Has your doctor suggested dosing for Calcium and Vitamin D during ADT?

Posted by jime51 @jime51, Sep 4 11:29pm

My oncologist has suggested that taking Calcium and Vitamin D during treatment is helpful, but not type or amount. I'm currently taking 1200 mg Calcium Citrate and 50 mcg Vitamin D daily. Is this adequate?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

Profile picture for Dean Gibson @dkgibson

After my RARP & on ADT, my bone density fell to just over the osteopenia line. My doctor recommended calcium supplements, but since I like milk, I now drink 24oz of low-fat milk daily, & that raised my bone density just enough to come back over the line to normal.

Your mileage may vary.

Jump to this post

See below

REPLY
Profile picture for Dean Gibson @dkgibson

After my RARP & on ADT, my bone density fell to just over the osteopenia line. My doctor recommended calcium supplements, but since I like milk, I now drink 24oz of low-fat milk daily, & that raised my bone density just enough to come back over the line to normal.

Your mileage may vary.

Jump to this post

Some studies have found an association between high consumption of dairy products, including low-fat milk, and an increased risk of developing prostate cancer. While the findings are not entirely consistent across all studies, there are enough concerns that some clinicians may recommend reducing or eliminating dairy intake for men at higher risk.

Drinking nonfat milk does not have the same problem.

REPLY

1. Some of the studies are about whole milk increasing the risk of prostate cancer are over a lifetime of consumption. Other studies don't show this association. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8255404/
2. I'm in my eighties, & I already have the cancer or what is left of it.
3. I increased milk consumption after the prostate was removed.
4. I'm not drinking whole milk.
5. These are not controlled studies, meaning that there is no way to know what other foods are being taken or avoided with milk lovers. Maybe it's the potential of increased risk of obesity with the fat in milk. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1550782/
6. Now that I'm off ADT, my PSA is decreasing. No one knows why. I suspect it is because I have (intentionally) lost 18 lbs in the last four months, but who knows. My BMI is now in the normal range. https://www.cedars-sinai.org/blog/weight-loss-key-in-fighting-prostate-cancer.html
7. Some of the same studies show that increased consumption of milk decreases the risk of colon cancer, which I don't have. You can't win, but at least I am at decreased risk of bone fractures.
8. My two oncologists have said nothing about my increased consumption of milk, but I will see one of them in a week, & I will ask.

REPLY
Profile picture for Dean Gibson @dkgibson

1. Some of the studies are about whole milk increasing the risk of prostate cancer are over a lifetime of consumption. Other studies don't show this association. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8255404/
2. I'm in my eighties, & I already have the cancer or what is left of it.
3. I increased milk consumption after the prostate was removed.
4. I'm not drinking whole milk.
5. These are not controlled studies, meaning that there is no way to know what other foods are being taken or avoided with milk lovers. Maybe it's the potential of increased risk of obesity with the fat in milk. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1550782/
6. Now that I'm off ADT, my PSA is decreasing. No one knows why. I suspect it is because I have (intentionally) lost 18 lbs in the last four months, but who knows. My BMI is now in the normal range. https://www.cedars-sinai.org/blog/weight-loss-key-in-fighting-prostate-cancer.html
7. Some of the same studies show that increased consumption of milk decreases the risk of colon cancer, which I don't have. You can't win, but at least I am at decreased risk of bone fractures.
8. My two oncologists have said nothing about my increased consumption of milk, but I will see one of them in a week, & I will ask.

Jump to this post

It’s a fat in low fat milk that’s bad for you. Sure, if you don’t mind that they find that the fat in milk can make prostate cancer more aggressive, it’s your overall survival. You’re drinking a lot of that milk. and it is not recommended by the experts.

If you keep it up your PSA may not stay down. I am 77 and I sure wouldn’t do it. Here are some evidence and there’s a lot more. The AMOUNT you are drinking is really unsafe.
https://news.llu.edu/research/new-study-associates-intake-of-dairy-milk-with-greater-risk-of-prostate-cancer
Our findings add important weight to other evidence associating dairy products, rather than non-dairy calcium, as a modifiable risk factor for prostate cancer,” said Gary Fraser, MBChB, PhD, the study's principal investigator and professor at Loma Linda University School of Medicine and School of Public Health.
https://www.healthline.com/health/prostate-cancer/milk-prostate-cancer#research
Research has shown that men who consume a lot of milk are more likely to develop prostate cancer than men who don't eat calcium-heavy diets. An older study ® published in 1998 found evidence that men who drank more than two glasses of milk a day were at higher risk of advanced prostate cancer than men who did not consume that much milk. Whole milk seems o to cause the highest increase in risk, although studies have also found a GREATER RISK ASSOCIATED WITH LOW-FAT MILK.

REPLY

Yes my husband takes both daily and did from the beginning!

REPLY
Profile picture for jeff Marchi @jeffmarc

It’s a fat in low fat milk that’s bad for you. Sure, if you don’t mind that they find that the fat in milk can make prostate cancer more aggressive, it’s your overall survival. You’re drinking a lot of that milk. and it is not recommended by the experts.

If you keep it up your PSA may not stay down. I am 77 and I sure wouldn’t do it. Here are some evidence and there’s a lot more. The AMOUNT you are drinking is really unsafe.
https://news.llu.edu/research/new-study-associates-intake-of-dairy-milk-with-greater-risk-of-prostate-cancer
Our findings add important weight to other evidence associating dairy products, rather than non-dairy calcium, as a modifiable risk factor for prostate cancer,” said Gary Fraser, MBChB, PhD, the study's principal investigator and professor at Loma Linda University School of Medicine and School of Public Health.
https://www.healthline.com/health/prostate-cancer/milk-prostate-cancer#research
Research has shown that men who consume a lot of milk are more likely to develop prostate cancer than men who don't eat calcium-heavy diets. An older study ® published in 1998 found evidence that men who drank more than two glasses of milk a day were at higher risk of advanced prostate cancer than men who did not consume that much milk. Whole milk seems o to cause the highest increase in risk, although studies have also found a GREATER RISK ASSOCIATED WITH LOW-FAT MILK.

Jump to this post

There are multiple conflicting studies on this, & you are taking a one-sided approach.

That's your privilege, but please stop haranguing me on this.

REPLY
Profile picture for beaquilter @beaquilter

Yes my husband takes both daily and did from the beginning!

Jump to this post

If you don’t mind my asking how much of each does he take? My husband just started his ADT.

REPLY
Profile picture for ucla2025 @ucla2025

If you don’t mind my asking how much of each does he take? My husband just started his ADT.

Jump to this post

2000iu of vitamin D and 1300mg Calcium daily

REPLY

Just wanted to add this info :

Many leafy green vegetables and other plant-based foods contain more calcium than milk, including kale, collard greens, bok choy, mustard greens, broccoli, and okra. Other high-calcium foods include fortified tofu, chia seeds, and figs.

I personally excluded milk and milk products from my husband's diet and he is not missing those one bit.

PS: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8822143/

REPLY

Medical oncologist suggested multivitamin in passing at start of adt. After 23 months adt I have)-1.7 osteopenia. Something not mentioned I also had zero b12. After some time now with supplementation it is normal. I think no b12 was a factor in my fatigue

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.