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Thanks for all your emails. I broke down your answers into categories. Each category is in ALL CAPS.
RP
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IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE GETTING OLD
My bone density was fine, last checked, but I still have degenerative disc disease in my neck and lower spine. Also arthritis in my ankles. Osteoarthritis in my knees. We're getting older!
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EXERCISE IS GOOD FOR YOU
I have L 3 & 4 degeneration. The only thing they told me was to exercise more to strengthen the muscles.
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I think exercise with light weights and yoga have been very instrumental. Yoga and Pilates are the best.
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IF YOU HAVE JOINT PAIN, THE PROBLEM MIGHT BE ...
I have Sjogren's Syndrome as well as Celiac! Both of knees and both of my thumb joints went within a 2 year period! The rest of my joints ache terribly during the winter!
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I was found to have arthritis in the lumbar region a year after going GF. There are bone spurs that show on an x-ray, and lots of pain. There's a disc herniation which compresses the nerve and makes my right leg and foot hurt also. The rheumatologist says it's "spondylitis" (A rheumatoid arthritis of the spine) and that it's common in those with celiac.
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HERE ARE THE THERAPIES THAT HELP ME
Eat a ph balanced diet and your bones should get better. Eat vegetables and fruit in addition to other meats, nuts etc.
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You might try bone meal and excerise this worked for me
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I was told by my rheumatologist that I must take extra Vitamin D with my Calcium/Vit. D supplement. You probably need to check that out with your rheumatologist. There is a blood test that detects the amount of Vit. D, in your blood.
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I was told 10 years ago that I had the spine of an 80-year-old. However, when I had spinal surgery in South Africa, I was told my bone was excellent with no sign of loss. I had been taking the supplement Strontium, which my GP hadn't heard of, but another MD told me about. When I mentioned this to my surgeon he said they use it all the time in South Africa.
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I didn't improve my bone density much on the strict GF diet, plus Tri-Boron Plus, plus exercise, yoga, walking briskly a mile or more a day, plus other supplements, plus Actonel.
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With women when under stress they use more progesterone to make adrenalin. Initially when I tried the natural progesterone cream, my bones responded very well, then my parents died and the next scan showed I had lost bone again.
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HERE ARE THE DRUGS I TAKE
I take Evista, Citracal +D, eat leafy green vegetables, etc. and do weight exercises at Healthy Bones. I also walk almost every day. In February I had my bone density done and my doctor told me that my lumbar spine had improved but my left femur had gotten worse (the reverse of yours). I am now also on Boniva.
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I take my actonel with crossed fingers. I still do weight lifting, cardio, and yoga (balance) and play tennis. I eat my greens and try not to think about how afraid of falling I am.
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I had a 23% bone loss when diagnosed 10 years ago. I have been on Miacalcin since. I have had bone densities done about every 3 yrs. My last one came back NORMAL...I went from 23% loss to 3 to normal
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I may have to begin one of the so-called infusion drugs...but am loathe to do it. Am not sure how one determines whether spinal degeneration (is it that spaces between your discs are closing up?) is caused by one thing or another.
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I just had my 4th DEXA since being diagnosed in 2002. My initial T scores were -3.6 spine (osteoporosis) and -2.2 (hip). I've been following a gluten free diet strictly, taking supplemental vitamin D, occasional calcium (my diet is very high in calcium: 1000-1500 mg.- I'm a dietitian) and prescibed miacalcin. I had nice improvement in my T scores to -2.5 spine and -1.4 hip over the years (until now). Now, my most recent DEXA was a huge let down, with no changes in therpy. My T score for my spine has fallen back to -3.5 !! My hip has fallen just a bit to -1.5. I am devastated!
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HERE IS MY EXPERIENCE
My spine showed a hugh improvement but the doctor said that he believed it was because my spine had compacted (gotten worse) so it showed more density.
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I am LOW in magnesium and it is LIKELY that you are also.
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Hard to know what to do about it. Very painful.
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I think it is important also to look at whether it is a one off loss. Again I don't know with men, but women get a big drop at menopause so once they have made that drop, they won't continue. A friend was on Tamoxifen and had bone loss (it blocks the estrogen receptors in the body). Her doctor wanted to put her on Fosomax but I said why not wait and see if you level off once you are off the drug, rather than taking Fosomax for years.
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