and merely said it would have been nice to have been
offered some Kleenex at the very minimum.

I also complimented the lady that deals with insurance
and co-pays. She was funny and nice. I have sent
letters to this health system several times to compliment
employees that go above and beyond. I hate to say it
is so rare to encounter employees that are excellent, that
I always like to acknowledge them!

Sometimes I'll even
add in that "this employee should get a raise!" :)
I love it when the company writes back and says they
were happy to hear this, and that my letter has gone
into their personnel records, and/or they were told
about the glowing compliments, etc.
 
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I think we're birds of a feather, Puggles. I do the same thing, compliment the staff for jobs well done. I've written the CEO/CMO of my hospital to compliment *him* on having such a wonderful staff. And I'm not afraid to be honest when a staffer hasn't been very effective. There are tactful ways to complain, no need to be as rude as they were.
Compassion for what might be going on in another's life is a blessing for everyone involved, isn't it?
Haha! I forgot about the airing of grievances. Thanks for the reminder, that scene was hilarious.
Take care..a Festivus Miracle to you!
 
You two sound like me! Always figuring when people are mean or abrupt, or rude, my mother always said remember, you don’t know what is going in on their lives. They aren’t a very happy person, it seems…

@Puggles, might I strongly urge you to consider looking into any medical actions VERY carefully for osteoporosis? After a friend was put onone of them at a fairly youthful age, her bones got way worse, she ended up fracturing her hip I think it was, and was very crippled very young. I have the disease in my family too, so I have done quite a bit of research, and those drugs are not the end-all and be-all they’d like to claim, judging from research I’ve done over the past few years. Here is a link to a doctor who has taken a different approach to helping women avoid the debilitating effects of osteoporosis. It’s not easy to argue for alternatives, because even doctors of all specialties in our local communities don’t always do research into drug alternatives. They just don’t have time unless they are personally motivated for a particular reason.

I am choosing not to use the drugs and am using Algae Cal instead of drugs, and engaging in weight bearing exercise daily…with help from my pup!
 
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I too would like to know what others are doing, medication wise for their osteoporosis. I take A LOT of Vit D3 and Calcium. Cannot tolerate Fosamax. Very sedentary. My leg bones feel weak. I will be 74 next month. Trying to do more exercising but hard when your hip and knee hurts

Hi, how is your pain now? Did you end up having a stress fracture?
I bolded what you said about exercising---yes, it's a Catch-22!
I would *love* to be doing weight-bearing exercise, I miss it!

The NP told me that calcium should be taken in increments,
(sorry, I can't remember how many mg. she said I should take
at one time). Were you told this, too?

May I ask why you can't tolerate Fosamax? Since this is
such a new diagnosis, I haven't yet researched the
medications she's considering.

A few months before my bone scan, (and before NP knew
I might have ostopenia/ osteoporosis), she said my lab work
showed I needed to take D3 supplements, which I have.
She ordered more labs to be done soon, and I'm curious
how my D3 levels are now.

I hope your pain has decreased since you last posted! :)

Hi Puggles! I'm doing much better these days. I had an MRI of my left shoulder, left hip and left femur on October 1st. No stress fractures. I did/do have tendonitis in my Left rotator cuff and got a cortisone injection on October the 8th...it helped!
I have had Osteopenia for years....tried Fosamax for a year in 2006. I had severe indigestion and fluid retention from it. Not doing that again.
I maxed out on Vit D and my levels got to be 108, so I cut back on the Vit D.

My twin sister who has severe Osteoporosis is trying something called Algae Cal Plus and Strontium Boost. She can't have another Bone Density until Jan. 22. It will be interesting to see if this helps.

I have been exercising more and doing light weights.
Thanks for asking.
 
I had a bone density probably 1 1/2 years ago. What I found interesting is my spine and my femur show no abnormalities. Then the ball of my hip shows osteoporosis. I find that strange! I never saw the doctor he wanted to put me on bone meds but I don’t think at this point it’s necessary and I’m worried about the side effects. If it was all areas maybe. I started Vit k2, Vit D3, Calcium, Magnesium, so hoping it will help. I’m wondering would it be best to just replace both hips as this would take care of the issue of it. Not sure they replace for that reason though. However, I was at the store Thursday and I turned to look at something and suddenly felt extreme pain in my right groin area in my right side. Then I couldn’t bear weight on that leg. Pain was severe. Didn’t know what to do as I didn’t bring anyone with me. It felt like it possibly came out of the socket a little. So I thought walk it out and hopefully it will pop back in. That worked after about 10 min. I read you can have a partial dislocation. So I will be making an appointment soon to discuss if it needs to be replaced and the issues of osteoporosis.
 
Puggles —
In some of my (seemingly endless) reading of orthopedic journals prior to my surgery I came across a study from England using an injectable chemo drug (I may be misremembering this) to build bone in hip replacement patients and help the bones grow into and hold on to the implants.
I never asked my surgeon about it, but it's been on my mind going forward, as I intend to follow up with a bone density specialist.
All the best to you going forward.
And, yes — Serenity NOW!!!
 
Does anyone in this thread know if a dexa scan done post hip replacement doesn’t scan the replaced hip? My most recent report (December 2021) makes no mention of my right hip that was replaced in May 2020. Thanks in advance.
 
@Tweb When I advised the technician at my last DEXA appointment of my hip replacement, she explained that she would only be scanning the "real" hip. I guess scanning the implant doesn't provide any useful information regarding our bone mineral density. :heehee:
 
I had the same, only both of my hips are replaced. T
hey used my spine and my wrist/forearm, if I recall correctly.
 

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