Osteoporosis after Chemo

Chemo is notorious for dissolving bone.  I struggled for over two years to get it under control, with the help of my naturopath.  As Jan says, weight bearing exercise is helpful.  The other variables that finally got me on track were drinking bone broth I made at home, adding 2 T. Great Lakes Gelatin powder in my daily smoothies, taking a vitamin K2 suplement, and taking Pure Encapsulations Calcium MCHA with Magnesium.  I'm told that the Calcium MCHA is better at building bone than the meds prescribed for this purpose.  Everyone is different, and I don't know if this combination would work for you, but it sure worked for me.  After being on the calcium MCHA supplement for a year and a half, my ND just recently cut my dosage in half. 

california_artist said:

Hello there

So, I was thinking about bone loss. Mostly your body tries to maintain a ph of 7.3-7.45 or there abouts, when the levels in your blood get off that realm, your brilliant body goes looking for stores of calcium to make everything in balance again, no matter what. That means if you have a great deal of food that is the highly acidic range, meats, dairy, soda, especially diet soda, as that has the double whammy of acid and phosphorous, your body is going to begin taking the calicium from anywhere in your body that calcium is stored, teeth, bones mostly.

Again, so, the first thing I would do is get out the acid/alkaline food charts and bone up on the alkaline side, while staying mostly away from the highly acidic foods. Those charts will remind you that its the ash made in the body and not the amount of acid  it reads on the outside that counts. That's why lemons are highly ALKALINE, not acidic as one would expect.

Would recommend reading a book called The Acid Alkaline Diet.

 

Think of you often

hope this helps

but I agree with Jan about bisphosphonates.  They scare me.  Two years ago my onc wanted to put me on one.  As an Estrogen positive breast cancer survivor, I was taking Arimidex, which has a well known side effect of osteoporosis.   I was already osteopenic and mild osteoporosis in my lumbar spine.  Onc told me to go home and do my research and decide which one I wanted to take.  What?  I did my research and got confused and decided to ask my pcp.  She said "not yet" because she worried about side effects and wasn't convinced I needed to do anything yet.  So I became even more confused.  One of the drugs (Zometa I think) helps prevent bone mets and since breast cancer likes to go to the bones, that was going to be my drug of choice.  They all have the side effect of jaw necrosis.  I discussed with onc and she decided since pcp wanted to wait, we would.  Then I attended a breast cancer education lecture on bisphosphonates and came away with "no way in hell am I taking any of them unless someone convinces me otherwise".  Fast forward to today and another dexascan and worsening osteoporosis.  Oncologist (breast) switched me from Arimidex to Tamoxifen in January in an attempt to determine if the Arimidex was cintributing to my lack of hair 2 1/2 years after completing chemo.  She added that Tamoxifen is good for bones because it works differently than the aromotase inhibitors and bones like it.   My Vitamin D levels are also very low again.

So, the jury is out apparently on whether anything is recommended for me at this time and I'll get more info when I see oncologist (breast cancer) in August.  I simply don't want to take anything.  I'm hoping things might improve on Tamoxifen and with increasing Vitamin D levels.  I do exercise and do weight bearing exercises.  I intend to do whatever it takes to NOT take a bisphosphonate.  Seems like any rare side effect of drugs I get, and these side effects are just not appealing to me.  We're all living longer (this is a good thing) after cancer diagnoses and more and more side effects of treatments are becoming apparent, doggone it!

Interested to hear what others are hearing.  Good to hear from you, California Artist.

Suzanne

Tethys41 said:

pH

Hey Claudia,

It's so good to see you here.  I hope all is well with you!

I know that the acid/alkaline concept is very popular and often crops up in topics involving cancer.  More recent studies, however, indicate that this hypothesis doesn't hold up in resarch, not with regard to cancer and not with regard to bone loss.:

http://chriskresser.com/the-ph-myth-part-1?inf_contact_key=54547afa763f6e657d38086d7aa6753ec2bfafc4e3ef2907b321837759f8aaec

 

http://chriskresser.com/the-acid-alkaline-myth-part-2?inf_contact_key=5b643f48e58e51c98dab7ff1338235c52fa9c883e410e798ae879a1b90897fda

Fayard said:

Jan,
As always, thank you

Jan,

As always, thank you very much for your input. I AM NOT GOING TO TAKE THE MEDICATION. I have to be more disciplined with my weight exercises. I started again every night for 10 to 15 minutes, different part of my arms on different days. What do you think about the time? Yes, I am interested on your opinion about supplements.

I have a question, do bone scans are harmful?

Your friend, Fayard

Thinking I answered some of your questions on personal posting, but one I missed about harmfulness of DEXA.  Below is what I found online as did think the scans weren't so bad.  The worst with radiation are CT scans.  Equivalent to 400 xrays...gee!!  But...on other side, if we don't have them some "unknowns" can creep up and we surely don't want to be blindsided with more cancer.

Weights aren't about just time, but more about the type and intensity of the workouts.  For instance, this morning I have a "free-weight" routine I do at my home gym. Total workout time was 45 minutes.  I've been a huge workout person since the age of 18 yrs, so don't necessarily copy me, but do know this is an important part of increasing bone density.  

Hugs,

Jan

----------------------------------------

A DEXA-Scan uses an extremely low dose of radiation — one-quarter to one-tenth that of a regular chest X-ray — and is considered safe for use on any age patient.

DEXA-Scan is so sensitive, it picks up tiny fractures in the spinal column and can detect as little as 1% bone loss in the spine, hips and extremities, usually the wrist. It is the gold standard of diagnosing bone mass and is instrumental in helping physicians find osteoporosis before a fracture occurs.

Who needs one?

Generally, women over 50 should get a DEXA-Scan, although it’s good for those in their early 40’s to have a baseline scan for comparison in the years to come.

Men and children can also benefit from a bone density test as bone loss can strike anyone — just look at these risk factors…

• Natural or surgical menopause
• Prolonged Hormone Replacement Therapy
• Previous fracture
• Medication use including steroids and hormones
• Caucasian or Asian descent
• Thin or small build
• Family history of osteoporosis
• Smoking
• Alcohol Abuse
• Inactive lifestyle
• Inadequate calcium intake