Dem bones - the big O, no not That o

[mimitabby]

A couple weeks ago my doctor told me that the bone on my hips was very close to being frail enough to be in the osteoporosis zone... Still osteopenia but JUST barely.
She told me to take vitamins, 1200 calcium, 500 vit d, b vitamins and boron.
Calcium Citrate is the best calcium, but i digress.
She also told me i have to do weight bearing exercise.
I started 20 minutes of going up and down stairs every day that i am at work.
10 minutes twice a day. I was already walking a mile a day.

Today I went to the company gym for the first time. it costs 25 dollars a month and they have everything except a pool.
A nice 20 something taught me how to do 4 exercises with bar-bells (including bicep curls) and one with a ball.

Unfortunately the gym is 95% men. That's 30 men and me. UGH! when I was in my 30's it was bad enough, but now i'm 55 and it's much worse.
hopefully the times i will be going it won't be too crowded.

So here I go on the exercise program.

She said "DON'T stop riding your bike!"

[IFjane]

Mimi - I had the same situation a few years ago - joining a gym and finding that there were no other women.

This year I bought the Graeme Street Cyclo Core & Cyclo Zen DVD's & am using his exercises. Some include hand weights (I'm using 10 lb. ones) & the ball. Others are just using your own body weight.

If the gym gets too uncomfortable for you maybe you could try something like that?

Good luck! -jane

[IFjane]

Addendum:

some of his workouts are BRUTAL so I'm not doing all of them....:rolleyes:

[mimitabby]

I'll try the gym for a bit for the free consultations... and I'm paid for a month now.

[chickwhorips]

good luck mimi. try not to think of them while your there. most everyone is worried about how they look and not you.

glad she said to keep riding!

[ClockworkOrange]

Coooooooo Mimi, don't jump up and down too much, 'cos you might just rattle!

Just keep taking the tablets............and riding that bike. Yup, getting older can be a real bummer, your not alone kiddo.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y272/Missbe/bighugs.png


Sally

[DebW]

Mimi, how do they know the calcium state of your bones? My doctor suggest a bone density test a couple years ago but I didn't follow up. What do they actually test for and how?

[mimitabby]

I did a full torso bone density test.
I laid down and extra low xrays zapped me. So low that the tech didn't wear a lead apron.
Then they analyzed them and two readings were taking. spinal and hip bone density. and there's a scale, normal, osteopena, osteoporosis. if your insurance will pay for this I highly recommend it.
it only took a couple minutes.

I've also had the heel test, where you stick your heel in a machine and it measures the density of the bone there. but it's not as accurate because it's not measuring the places where you usually have problems.

[Crankin]

Deb, have the bone density test!! I can't think of any reason not to. I found out I had osteopenia almost 6 yrs. ago, right about the time I was a new rider. I had been doing weight bearing exercise for years, but I have all the other risk factors: thin, white, family history. I tried Fosomax and it made me REALLy ill. I've been taking calcium supplements for over 20 years, too, but I hate milk, always have. So this year, after losing 4% of my bone mass since 2004, my doc put me on Evista and said to take Tums 3x a day. I will get checked again in September. She goes to my gym, so she knows what i do; but she said if i left it untreated, in 10 years if I had a bike crash, I could be permanantly disabled (you know, like those old ladies who never recover from a hip fracture?). This was about a week after my crash at the beginning of January, so now i am seriously listening. Doing my Graham Street core/weight work religiously and trying to hike a little more.

Mimi, how long did you commit to at your gym? Go look at some coe-ed ones! My gym is nothing like you describe.

[Bikingmomof3]

Good luck Mimi! I use free weights at home and my own body weight for resistance. I am not a gym person. I tried to like going to a gym, I really tried.

[spokewench]

Unfortunately the gym is 95% men. That's 30 men and me. UGH! when I was in my 30's it was bad enough, but now i'm 55 and it's much worse.
hopefully the times i will be going it won't be too crowded.

So here I go on the exercise program.

She said "DON'T stop riding your bike!"


Mimi: Look on the bright side. Are any of the guys good looking? Sometimes it's just fun looking! And, maybe, once you strike up a conversation, the guys will adopt you and make you their special project. Long time ago, I worked out in that sort of gym, and after a little chatting up, the boys were more than helpful.

