Confused osteopenia
Posted , 4 users are following.
Hello, i am 33 year old, I had low vitamin d in the past around 44, 50 being normal so not to much difference. I had a DEXA Scan (waiting for result) at the time of scan man told me hips good, spine is also good but my l4 vertebra is not. But overall I have low bone density. Had MRI which showed limbus vertebra l4, had another MRI private which showed nothing but reverse lamber lolordosis. Then a chiropractor done normal x ray and he claims I have L4 vertebral endplate fracture.
So does that mean I have a vertebrae spine fracture or not but I'm getting all this conflict results and plus my bone density is a bit low. Please help, thanks
0 likes, 8 replies
tbulley tamin1238
Posted
Hi Tamin1238, some of your results are not familiar to me so I wont comment on these. Your Vit D level of 44, I assume is nmol/l and not pg/ml. 50nmol is not normal, it is the lower limit of normal range, and more research is now suggesting 75nmol is lower range of normal, so 44nmol is deficient and while people vary in the effect this has on OP and other illness in my view 44mol is an issue you need to address in order to correct any OP. As you do not have DXA results (but Dr has already diagnosed with these?) its premature to comment. OP can be complex and be caused by a number of factors, eg. Vit D is required to make use of Calcium, however Vit K2 also required so that Vit D places Ca in the bones not in the blood vessels or kidneys etc etc. In order fcor people on this forum to help you help yourself let me ask the following questions.
My general comment is that at 33 low Vit D and osteopenia is early, however better prognosis for recovery. At this stage more information needed and you should break this down into manageable steps. Diagnosis with relevant tests, dxa, bloods vit D etc, further tests to see if OP caused by lack of Ca/Vit D, or other pathology in hormones in the endocrine glands. Diet/medication options , exercise options given you have a possible l4 fracture.
At very least you need to get advice on the l4 fracture, your Dr/chiro are not giving consistent advice, noone on this board will be able to diagnose a end plat fracture on l4, you must get a reliable Dr to look at MRI, Xray etc to decide this one. Good luck its early in the process yet, you need to woen your health and leverage this board and your Drs.
tamin1238 tbulley
Posted
Thank you for your reply, I will get you the necessary information appreciate your advice.
amkoffee tamin1238
Posted
Wow tbully's response was very medical! I just want you to know that I've been thru a similar thing. I had a bone density scan done in April and they determined I had osteopenia. Then about 4 months later I got compression fractures in 5 of my vertebrae. These were extremely painful and a surgeon did a procedure on 2 of them called kyphoplasty. Some of the cement used to fix them got into my artery and traveled to my lungs. I ended up in ICU.
In February of this year I fell and suffered several broken bones. One of them was my 9th rib. But the X-ray they did did not show a fracture. In fact I only learned it had broken when I had a CT done when they found the cement in my lungs. I was told that sometimes it takes a while for a fracture to show on any kind of imaging. And bone density scans can be wrong. Good luck to you!
tamin1238 amkoffee
Posted
Thanks for your reply, what was your T score, for me they found
low bone density in one vertebrae L4.
amkoffee tamin1238
Posted
Honestly I don't know if I was even given that information and it wouldn't mean anything to me anyway. But my rheumatologist told me that they only measure three bones in your body. I believe it is one vertabra in your spine, one hip and I think one of your femurs. So if those three places they check are not showing signs of osteoporosis then that doesn't necessarily mean that you don't have it. It just means you don't have it in those three bones. I live in the US and I don't know if bone density tests are done any differently in the UK.
Anhaga amkoffee
Posted
In my area, Nova Scotia in Canada, one hip with measurements in two locations, and four lumbar vertebrae were scanned. They seemed to think the femur head was the most important measurement when determining your over all bone health and density.
tbulley amkoffee
Posted
Not medical but methodical. I believe that patients should retain ownership of their condition and treatment and medical practitioners provide the subject matter expertise. The patient needs to acquire a good high level understanding of the condition and treatment options and respect the medicos deep (but often narrow) knowledge, and medicos need to respect the patients central position and better judgment in some areas.
Dxa scans look at lumbar vertebra, the wrist and the femur.
amkoffee tbulley
Posted
I agree with you and I make a very strong effort in doing so . In fact I require them give me a copy of the report for any test I have done because I have experienced doctors not telling me everything that shows up on something like a CT. But I have multiple problems so it's very difficult for me to keep track of everything. I do the best I can.