Hi everyone,
I received a call from my GYN this morning. I had a bone density test last week and she said it showed osteopenia in my left hip and osteoporosis in my lumbar spine. I am shocked by this. I had the test done is 2008, right before I got sick, and it showed a little bit of something in my left hip. Nothing to be worried about.

I'm shocked because I never thought I would get osteoporosis due to many many years of exercising and being very healthy about my life.

Just another thing to add to my list!

My meds are
Cymbalta
Tramadol
Synthyroid

Supplements:
Krill oil
R lipoid acid
Coq10
Probiotic

I gave up calcium and vitamin D two years ago after the results of my hair analyses showed my calcium levels were really high. I had that test done by my shiatsu therapist. As for D, I drink a a glass of almond milk every morning. I am outside all the time when it is nice out. I stopped this when my doctors at Hopkins told me to stop all vitamins they were not necessary. I know I had my levels checked several times and D was good.

My questions:
Could any of my meds or supplements cause this?
Could this have anything to do with me getting neuropathy? Could this be caused my having neuropathy?

Any answers will be appreciated.

I'm also going to do research just thought I check with those I consider the experts first!

SSRIs and osteoporosis: (relatively new finding)...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22659406

If your thyroid medication is too high, there can be bone loss too.

B12 if low will result in bone loss too.

Article:
http://depts.washington.edu/druginfo...iles/V34N8.pdf

Thanks Mrs. D.
I'm going to get an appt with my GP and ask for a blood test for B12,

calcium, magnesium, thyroid, Vit D.

I'm also going to speak with my rheumatologist about the cymbalta and whether

it should be changed. I just don't know what to change to. It was really the first

Thing that worked for me. I'm afraid to stop.

Is there anything else you can think o f that I should ask about?

Thanks for your help! Hopeful

Hi Hopeful
I have had Osteopenia for quite some years, mostly in my hips. I have had bone densety tests done fairly routinely. My PCP years ago, and a rheumatologist 2 years prescribed meds for this, but I never took it. And just very recently I have developed Inflamatory Arthritis, and X Ray of wrists and hands now are showing Osteopenia and Degenerative Joint Disease. My rheumatologist thinks perhaps the neuropathy is coming from this arthritis.

I think that all this " bone conditions" like osteopenia ( which is pre-osteoporosis),osteoporosis and arthritis can have close relation to peripheral neuropathy.


Well Mrs D, thanks so much for the information. I just read the article from University of Washington on " Drug Therapy Topics".
This was very interesting and informative.
I had no knowlege that all those meds could cause osteoporosis. The worst part of it ( for me) is that I take most of them I take antidepressant Amitriptyline for neuropathy ( I do not know if this one is included?), I take Synthroid Methatrexate, and some times Prednisone. Of course, I did know that Prednisone can cause, and perhaps mostly always will, cause boneloss.

By the way, Prednisone can also cause cataract, BIG TIME!! I just had a very fast growing cataracts in both eyes just after a course of high dose Prednisone. Now I have to have cataract surgery.
I wish we did not have to take all these meds.

All the best
Synnove

Doc

Haha very funny Dr. Smith!!!

Hi Synnove,

It seems like you are on a lot of the same meds I am. I also get 20mgs of solumedrol with my IVIG Rx every month. Not sure if that is enough to cause bone issues.

I always check the side affects of any medication before I take it. I don't remember ever seeing bone loss as a s/e. I looked up the s/e of cymbalta on several sites today and they still have not listed bone loss. You would think once they find something like that out they would insist the drug company make it known. I suppose it all comes down to money.

Thanks for the info on the prednisone too. I didn't know about the cataracts.
Hoeful

--when calcium levels have been recorded high in the past, but there is evidence of bone loss, to check the functioning of the parathryroid glands as well--these are the little glands embedded in the thyroid whose function is to regulate calcium metabolism.

It's certainly not uncommon, due to the action of medications or hyperplasia, for the parathyroids to produce too much hormone and cause blood levels of calcium to rise--and often, in response to the dysregulated hormone feedback, the body will leach calcium from bone to restore the serological balance. (And yes, this was me--despite all the weightlifting and such I do, at one point due to high parathyroid hormone I had high ionized calcium levels and a degree of osteopenia; last year I finally had surgery to remove two hyperplastic glands.)

You may want to look at vitamin K2. Here's a link on the connection to K2 and bone loss.

http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/.fulltext/14/3/284.pdf

Make sure you are not taking any B vitamins when you get tested or it will ruin the results.

Also, the MMA test is better than ONLY a serum B12 test.