What is Postmenopausal Osteoporosis?

My mother and grandmother both had osteoporosis so I am trying to do everything I can to prevent osteoporosis in my body.

I am doing all the recommended things like taking extra calcium, getting exercise and had my first bone test done a year ago. At that time everything looked good, but because of my family history, I will have this checked more frequently than some.

I know that none of these things are a guarantee, but they can at least keep me tuned in to what is going on, and I feel better knowing I am doing everything I can to prevent this from happening to me.

I feel better when I exercise anyway, and there are a lot more benefits to this than just trying to prevent osteoporosis.

While taking calcium supplements and participating in weight bearing exercise is very important, it still does not mean you will not get osteoporosis.

Many times there are not any physical signs of osteoporosis, and you will only know through testing. That is one reason it is important to get tested before you even go through menopause.

This thinking is similar to getting a baseline mammogram at 40 years old, so you have something to compare to as you age and any changes can been seen and dealt with right away.

My mother developed post menopausal osteoporosis even after taking calcium supplements for many years. This was discovered when she had a bone density test done several years after she had been through menopause.

There are several medications and more options available today than there were several years ago. My doctor recommends every female have a bone density test done starting at age 50. This way they can observe any changes and help you get early treatment if needed.

There are a number of methods for treatment of osteoporosis. It's good to start them even before menopause begins. I was a little late in starting some of them - but it's never too late.

I try to keep my pH level balanced. I now eat lots of fruits and vegetables, which are mostly alkaline and less acidic food, like meat, sugar,and processed foods. This keeps calcium in the bone.

Supplements are important - I take calcium, vitamin D, vitamin K and a vitamin/mineral supplement.

I try to do weight-bearing exercises two to three times a week for about 30 minutes. Stressing the bone and muscles add bone-building strength.

It's not easy, but reducing physical and emotional stress can put your body in a better situation to hold bone loss in check.

@Clairdelune - Thanks a lot for the information you posted. I also have osteoporosis. I take calcium everyday, but no one told me that it was necessary to take vitamin D to make it work. I'm going to call my doctor tomorrow.

I have been doing weight exercises about two times a week. I am due to have my yearly bone scan soon, and I hope it shows some improvement, or at least is staying the same.

Good luck! This is an awful condition.

Soon after menopause, my doctor suggested that I have a bone scan to check for osteoporosis. Sure enough, my bone density was lower than it should be. I was told I should take calcium to try to build up my bones quicker than they were losing density.

In addition, you need to take adequate vitamin D supplements too, so that the calcium will be absorbed and made useful for bone building.

I asked myself why I got it. After reading some on the subject, I found that studies showed that it could be hereditary. After talking to relatives, I found that quite a few of the women had postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Having small bones is another factor. My relatives are all from north European ancestry, and they are generally small-boned.

By the way, it's not just a women's disease. Men are prone to getting osteoporosis after age 80.

I know that osteoporosis runs in my family pretty badly, and I would like to explore different methods to prevent it if I can.

I addressed this with my doctor and she told me that I needed to take a calcium supplement. I went out and got a bottle and commenced to taking it every evening before bed.

I was really proud of myself for taking a step to prevent something that can be really potentially bad.

Then I hear that taking a calcium supplement does you no good whatsoever if you aren’t taking the right kind of supplement. It has to be one that your body can readily absorb. Then I heard that combining calcium with Vitamin D will help your body absorb it.

I am so disgusted with this whole mess. Why in the world would pharmaceutical companies market a form of calcium that doesn’t help people in the first place? If you need to combine two supplements to make one work, why not just do it to begin with?

I’m not even sure if anything that I heard is true. I sure would appreciate it if someone could help me understand what I truly need to be doing for my future health.

My grandmother developed postmenopausal osteoporosis. She didn’t know it though until she was walking down the road with one of her great grand’s, stepped down the wrong way and broke her foot.

She was diagnosed right after a bone density scan, and given an experimental medication that was supposed to harden her bones tremendously. Whether it worked or not is hard to say because it was pulled off of the market shortly thereafter.

Now, she takes some sort of a pill, but she has still broken her ribs, her back and other various small bones since.

This is a terrible disorder than can bring elderly women in particular a lot of pain and discomfort. I wish more could be done to help relieve the symptoms as well as the actual disorder.