[mimitabby]

i am only committed monthly. it's right where i work, my company owns the gym . There are 7:1 men to women that work here!!!!
If I have to drive very far, i guarantee i won't do it. So let me just try it with all these hairybacked men and see if I can stand it.

Deb, my grandmother had her hip replaced after a fall when she was 88. She got up and walked again even though she had O. but it's certainly NOT something to mess around with.

[five one]

I asked about a bone density test at my physical a year or so ago, since I was finally in menopause. Apparently my HMO (Kaiser) doesn't do them until age 60 unless there is family history. I don't have any history, but I would like to have a baseline before any damage shows up. Maybe I'll be a bit more insistent next time. I don't want to wait another five years. *Stomps foot*

My boss's mother is completely disabled from osteoporosis at age 80. Her spine has been slowly collapsing for years and she has a permanent morphine pump for the constant and severe pain she is in. I will do anything to avoid a terrible situation like that. Wish cycling were weight bearing. That would make things so much easier for me.

[mimitabby]

My boss's mother is completely disabled from osteoporosis at age 80. Her spine has been slowly collapsing for years and she has a permanent morphine pump for the constant and severe pain she is in. I will do anything to avoid a terrible situation like that. Wish cycling were weight bearing. That would make things so much easier for me.

wow, that's terrible.
Yes, it would make things so much easier for a lot of us if biking was considered weight bearing!

[hellosunshine]

my T score,whatever that is is -2.9 so theyve put me on the pill too,thats meant to help,im nearly 40.ive done weight for the last 3years,but more so and im always running up and down the stairs,think i walk the dog 1hr 20 a day too.loadsa milk etc etc..i believe its a condition we can HALT,this is good news.

[mimitabby]

Mimi: Look on the bright side. Are any of the guys good looking? Sometimes it's just fun looking! And, maybe, once you strike up a conversation, the guys will adopt you and make you their special project. Long time ago, I worked out in that sort of gym, and after a little chatting up, the boys were more than helpful.

Spoke,
i think thats more true when you and the guys are the same age... but i'm 55!!

some of them could call me granny!!
:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

but i'll try. today i'm going for the first time.

[IFjane]

So let me just try it with all these hairybacked men and see if I can stand it.



EEEEeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tuckervill]

I have a problem with working out around a bunch of guys, too. Especially if they're grunting. I go in the early mornings instead of the evenings, and that means the gym is much more empty.

But I also plug in the Ipod, so I can tune everyone else out.

I've been going enough now that I "know" some of the regulars, and they're all a non-issue. One of them came to my rescue this morning! I walked into the aerobics room to stretch, and I forgot there were two steps down. It must have been quite hysterical to see me disappear from the doorway like that! I hit the floor on elbows and knees, and this guy jumped off the spin bike he was riding and ran over to make sure I was okay. (I was.) I'm still laughing.

Karen

[koala]

Hi Mimi -- sorry to hear to the numbers were not good, but glad to hear you are doing something about it. Please be careful with the weights, and don't try to do too much too soon. I am trying to heal a shoulder injury right now from overly-enthusiastic weight-lifting. Too many reps of too much weight.

Also, did the doc suggest laying off sodas? Sodas leech calcium from the bones.

[Toni]

I went through menopause about 1 1/2 years ago....just had my BMD done 2 months ago and my spine is -2.1. I will start on Boniva (1 pill monthly) as soon as I finish up some dental work. As far as the weight bearing exercises I have decided on using "bands"....

http://www.power-systems.com/nav/closeup.aspx?c=16&g=1729&Premium/Versa-Tube®

The trainer that comes in monthly to talk to my weight management group uses the bands due to the low cost, lower risk of injury than free weights (if you don't know how to use free weights correctly:) ), and the equipment is very compact and easy to use. I really like them.

Good luck all!!!

[mimitabby]

Hi Mimi -- sorry to hear to the numbers were not good, but glad to hear you are doing something about it. Please be careful with the weights, and don't try to do too much too soon. I am trying to heal a shoulder injury right now from overly-enthusiastic weight-lifting. Too many reps of too much weight.

Also, did the doc suggest laying off sodas? Sodas leech calcium from the bones.

thanks Koala, i probably drink 6 servings of soda beverages a year.
I am doing 15 reps of various exercises using 2lb and 5 lb barbells.
no danger of overdoing it at this point, but thanks

Toni, i'll check out those bands, thanks.

