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July 11, 2006

DEXA T-Scores After Strontium Citrate

Thought I would post the results of my latest DEXA bone density scan. Good and bad news. Here are my T-scores for 4 different scans over the last 5 years......

Spine:

-2.7 (2001)

-3.1 (2002)

-3.1 with Advacal (2004)

-2.8 with Advacal and strontium (2006)

Femur:

-3.2 (2001)

-2.2 (2002)

-1.9 with Advacal (2004)

-2.3 with Advacal and strontium (2006)

So the spine got better and the femur got a worse since the last scan (third). But overall since the first scan I’m pretty much holding my own from where I started with the spine, and the femur has gone from osteoporosis to osteopenia.

I do have to say that I have only been taking the strontium correctly for a few months. I knew not to take it with calcium, but thought you were supposed to take it with meals. Not correct. I was taking it away from calcium supplements but with meals, and probably was not getting all the benefits. I only corrected it in the last few months and have been doing it in the morning an hour before breakfast. Dr.Hoffman (below) says take it at night so I may switch to that. (Always take more calcium than strontium.)

I really hoped for and expected better results, but am going to continue to take it. (If I had gotten these results after knowing that I had taken it correctly the whole time, I might have decided to quit.) Also there is no acceptable alternative for me now that the Fosamax and related drug stories are out about the jaw necrosis problem.

Dr. Ronald Hoffman: "Strontium is available as strontium carbonate, strontium chloride, strontium sulfate, strontium gluconate and strontium citrate. In clinical research strontium gluconate was absorbed better than strontium carbonate. It is my clinical opinion that strontium citrate is absorbed better than the other forms of this mineral. Remember that strontium is very closely related to calcium. They both utilize the same carrier protein for transport. Calcium will win this tug of war effortlessly. The take home message is to take strontium 4 hours away from calcium (preferably other minerals as well) before bed. Currently, I dose strontium at 681mg in one dose prior to bed (each strontium citrate capsule contains 227mg of pure strontium citrate = 3 capsules) on an empty stomach (defined as 2 hours after a meal)." (drhoffman.com)

Note: I'm contributing to the new Got Bones blog if you want more information about bone health.

Posted by laura at 7:26 PM | Comments (32)

April 14, 2006

Fosamax Lawsuits

This news story is very distressing. There are lawsuits by women claiming Fosamax causes osteonecrosis of the jawbone.

"The osteoporosis drug Fosamax is under fire, with reports linking its long term use to a condition causing patients' jawbones to rot and die. That disease is called osteonecrosis (ONJ) and it caused Gwendolyn Wolfe to develop ONJ." (wate.com)

Oh great! A rotting jawbone?!!! I sure am glad I continued to resist doctors who wanted me to take this. As I stated before, my mother took it and ended up with problems swallowing. Just what she needed when she was dying from breast cancer!

Check out a copy of Overdosed America by John Abramson, M.D., (or just go in a bookstore and read). The chapters on hormones, osteoporosis and Fosamax are very eye opening. His website has an excerpt from the book on Fosamax… click on Chapter 13.

I'm finally going back on Wednesday for a follow-up bone density to see if the strontium is working. (I take strontium citrate.) I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!

Note: I'm contributing to the new bone health blog if you want more information about Fosamax.

Posted by laura at 2:10 PM | Comments (0)