Has anybody being using a powder called bone balance ?
I have osteopenia due to ADT and Zytiga and have just started this.
It can be added to drinks yoghurts etc
It would be useful to hear of any other methods used for bone health.
Has anybody being using a powder called bone balance ?
I have osteopenia due to ADT and Zytiga and have just started this.
It can be added to drinks yoghurts etc
It would be useful to hear of any other methods used for bone health.
Welcome @tott123. Osteoporosis can be a complication of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer. I'm glad that both you and @spryguy were being monitored and that the bone loss was discovered in the osteopenia phase before full blown osteoporosis.
What guidance did you get from your cancer team regarding lifestyle ways to avoid further bone loss, like diet, exercise, or treatments that help? Are you still taking ADT?
What percentage of prostate cancer men develop osteopenia while on ADT? I've been on leuprolide for one year. I just had a Dexa scan and found out I have osteopenia, and apparently I will now always have it. Blue Cross wouldn't cover the costs so I had to pay for the test on my own. Why doesn't insurance cover Dexa scans for men? I believe they do cover women who have breast cancer and are on a similar hormone therapy.
I have been on ADT(Lupron &Erleda) for 3 years now. I recently had compression fractures in 3 vertebrae. It took many emergency visits before my diagnosis via MRI. I had Kyphoplasty and pain now is low. It was 10+. Even strong meds didn’t help. Only pain relief was bed rest lying on my back. My bone scans we’re good and I took calcium and D3.
I'd throw the BS penalty flag on your insurance company for denying the scan, appeal, if your medical team is worth a darn they'll either do it or help you craft it.
Ideally you should have had one at the start then a subsequent one to compare and use in decision making. That's the past so you can't fix that. But, you have one now to use n discussions and any treatment decisions with your medical team.
So, maybe knowing your fracture risk which your medical team can calculate combined with your scan and lifestyle can guide you and your medical team in a treatment decision for your bone health.
What percentage of prostate cancer men develop osteopenia while on ADT? I've been on leuprolide for one year. I just had a Dexa scan and found out I have osteopenia, and apparently I will now always have it. Blue Cross wouldn't cover the costs so I had to pay for the test on my own. Why doesn't insurance cover Dexa scans for men? I believe they do cover women who have breast cancer and are on a similar hormone therapy.
@mark47, welcome. I hope you saw the helpful posts from @starman and @kujhawk1978. I agree with @kujhawk1978 that you should see if you can contest your insurance company to get coverage for Dexa scans. You oncologist or an oncology social worker can help with that. Here's more info about oncology social workers (a service many cancer patients are not aware of).
What lifestyle or medication approaches have been suggested for you to prevent osteopenia from progressing to osteoporosis? Do you see an endocrinologist?
Hi Colleen, thank you for writing with ideas.
I did see Kevin's post and will look for the other one that you mentioned.
You are right. I didn't know there were oncology social workers, so I will check that out.
I'm also not seeing an endocrinologist. If the CancerCare Center doesn't have one, I can check with the OSF Health System that is part of my health plan.
My oncologist said I could increase the two pills of Calcium +D3 I've been taking over the last year to three pills a day, spread out, limit the amount of alcohol I drink, limit the amount of sugar, don't smoke, don't use steroids, and do weight-bearing exercises every day. It's a bit disheartening because I've been doing these things for the last year, and here I am sitting with a T-score of -1.8. Every morning I go on a brisk hour-long walk, and I lift hand weights. Maybe I should include barbells.
I wish we had done a Dexa Scan when I first started leuprolide a year ago because then we would have known if I already had osteopenia and could have done more to prevent the leuprolide from making it worse. I think I have to wait for two years for the next Dexa Scan to see if everything is working. It seems to me that if you are having a bone density problem that you could get the Dexa more often. Can I?
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Having good results with Zolodex for years Soon Enzalutamide for some metastasis to limit it
No Flomax needed in my case Just get up and pee sitting down and hunch over to void more then back to sleep
Has anybody being using a powder called bone balance ?
I have osteopenia due to ADT and Zytiga and have just started this.
It can be added to drinks yoghurts etc
It would be useful to hear of any other methods used for bone health.
@tott123, I'm not familiar with bone balance. You may be interested in this related discussion in the Osteoporosis & Bone Health support group:
- Bone Supplements: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/bone-supplements/
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1 ReactionWhat percentage of prostate cancer men develop osteopenia while on ADT? I've been on leuprolide for one year. I just had a Dexa scan and found out I have osteopenia, and apparently I will now always have it. Blue Cross wouldn't cover the costs so I had to pay for the test on my own. Why doesn't insurance cover Dexa scans for men? I believe they do cover women who have breast cancer and are on a similar hormone therapy.
I have been on ADT(Lupron &Erleda) for 3 years now. I recently had compression fractures in 3 vertebrae. It took many emergency visits before my diagnosis via MRI. I had Kyphoplasty and pain now is low. It was 10+. Even strong meds didn’t help. Only pain relief was bed rest lying on my back. My bone scans we’re good and I took calcium and D3.
I'd throw the BS penalty flag on your insurance company for denying the scan, appeal, if your medical team is worth a darn they'll either do it or help you craft it.
Go to the NCCN guidelines, you'll find those say men with prostate cancer and on ADT - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37856213/
Ideally you should have had one at the start then a subsequent one to compare and use in decision making. That's the past so you can't fix that. But, you have one now to use n discussions and any treatment decisions with your medical team.
There are tools to determine risk for fractures which can guide treatment decisions.
https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/JCO.19.03148#:~:text=For%20men%20with%20nonmetastatic%20prostate,bisphosphonate%20is%20a%20reasonable%20option.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3427033/
I have been on ADT twice, have had baselines scans. Based on those and my lifestyle, I do almost daily resistance training, my medical team has only put me on a small vitamin daily supplement.
So, maybe knowing your fracture risk which your medical team can calculate combined with your scan and lifestyle can guide you and your medical team in a treatment decision for your bone health.
Kevin
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3 Reactions@mark47, welcome. I hope you saw the helpful posts from @starman and @kujhawk1978. I agree with @kujhawk1978 that you should see if you can contest your insurance company to get coverage for Dexa scans. You oncologist or an oncology social worker can help with that. Here's more info about oncology social workers (a service many cancer patients are not aware of).
- How an Oncology Social Worker Can Help https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/cancer-education-center/newsfeed-post/how-an-oncology-social-worker-can-help/
What lifestyle or medication approaches have been suggested for you to prevent osteopenia from progressing to osteoporosis? Do you see an endocrinologist?
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2 ReactionsHi Colleen, thank you for writing with ideas.
I did see Kevin's post and will look for the other one that you mentioned.
You are right. I didn't know there were oncology social workers, so I will check that out.
I'm also not seeing an endocrinologist. If the CancerCare Center doesn't have one, I can check with the OSF Health System that is part of my health plan.
My oncologist said I could increase the two pills of Calcium +D3 I've been taking over the last year to three pills a day, spread out, limit the amount of alcohol I drink, limit the amount of sugar, don't smoke, don't use steroids, and do weight-bearing exercises every day. It's a bit disheartening because I've been doing these things for the last year, and here I am sitting with a T-score of -1.8. Every morning I go on a brisk hour-long walk, and I lift hand weights. Maybe I should include barbells.
I wish we had done a Dexa Scan when I first started leuprolide a year ago because then we would have known if I already had osteopenia and could have done more to prevent the leuprolide from making it worse. I think I have to wait for two years for the next Dexa Scan to see if everything is working. It seems to me that if you are having a bone density problem that you could get the Dexa more often. Can I?
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Helpful -
Hug
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