[xeney]

My paternal grandmother had osteoporosis for as long as I knew her, way back in her 50s, and by the time she died in her late 80s she had tiny fractures all along her spine. She was only about 4'11 by the time I was born, but my dad tells me that originally she was about my height (5'6). So this is something I've always taken very seriously.

My mom, too. She's in her 60s and has been doing weight-bearing exercise for as long as I can remember, plus she had both of us taking calcium supplements long before they were recommended in every health magazine. Now that I'm pregnant I'm a dairy/leafy green vegetable fiend, on top of the calcium supps. My mom's bones are in good shape but she has worked really hard to keep them that way, so I am trying to follow her example, since (unlike her) I have a bad family history working against me. And my mom has still shrunk a little -- she was 5'8-5'9 when I was a kid, and now I'm almost as tall as she is.

[Brandi]

Mimitabby- If the gym doesn't work out for you we have something called curves here in our town. It is just for women. Just a suggestion.
A couple years ago my chiro said I could get ostioarthritis in my neck. Is that anything like what you guys are talking about. Or should I say are these things linked? Should I do a bone test or is this something different. I don't have a mom I can ask. Well I have a mother in law but she doesn't know.

[mimitabby]

Mimitabby- If the gym doesn't work out for you we have something called curves here in our town. It is just for women. Just a suggestion.
A couple years ago my chiro said I could get ostioarthritis in my neck. Is that anything like what you guys are talking about. Or should I say are these things linked? Should I do a bone test or is this something different. I don't have a mom I can ask. Well I have a mother in law but she doesn't know.

No, Brandi, Osteoarthritis is not the same as Osteoporosis.
Osteoarthritis has more to do with swelling and irritation where bones are not quite perfectly aligned due to injury or posture or repetition stress stuff.
Osteoporosis is a gradual thinning and weakening of the insides of the bone
due to some combination of genetics, diet, and activity levels.

[mudmucker]

I do have a general question on prevention.

I will be 47 this year. I have not reached the big M yet - I am still very regular but in the last couple of years, intermittently, I have had a few unusual months. Likely my body is beginning to react to an impending change. All my life, I have been athletic and fairly fit so there has been weight bearing stuff present. However in the last 5 years or so I have made a particularly greater and conscious effort to incorporate more weight bearing exercise (some lifting and some weekly running), and to consume more calcium in order to ward off the big O. I am doing this for good practice, maintenance and hopefully future prevention.

My question is for those of you who are a little ahead of me on this journey and have had more dialog with doctors; does my conscious effort to do weight bearing now, matter that much in terms of future loss once the estrogen levels get really low? I sense that it helps now, because I haven't gone through menopause yet and I still have cycles. But later? Does bone loss just begin to occur at a more rapid and uncontrollable rate after menopause and there's not much I can do to stop it other than medications or how I am genetically? Or can the weight bearing help after menopause in an attempt to slow everything down.

after losing 4% of my bone mass since 2004

Yikes!

[mimitabby]

I do have a general question on prevention.

I will be 47 this year. I have not reached the big M yet - I am still very regular but in the last couple of years, intermittently, I have had a few unusual months. Likely my body is beginning to react to an impending change. All my life, I have been athletic and fairly fit so there has been weight bearing stuff present. However in the last 5 years or so I have made a particularly greater and conscious effort to incorporate more weight bearing exercise (some lifting and some weekly running), and to consume more calcium in order to ward off the big O. I am doing this for good practice, maintenance and hopefully future prevention.

My question is for those of you who are a little ahead of me on this journey and have had more dialog with doctors; does my conscious effort to do weight bearing now, matter that much in terms of future loss once the estrogen levels get really low? I sense that it helps now, because I haven't gone through menopause yet and I still have cycles. But later? Does bone loss just begin to occur at a more rapid and uncontrollable rate after menopause and there's not much I can do to stop it other than medications or how I am genetically? Or can the weight bearing help after menopause in an attempt to slow everything down.

after losing 4% of my bone mass since 2004

Yikes!

