bones bones bones: osteoporosis and related concerns

Otter, (hi!) I'm with you on this...I am st ill osteopenic and here, (east coast) the thinking is that they are not treating osteopenia, merely waiting and seeing if it progresses.

Some osteopenia merely means "small boned, caucasian".  Doesn't mean it will become an issue. 

I do not get scans, but I do take calcium and D and do weight bearing exercise.  No biophosphates for me unless it becomes an issue.  Then perhaps.  The jury is out on those now.

Onc has recc'd scans, when asked "why", said to monitor.  I refused and said we'd do that every few years or so.  He was fine with it, they've really, really, backed away from the bone drugs around here after the San Antonio conference.  Many women yanked right off Zometa.

Hi All, Very happy to see a forum dedicated to osteoporosis, I have been looking for this in the past and wonder how come we did not have that yet. I would be interested to hear from you girls what kind of exercises you are doing to increase or maintain your bone density in the lumbar spine and hips other than weight bearing exercises. I know that weight bearing exercises such as jogging, jumping are good but would like to know what else would be good exercises.

Sig 

Dragging groceries home on foot helps on both counts!!!  But walking and weights is what I do.

I also cycle and claim trudging up hills with my bicycle as "cross training".  I x-country ski in the winter which fixes everything that might even consider drooping.  I get to test my bone density too as usually crash getting off the chairlift on my skis.  You don't have the control that you have with downhill skis.

When I had a house, there were other good ones: the shovel, stacking wood, carrying wet laundry out to the clothesline, having bathrooms on the bedroom floor, but drinking my AM tea in the kitchen.

One point we don't think about enough is that a lot of this issue stems from having engineered activity out of our lives.  One way to do better is reverse-engineer some of it back in.

Which is why I walked the mile back from Trader Joe's last night with 10 lb of groceries when my car is in perfect working order.

I ended up in PT for knee issues, and we extended the treatment to include osteoporosis counseling and training - My back isn't bad, but I have -3.5 osteoporosis in my forearms, so we are concentrating on light-weight training and high reps. The physical therapist is very helpful about positioning and patience, and slow-and-steady-wins-the-race.

I already had a personal trainer, who was also a registered dietician, but she really did not get the whole - these bones are FRAGILE thing. We had a plan that was heading me up to lifting 30 lbs (come from a very athletic family) 10 times, 2 times a day. I thought my PT would faint. Today, I have scaled back to 5 - and now to 7.5 lbs 20 times, X3 a day. [I do this 3 days a week, and take a break on the other day] And I swim.

There are physical therapists who have been specially trained to work with people with osteoporosis. You can ask at your gym.

And walk. Gently. DH holds the dog - all 40 bouncy lbs of her, as we don't want me pulled over. She tore his rotator cup as a puppy.

Heidihill, where you deposit fat on your body is genetically inherited, and that trait probably goes right along with a high percentage being small-boned & caucasian.

Signed,  A small-boned, caucasian woman, known to complain of her middle-aged belly fat!

I started physical therapy for "osteoporosis prescription" today. I am schedule for 3 sessions/week, initially for 1 mth,  2x/wk. in pool and 1x/wk. on land. Today was in pool to learn warmup routine and stretches. I was able to manage a fair amt. of resistance in water but was surprised to see that my body is noticeably less flexible and weaker on the left (cancer) side. I think this is going to be very helpful and a confidence builder....the fear of fracture impedes my activity more than I want to admit. The slow, intentional movement felt really good and the warm water made me really happy . 

Susan......I still have normal T scores, and I am over 60.  I am not planning on taking any bone building meds unless things really go south.   My scan was one year into Armiidex.

My knees were no bargain going into this experience, so Aspercreme and I were already tight.

Right now, need to up the walking some more but ankle/foot is still hurting from wiping out a month ago on my bicycle.  I did the Seattle-to-Portland and wore an ankle brace.

Here is a picture from 2 weeks ago entering Portland.  This was mile 194 of 204, on Day 2.

Good luck.  Really, this is about making sure we use our bodies. - Claire

I've only had one doctor who was interested in my osteoporosis. She was my OB/Gyn and doesn't take my new insurance---My internist spends all his time on his computer while I'm in his office. I tell him stuff and I suppose he is entering it all in his computer, but only get a "hm" once in a while. Then when I went for a bone scan he couldn't locate the copy the next time I saw him. Luckily I had one myself. My osteo had improved slightly on the Fosamax, so we are continuing that.

I saw my onc yesterday, first time since starting Aromasin. He didn't really want to discuss osteo either, just said to arrange bone density test with my internist and if bones not improved he'll give me the annual injection. Don't know about that! Since I don't have bad reactions to the Fosamax I'll just continue that. He also said insurance will only cover a bone density test every 2 years and he doesn't think I need a mammogram yet (the surgery was 6 months ago) He doesn't think Aromasin causes weight gain and wasn't aware there is a generic form. He, like the internist, are both very nice but don't seem that involved. Both tapping away on their computers the whole time. I even said to one of them, are you listening to me?  Heh heh

My upper arms are in desperate need of some muscles, they look terrible!  I'm thin but my muscles there are non-existent and I've been afraid to lift weights because of my fear of lymphedema. I don't have it and don't want to get it! Maybe you all were in better shape to begin with, but I wonder if it would be safe for me to start slowly.  It sure is working for you, Claire!

Good for you Claire - all that riding.  I like to run and try to do as much as possible unless I have hip pain (the doctor isn't thrilled about my running with 3 pins in my hip) but knows how important it is to me so said ok, but stop if you have hip pain.

 I have heard that by age 70 (I'm 75) a large percentage of muscle mass has been lost - but I think my arms are getting a little more muscular. My grandson has commented on my triceps!  That made my day.

About lymphedema. Years ago nobody talked about it so yes, I probably had it after my mastectomy, but I went back to running (9 minute pace in those days) as soon as possible and the swelling in my arm and down my side went away quickly. But now I've heard you are NOT supposed to exercise with lymphedema. I was running 45 miles a week at the time and am convinced the getting back to running helped me heal, physically and emotionally. A month after the surgery I did a 10K race (not fast, but I just wanted to try racing again and it was very satisfying). I was 46 during this time - gosh that seems so young now LOL

Did the ride, but the most obscure trailhead.  Behind something like Pacific Cataract and Laser Center, and then the sign said "Future Street".  But was graveled and the hole in the fence gave it away.

Had a similar situation with the trail itself as the two sections don't connect.  You would think with the $$$$$$$ they spent for the bridge over I-5, they could have invested in a couple more signs.

Anyway, had a wonderful time and did the 43 miles.

Was ravenous when I got home as didn't eat lunch and an energy bar + GU gel don't quite cut it with 43 miles.  Glad I brought a large bottle of water with me.

Suspect I will sleep well tonight.  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Soaked my sore "everything" after a major snack.

susandale,

i use trekking poles, too. But mostly downhill, when there's more impact anyway, or very steep uphill to help me climb up a big rock or something. There may be less impact on your knees, but you are putting more weight on your upper body, which also needs some attention.

Dear peggy_j, 

While you wait for more responses from the community, you may want to read the section on Osteoporosis on the main breastcancer.org site. 

We hope this helps.

The Mods