I just started taking Vitamin D and Biotin. I noticed hair loss and realized I was probably deficient in D and my derm confirmed. I take Nature Made 4000 iu a day of the D3 and 5000 mcg of Biotin in the morning with breakfast, which is a cafe-au-lait. You should take the D with your largest meal according to what I have read, but done is better than perfect.

I should be down to 2000 iu of D3 when my D levels get back to normal. My derm thinks 6 months should do the trick.

I am looking for a good multivitamin with plenty of Bs. Someone here once mentioned Emergen-C.

Multi-vitamin and Biotin gummies.

Check into a prescription called Fosteum Plus. It actually make my osteopenia turn to normal, and my osteoporosis turn to osteopenia in ONE year! Your doctor, which probably has never heard of it gives you a prescription and you send that to an online pharmacy. I used to be able to get it at Walgreens, but no longer. You take it twice a day. It is definitely worth checking into. They had a coupon that used to make it $45 a month at Walgreens, now the price is the same if you order online.

My father was diagnosed with osteopenia and similar to frankginakay had a fantastic return to normal with a prescription. I'm not certain what it was called, but it seems likely that it's the same or similar.

I also wanted to remind people that in addition to calcium and vitamin D, weight bearing exercise is very important to prevent osteoporosis. Weight lifting, running, and hiking are all great for helping keep your bones strong. Other exercise choices like swimming and biking may not have the same benefits (though there are other benefits such as cardiovascular). Obviously talk to your doctor if you might already be at risk before starting this kind of exercise.

I purchased two small wicker baskets at Goodwill, each about 4 inches square. They sit on my nightstand. One has my morning supplements, the other the evening supplements. I bring a glass of water to bed with me each night, so I take the meds while sitting in bed watching TV. I was notoriously bad about taking meds before I came up with this plan.

Always interested to learn about new things.

"Fosteum Plus is an all-in-one solution that provides genistein, zinc,
calcium, phosphate, Vitamin K2, and Vitamin D in a single capsule,
reducing the need for additional vitamins."

"genistein is a phytoestrogen which has
selective estrogen receptor modulator properties. It has been
investigated in clinical trials as an alternative to classical hormone
therapy to help prevent cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women."

"Leguminous plant foods contain genistein. Soybeans, a cholesterol-free, high protein legume,contain the most genistein.Other legumes, such as chickpeas (garbanzo beans), contain small amounts of genistein. Genistein can be found in many food products containing soy such as soy-based infant formulas, tofu, soymilk, soy flour, textured soy protein, soy protein isolates, tempeh,and miso, as well as over-the-counter dietary supplements. Often, soy flour is used for fortificationof other flours, including wheat, rice, and corn. The genistein content of these products is quite variable.Soy flour contains 53% soy protein. Textured Soy Protein (TSP), a meat substitute made from defatted soy found in hamburgers, sausages, hot dogs, meatballs, meat loafs, can contain 50% to70% soy protein, depending on the starting soy material used. Soy Protein Isolates (SPI), used in the preparation of specialty nutrition foods such as infant formulas, sports drinks, bodybuilding beverages, energy bars, and special diets for the very sick, contain 90% soy protein. Soy oil andsoy sauce contain little to zero genistein.Other plant foods that have been shown to contain genistein include alfalfa and clover sprouts,barley meal, broccoli, cauliflower, and sunflower, caraway, and clover seeds."

Generic multivitamin for age 50+ and two calcium with d tablets. I take them with food - calcium in the morning and evening. My D has never tested low. No osteop but for the hip on the side of my AK amputation - no weight bearing on that hip in the last 45 years.

I take Alendronate, Ca and D₃

I have a calcium/D supplement container that sits right on my kitchen table, and even so, I only think to take it about twice a week. For daily Rx meds, I have a weekly pill sorter right next to my coffee maker so it’s part of my morning routine. The chewable calcium supplement doesn’t fit in the pill sorter, though!

In the morning, I put one calcium/d fortified pill with my cholesterol pill in a small container to take after dinner.

In the morning I take supplements. I take them down from the cabinet and line them up in order of how many. One calcium, 2 glucosamine, 3 omegas.

I don't take a multivitamin. I only came up short many years ago with D. Took a high concentration to get back on track and now I just do the supplements.

Taking my vitamins is part of my makeup routine in the morning. I keep vitamins in my bathroom. Get some OJ from the kitchen, go to my bathroom, apply primer, then take my vitamins. Easy to remember & works for me.

I take 2,000 IU Vitamin D and 5000 mcg of biotin per day. My VitD was low a few years back, but now it's in a good range. I use Nature Made brand since that brand shows good quality and no contaminants per Consumer Reports testing.

For anyone who has thyroid medications, you have to be aware when you take any sort of calcium because it can interfere with thyroid meds.

Also, need to do weight bearing exercise, especially resistance training.

Since my vitamin D levels were so low, my doctor gave me a prescription for 1 x/week for 12 weeks. Then, she told me to take D3 2000 each day, or my levels will drop again. She also told me to take B vitamins and my endocrinologist told me to take calcium.

And, as gsciencechick says -- watch when you take your thyroid meds so that there's no interference from other vitamins. In a week or so, I'll know if I need to take thyroid meds.

