Young Male osteopenia

Take the vitamin D because that may very well be the cause of your disappointing result. Add vitamin K2 along with calcium to get the best out of the calcium. Magnesium and zinc are good to add as well. Eat avocados, kiwi fruit, skin of cucumbers, and prunes,

Another good thing to have is bone soup. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruit.

weight bearing exercise is recommended as well.

you can fix this...all the best!

Make sure the endocrinologist runs a complete blood panel in order to rule out that the condition isn't due to parathyroid or thyroid issues. If a secondary cause such as that is found, it would need to be addressed in order for the osteopenia to improve (i.e., decrease). The very high dose of Vitamin D (50,000 IU) was also recommended to me when I was found to have a Vitamin D deficiency. Though I decided to take a lower dose, the higher dose is, I believe, standard for cases of deficiency, at least for a period of time, until the levels improve. Was the recommendation for 50,000/day? Or per week?

Both Kathleen and Allison have given you very good advice.  I agree, at your age you should have more investigation done to determine the cause.  In fact this is recommended for all of us, no matter our age or gender, because unless we address the cause it's hard to make progress to reverse the situation.  I was diagnosed at the age of 35 with non-symptomatic sarcoidosis.  It wasn't until I had to start taking prednisone thirty years later for a different auto immune inflammatory disease I found I had a high calcium level, did some reading, and found that sarcoidosis can cause low iron, bone thinning and high vitamin D - all of which I have.  I just give this as an example, that some of the causes can be a bit obscure.  At least your doctor should try to rule out the obvious ones!

On the up side, osteopenia does not necessarily lead to osteoporosis, especially if you do the right nutrition and exercise thing, and the scans cannot tell you how strong your bones are.  Are you a relatively slender person?

All the best - do let us know how you get on.

Thank you all for the advice!!  Kathleen, your positivity put a smile on my face  Any favorite bone soup recipes?  I can pull one from the internet but I’ll definitely take your suggestions.  Allison, you’re right.  I think there is a secondary cause for this.  I’ve had a thyroid test done (0.6 mcIU/ml).  They say that’s within the normal range but when I do my own research I find that it’s a bit on the low end (reference .35-5.0).  Again, I’m still looking into it so I really don’t know what that means yet.  I’m still waiting on the results from the parathyroid test and a Rheumatoid arthritis test.  When I get the results, I’ll definitely let you all know.  Anhaga, I’m relatively normal build.  165lbs, 5’9’’, I run about 10 miles a week and weight lift 3-4 times a week.  My diet could be better, but I never really gave it much thought since I’m an active person.  I mean, I just went surfing this past weekend.  Anyway, I’ve always had lower back pain—just a dull ache, especially when I run.  It’s been going on for years so I just put it out of my mind and press on with my day.  Looking back, I wish I would have made a bigger fuss about it, maybe the doctors could have found this sooner.  Assuming they find and correct any secondary cause I may have; have you heard of people being able to increase\improve their bone density?  Thank you again.