osteoporosis, calcium supplements and calcium paradox

Posted by melia7 @melia7, Mar 9, 2023

Hello, I am prescribed to take alendronic acid with vitamin D3 for my osteoporosis. I take also calcium 1000mg for a long time. However, I have also high cholesterol (about 6,9) and I wonder about negative effect of such medication on my blood vessels. I have searched the literature and found that osteoporosis itself can cause calcification of vessels. Calcium supplements are found in some articles to cause the progression of aorta calcification. So, the question is if your doctors are recommending you to take calcium supplements or not?

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@rhubymama

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9403798/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8067793/
Your endocrinologist is correct. Vitamin K is not what they originally thought.

Image below did not upload correctly and I couldn’t delete.

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Thank you , My family Dr recommended it . I think he needs to update . Lol

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Hello rhubymama,

the link that you posted is very illuminating! I have read the article by Schwalfenberg and feel now that my decision about the therapy is more autonomous. Thank you so much. I worked as a biochemist in the past and it help me now a lot to understand articles. The mentioned article claims that the joint action of vitamin K2 and calcium can have comparable effects to the therapy by bisphosphonates. My mistake was that because of my high cholesterol I excluded foods containing vitamin K : butter, yolks, many animal products.

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@pami

I was told by my doctor that you should get all your calcium naturally. I drink cow's milk, eat cheese sticks, eat yogurt, eat vegetables high in calcium, salmon with bones and other natural foods high in calcium. I keep track of what I eat up to 1200 mg of calcium. It must work. This past year my bone density increased from 4.1 to 3.6. (I am also on Prolia.) My blood work done 3 weeks ago showed a normal calcium level. I also take 1,000 IU of Vitamin D daily and 200 mcg of Vitamin K2 MK7.

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Hello @pami
your information is very encouraging. It helped me to feel psychologically better and also makes easier now to choose among therapies. Good luck to you and all participants of this forum!

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@fearfracture

My endocrinologist told me to take 1200 mg of calcium supplements daily. I followed his advice and did that for about 3 yrs. Then I started doing my own research and learned that you are right only supposed to get a total of 1200-1500 mg of calcium per day. So I started keeping track of the calcium in my diet and supplement accordingly. I get most of my calcium from dairy and now I usually only take about 350 to 400 mg of calcium in supplemental form.

From what I’ve read calcium from your diet doesn’t cause the issues you listed, it’s supplements that potentially can cause those problems. Also, supposedly if you are getting plenty of vitamin D and K2 and magnesium then the calcium supplements shouldn’t cause problems. In addition to 350-400 mg calcium I also take vitamin D, k2, magnesium, and boron.

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Hello, how much magnesium is advised to take and how much boron?

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@melia7

Hello, how much magnesium is advised to take and how much boron?

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I currently take 3.5 mg of boron but I think most ppl say 3 mg is fine. https://www.betterbones.com/bone-nutrition/boron-for-bone-health/
I was taking 3 mg of boron daily but recently started taking Jarrow’s BoneUp as one of my calcium supplements. 1 serving of BoneUp is 2 pills and contains 1 mg of Boron. I only take 1/2 serving or 1 pill, that’s were I get the extra 1/2 mg of boron from.

For magnesium, I’ve read that if you take calcium supplements you should supplement your magnesium by 50% of the amount of calcium you take. Ex. if you take 500 mg of calcium via supplements you should take 250 mg of magnesium. If you take any medications, you need to make sure it’s safe to take magnesium, just ask your pharmacist. Too much magnesium can cause nausea/diarrhea, which is actually a pretty easy way to find out if you are over doing it. I’m currently taking approximately 183 mg of magnesium daily. Again, the odd number is because of the Jarrow’s BoneUp. I had been taken 200 mg of magnesium citrate, but the BoneUp contains 83.35 mg of magnesium per pill, so when I started taking the BoneUp, I reduced the magnesium citrate to 100 mg.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33959846/
I recommend doing a little research before adding magnesium to figure out what form would be best for you.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/magnesium-dosage#types

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My endocrinologist at Stanford told me they recently found that calcium does not deposit in the arteries. She also said that too much supplemented calcium can cause kidney stones. Not sure what to think.
How much K do most of you take?

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Candy, this is a wonderful news about calcium not affecting arteries. As to me I started to take vitamin K 2 thanks to this forum, a week ago. My vitamin D3 K2 supplement is produced by Green Sun, and contains 75mkg K2, and 2000 IU D3.

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In Japan, vitamin K is prescribed at 45 mg a day. There is a calcium product, Osteo K that has that amount in it. My functional medicine doctor wants me on 22-45 mg a day. My rheumatologist said 45 mg a day was fine. So, even though that dosage is HUGE, that’s what I’m taking. I also take calcium citrate, 1000 mg, magnesium 500 mg and Vit D, 10,000 IU(my levels were extremely low).

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With the advice of my doctor after testing, I’ve been taking Ultra K2, 15,000 mcg daily, 1 pill, plus D3, 100 mcg, 2 pills daily both in the morning. For magnesium, I take 4 pills for a total of 480 mg nightly. And for magnesium I take 4 pills for a total of 480 mg at night which also helps with sleep.

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@fearfracture

I currently take 3.5 mg of boron but I think most ppl say 3 mg is fine. https://www.betterbones.com/bone-nutrition/boron-for-bone-health/
I was taking 3 mg of boron daily but recently started taking Jarrow’s BoneUp as one of my calcium supplements. 1 serving of BoneUp is 2 pills and contains 1 mg of Boron. I only take 1/2 serving or 1 pill, that’s were I get the extra 1/2 mg of boron from.

For magnesium, I’ve read that if you take calcium supplements you should supplement your magnesium by 50% of the amount of calcium you take. Ex. if you take 500 mg of calcium via supplements you should take 250 mg of magnesium. If you take any medications, you need to make sure it’s safe to take magnesium, just ask your pharmacist. Too much magnesium can cause nausea/diarrhea, which is actually a pretty easy way to find out if you are over doing it. I’m currently taking approximately 183 mg of magnesium daily. Again, the odd number is because of the Jarrow’s BoneUp. I had been taken 200 mg of magnesium citrate, but the BoneUp contains 83.35 mg of magnesium per pill, so when I started taking the BoneUp, I reduced the magnesium citrate to 100 mg.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33959846/
I recommend doing a little research before adding magnesium to figure out what form would be best for you.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/magnesium-dosage#types

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I had a TERRIBLE time with magnesium..tried several then saw a video that explains all the types and tried Malate. No issues at all! You are right..takes a bit of testing to see!

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