Just a note - it seems as though a few here are taking biotin. This Spring, DH and I both had a slight change in annual thyroid lab results. I asked my endo what in the world we were doing ;0) She cautioned me about taking biotin in the 72 hours before lab work/blood draws. It can skew the test results. It's not actually changing anything physically or with thyroid or parathyroid hormones, only the way the lab interprets the testing. But since that could lead to unnecessary med adjustments, not ideal....

My vitamin D was low-ish so now I take 1000 IU of D every night before bed, just because that works for me.

Oh dear, good thing I asked! I take synthroid so it's good to know about interference. I also had no idea there is a calcium plus D supplement, despite spending an hour at the vitamin store yesterday.

Apparently I do not have a good understanding of weight bearing exercise...I thought daily walks and lots of gardening with heavy watering cans, moving plants etc... counted as WBE.

The thought of hitting the gym doesn't really appeal to me. I don't need to lose weight and would rather be outside. If I carried a 2-3 lb weights on my walks, does that count as WBE?

Also, about the Fosteum Plus—is there any concern about a soy and breast cancer link?

Here is my public service announcement:

Speaking of lab work and blood draws, the phlebotomist told me to drink 16 oz of water before coming in for a test. I had tea and some water that morning but they still had to stick both arms and almost didn’t get enough blood. Next time I will be overly hydrated, and probably focusing on “where’s the ladies room?” and not how much I don’t like having blood drawn. So, it will be a win-win, I guess?

The point is, drink up, ladies, to make your draw successful.

As to my vitamin regime, since I am an idiot and have terrible trouble remembering to take them, I keep them on the counter, with my iPad which I handle multiple times, in an idiot pill box (with sections for each day of the week). I still fall short of taking them daily.

The calcium are labeled as “new smaller size” and they are horse pills that make me gag. I can’t imagine what the old size was. I also recently discovered petite multi vitamins, the regular also made me gag they were so large, but you have to take 2 petites and they don’t have the exact levels as the 50+ for women vitamins. I figure being a little short in some vitamins has to be better than choking to death.

PSA #2: petite vitamins exist if you have trouble swallowing large pills.

Although it sounds like I have tiny veins and an inability to swallow pills, I’m average sized and not Lilliputian.

I have one of those ‘old people’s’ medicine dispenser. You know, the ones for the Sunday-to Saturday dosage. Actually I bought one years ago when I was traveling a lot and it was helpful for carrying my vitamins, plus remembering to take them, especially with time changes overseas. Get one with large daily compartments.

I too was surprised when I was diagnosed with osteopenia several years ago. I not only run and lift weights, I always followed a pretty good diet, with fairly high calcium levels. Anyway, my osteopenia was in the very low end of the scale so. It a big concern. I started taking Caltrate with D3 and magnesium, two per day. It is called Caltrate Bone Health Advanced if anyone is looking for it.

Later after reading about D3, I started taking 1 D3 (1000 IU/day). Now that DH and I are getting fill physicals with full blood panels, my doc showed me my D levels last Jan and said to lay off some of the D. My D levels were above the normal range. I am now reduced to about 1 every 2 or 3 days so we’ll see what it is next year. Another way to increase absorption of calcium is to increase magnesium intake, but be very careful with this. The best way is through foods rich in magnesium, as pills can cause diarrhea. The Caltrate has a small amount and likely you won’t even notice it.

Regarding hydration, you should start your hydration several days prior to a blood draw. You don’t instantly hydrate by drinking several ounces a few hours prior. I learned this the hard way by doing a lot of long distance running.

Gardener123, walking is a weight-bearing exercise. From the NIH:

The best exercise for your bones is the weight-bearing kind, which forces you to work against gravity. Some examples of weight-bearing exercises include weighttraining, walking, hiking, jogging, climbing stairs, tennis, and dancing. Examples of exercises that are not weight-bearing include swimming and bicycling.

source:

https://www.bones.nih.gov/health-info/bone/bone-health/exercise/exercise-your-bone-health

hmmm grapeleaves. That article is very interesting. I have the same experience as referred to in that NPR piece. Osteopenia and osteoporosis are very common among my peer group. Interestingly, we are mostly very fit women.

My physician has suggested I start with Prolia injections. I'm not so sure about it....

Very interesting article, grapeleaves. Thought-provoking.

Thought provoking is right. And it is this way with so many of the reasons we are given for why we should take yet one more drug.

I feel that I have to be my own advocate. Do lots of my own research.

Find "numbers needed to treat" which is statistical data about how many people need to be treated to get one positive result. It is often quite shocking.

That statistical data is very hard to find.

I kiddingly say that I am going to the drug pusher today.

gardener, is your diagnosis osteopenia or Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis...skipped right over osteopenia. It seems I’ve always been an overachiever ;D

And this study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that taking Vitamin D or Calcium supplements didn't prevent hip fractures, femur fractures, vertebral or non-vertebral (i.e. wrist fractures.)

I take over 100 pills a week because of breast-feeding, and before that fertility was a lot of pills as well. I have a four compartment container for each day of the week. I find the container works well because you can instantly look at the day and see if you remembered to take your morning pills or not. Before that, I was always hazy on whether or not I had taken my multivitamins etc.

(Also for fertility treatments, at times I had to take a nasal spray five times a day. Nothing like holding a little bottle in your hand wondering if you had just, within the last 10 seconds, sprayed it into your nose or not!)