NO DEXA today...

05-10-2007, 01:13 PM

When i got to the hospital today they did the back x-rays first. When i was getting ready for the DEXA i ask the tech if she could check with the person who read the scans to see if they were familiar with the adjustments that would be needed. She left the room and was gone about 15 minutes during which time she said they researched it on their sources and talked to my dr (who I told about strontium), who decided it was best to stop the strontium for 30 days and then come back for the DEXA. They seemed to think that after 30 days the strontium would be out of my system and that they could then get an accurate reading from the scan without any adjustments. This info came from an article by a Dr. Hoffman. I was told the articles i took in about adjustments weren't the right kind of info...oh well, i tried. I don't know if this is the right thing to do, but I'll do it their way and hope for the best. I was hoping to be able to post good news next week, but it will have to wait. I have a feeling that unless they can find the right info ( if they even look) or someone who knows i won't be getting the news i hoped for. I tried to expain that it even if it was out of my system it would still still in the bones, wouldn't it? With my luck after 30 days without taking it, any gains i may have made willbe gone. I sure hope i'm wrong about that and she said that wouldn't ahppend, but how would she know..she'd never heard of it either.

Now i am really torn about all this. If i can't get an accurate reading after the 30 day break and it still shows a false postive in growth i'll have no idea of how well it worked or didn't. If strontium renalate was FDA appoved here this would all be so simple. The drug company would provide the adjusments and all this could be avoided. Sorry to vent...this did not happen the way i thought it would. oh... this is a small town and the scans are read out of town...maybe for those of you livng in larger areas with more people using strontium you wouldn't have this problem. take care...phyllis

***I am going to call the radiology dept. and ask for a copy of the article they got their info from. I'd like to read the whole thing and share what i learn. Better yet, i'd like to understand how its going to work.

05-10-2007, 05:33 PM

What a disappointment. I know you live in a small town, but if it's at all possible, I'd try to get another opinion (several maybe) from other docs who maybe work with different hospitals and who just MIGHT have technicians familiar with the adjustments that YOU wanted to bring to their attention!

I'm not sure It's such a good idea to stop taking the strontium for 30 days

If you CAN get an alternate opinion and manage to get a DEXA done at another facility (with technicians who may be a little more knowledgable about strontium adjustments), that may be a better option

Best of luck ........

05-10-2007, 09:18 PM

hi phylis-so sorry to hear about the dexa problems. This could be a dilemma all of us who are taking strontium might be facing. My next dexa is not until 2008. There seems to be little or no info online about dexa adjustments. I have a little by going to strontium dexa scan adjustments-maybe you have the same. I don,t know what to say about going off it for 30 days-this has to be your own personal decision. Maybe it is your only alternative. In any case I wish you the best. I am still exercising everyday avidly, but I somehow hurt my left shoulder(might be frozen shoulder) so I cannot weight lift for now. Well again-all the best.

05-11-2007, 07:24 AM

Hi tomatoejuise and monteflus...that was a great idea you had monte about checking out other hospitals. I called one this morning and they are they are acutally going to call the company that makes the DEXA machines and ASK them if they can provide the adjustment numbers that need to be used. I'm now waiting for them to call back with the info. I don't know if they would send me a copy of the numbers to use at our hospital or if i'd need to go to their hospital for the scan.

I called our hospital this morning to ask for a copy of the article and was told basically that they couldn't/wouldn't do that. she wouldn't even find the web address for me. I wonder why they didn't think to call the company? I think they were stricly going by what they read about the stontium in the article wrote by DR. Hoffman. I didn't think to suggest they call the DEXA people, so i guess they didn't think of it either. I said strontium citrate and thats what they went by.

Now i am wondering what to do...do i do what my dr. suggest or go for the scan where they can do the adjustments if they can get them Any ideas? I don't want to make our dr. mad, but i want to get the most accurate reading possible. Things sure can get complicated when you go against the mainstream flow.

My husband had a good suggestion.. have a DEXA now and then have another one after 30 days off. That would give two sets of scores that could be compared.

take care...phyllis

*****
the hospital i called called me back and it was told the same thing. They called the company thats makes the DEXA machines and ask the them about the adjustmnents...they were told that since it wasn't an approved drug that they couldn't in good faith give out the numbers that would be used and guarentee that the reading would be accurate. I have a feeling that no matter where i called, i would be told the same thing. So i'll stop taking the strontium and go for the scan next month. take care...phyllis

05-11-2007, 11:33 AM

Hi Phyliss: Boy I'm really sorry about this mess, but unfortunately it doesn't surprise me. I know if I were to go to a local lab where I lived, they wouldn't know anything about this, nor would they take any literature I brought.

If you can get your insurance to pay for 2 dexa's, one now and one in 30 days, that could give you a lot of info. You could find out what your current score is and also what effect stopping the med would have "if" any. IMHO I don't think stopping it for 30 days would make a big difference, since all the trials done on SR showed fracture prevention for 3-5 years after treatment; now I don't know what the dexa increases/decreases where at that point in time, but you could look it up through Serviers info. The Servier info should tell you what the dexas were after treatment stopped, if you don't already have that info.

That article that you are referring to, with the name Hoffman, which one is that? I looked at the 2 I have and can't find that name. In the Journal Clinical Densitom 1999 Winter; 2 (4): 371-9 it say's "The same adjustment factor (10% overestimation for 1 mol/mol% Sr) can be used for all presently available types of instrument and acquisition modes." The only problem is applying these adjustments to Strontium citrate, which I think is going to be hard to do. So far, I can't get anyone to say that SR is the exact same mineral composition as SC.

I wouldn't worry about your Drs reaction to having a dexa somewhere else, he sounds like a reasonable guy

and he must know that his patients treatment should be of utmost importance, however you accomplish that.

Hopefully the scanner co will provide the info you need, and you can go from there.

I wish I could get my insurance to pay for dexa's more often than every 12-24 months, so if your's will go for a baseline, and a repeat dexa that would be great.

Good Luck...

05-12-2007, 05:22 AM

Hi DesertBloom...I looked for the article by Dr. Hoffman too and could only find 2. nothing about his recommendations for doing a DEXA. they must have sites that we can's access or maybe its a different Dr. Hoffman. It really made me kinda mad that she wouldn't even make an effort to help me find the article.

Our insurance will cover more than one DEXA a year as long as its dr. ordered. I'm going to do it their way this year and continue with the stontium. Next year i'll suggest doing the 2. Since the hospital i talked to gave me the same story as the one here i'll have the scan done locally so it will be from the same machine as last year.

Your right about the 30 days not making much difference, the course of treatment for SR is 3 years so eventually you'd stop taking it anyway. I just hope that i see some improvement or at the very least no changes from last years scores. Have a good weekend...take care..phyllis

NO DEXA today...

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