YES. build bone now, while you still have estrogen. Bone is always coming or going, depending on what you're doing. It just goes away faster after you don't have the estrogen in your system. but do make sure you're taking enough calcium, vit D, the b vitamins and also BORON, just drinking milk isn't going to do it.
another trick, too much running will change the balance and cause you to lose bone. I think part of what is going on has to do with acid/alkalinity, i don't think they really understand yet. So everything in moderation

[mimitabby]

here's some exercises
http://www.citracal.com/press/press_releases_20051220.aspx



Press Releases
Osteoporosis International Publishes Study Showing
the "BEST" Way to Reduce Osteoporosis Risk
Weight-Bearing Regimen and Calcium Citrate Proven to Increase Bone
Mineral Density in Four-Year Research Study

Tuscon, AZ (December 20, 2005) —Osteoporosis International, the leading clinical publication on the disease, published in this month’s issue data from the Bone Estrogen Strength Training (BEST) Study at The University of Arizona which confirmed that a specific regimen of weight-bearing and resistance exercises, combined with calcium citrate supplement over four years, provided significant improvement in bone mineral density (BMD) of postmenopausal women at key skeletal sites, whether or not they were on hormone therapy (HT).
The findings from this four-year study indicate that the protective measures of adequate calcium supplementation and resistance exercise improve bone mineral density. Women can lose 10 to 20 percent of their BMD as they age, (80% of those affected by osteoporosis are women), but the researchers found that on average women following the exercise and calcium regimen not only did not lose bone density, but increased it by 1 to 2 percent.

“The good news is these long-term data confirmed the potent combination of improved nutrition and increased physical activity to prevent bone loss. The extended use of calcium supplementation and exercise counteracted the typical loss of BMD in women at this age, in a regimen that women really can stick with,” said Timothy Lohman, PhD, principal investigator for the study, director of the UA Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition (CPAN) and UA professor of physiology. “This is quite significant for younger women as well, as these exercises and calcium supplementation can help build peak BMD which may prevent health problems and osteoporosis in the future.”

BEST Study Co-Investigator Lauve Metcalfe, MS, director of Program Development and Community Outreach for CPAN and an exercise interventionist with the UA Department of Physiology, added, “What sets this regimen apart is the six specific exercises that help build bone in the wrist, hip and spine—three key fracture sites. This type of weight-bearing exercise now is proven to be beneficial and represents a shift in prior bone health recommendations. It previously was thought that any type of exercise was helpful, but now we understand that resistance and weight-bearing exercise are essential.”

BEST Study participants were coached in specific exercises aimed at building bone in key fracture points of the wrist, hip and spine. Mission Pharmacal Company supplied Citracal® calcium citrate for the study. Women were encouraged to take two Citracal® tablets twice a day, morning and evening, to ensure at least 800 mg of calcium. The balance of the remaining recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of 1,000 mg per day was to be supplied by their food intake. The women who regularly took the recommended level of 800 mg of calcium supplement daily and continued to consume calcium in their meals showed greater improvement than those who consumed less than the RDA, and women who kept up the with the exercises showed greater improvement than less frequent exercisers. In addition, the study reinforced evidence that long-term, consistent calcium intake and exercise are valuable, as they provided significant improvement in BMD.

The UA investigators developed the BEST regimen, which they found effective in building bone in typically vulnerable areas. The regimen includes six core exercises:
• Leg Press
• One-arm Military Press
• Seated Row
• Wall Squat and Smith Squat
• Back Extension
• Lat Pull Down
Study participants did two sets of six-to-eight repetitions, three times a week. Seven–to-ten minutes of cardiovascular weight-bearing activity, such as stair climbing, treadmill walking with a weighted vest and postural stretches, round out the study regimen. Participants lifted increasingly heavier weights, with the amount of weight lifted in correct form emphasized over number of repetitions.

Building BMD is important in preventing osteoporosis, which often results in fractures of the hip, spine and wrist. Adequate calcium intake and exercise throughout life help prevent bone loss, and these measures also can help the millions of Americans already diagnosed. The best treatment is prevention, and women of all ages should be concerned about their bone health and take action to stay active and improve their nutrition and bone strength.

[Crankin]

I'm afraid I might have to stop drinking coffee. It is the only addiction I have and caffeine is not good for bones. I have cut down (2-3 cups a day) and even drink tea once in awhile, but it's still caffeine. I never drink soda.
I can't imagine a life without caffeine!

Robyn