Ah, vitamins. There is a great debate regarding vitamins: should you take them, or might you be over-compensating in some areas? Since we all know that we can't trust the FDA anyway, why do we even bother paying attention to what they recommend? Our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made, and most will live a long and healthy life if we give it what it needs to thrive. Yeah, and we've all confessed to having a sweet tooth/family that won't get on the healthy-eating bandwagon/loving fried foods. The sad fact is that most Americans are deficient in many vitamins and nutrients, and should be supplemented. While it may be arguable what exactly should be recommended levels (take for example the ever-increasing "recommendations" of Vitamin D; I have read that part of the reason the daily recommendation levels are going up is because the original numbers were based on the thought that most Americans are getting 2 hours of sun per day and now they are adjusting the figures accordingly. Yeah, like who does that, without sunscreen?) and you may or may not be getting "enough" by taking a multivitamin, the research has been done and unless there is an underlying condition, you will not overdose on a vitamin or mineral by taking a multivitamin. There are, however, some basic tenets of getting the most out of your vitamins. For example, did you know that you have to take calcium with magnesium (ratio 2:1), and on an acidic stomach, such as with vitamin C or orange juice? Did you know that if you take your iron with your calcium, it can be bound up and you won't get much good from having taken an iron supplement? For most people, it's quite simple enough to get enough iron in the diet by red meat (in moderation, right?), which will also give some key B vitamins--both of which will help with anemia and lethargy. One big thing that you should be aware of is that meat that is corn-fed, sometimes known as feedlot beef, is much higher in Omega 6 fatty acids than the Omega 3's. Our bodies need both, but in balance, and free-range beef has a good balance. So go ahead, have a steak, and then follow it up with your Vitamin IC! For the record, the same is true for farm-raised fish/shrimp/etc. with the imbalance of Omega 6 fatty acids. If you are going to supplement with fish oil, which is HIGHLY recommended if you are getting your vitamin D from sun exposure (will help prevent skin cancer, heart disease, etc. if you have enough Omega 3's), be sure to get the wild-caught, preferably deep water fish oils. This will help to ward balance out those O-3's if you can't find/afford the grass-fed stuff! All this said because I have a vicious sweet tooth, and as mentioned previously, we're trying to put a bun in the oven and I don't always eat like I know I should. Now, if I could remember to take those prenatals with my vitamin Milky Way!

Hello. Im 43 yrs old. I will start with I have a lot of medical issues and have always been a healthy being from physical labor to foods I ate to exercise. 5'10 120lbs most my life. Had a job doing highway maintenance and a coworker dropped a jackhammer on my head in 99'. Went into landscaping in 2010 and in 2011 woke one morning with what i thought to be a neck cramp sleeping wrong. Nope; herniated disc. Did a cervical fusion at 5/6 february of 2012 and said all looked great healing on xray. Continued to complain of severe pain and weakness. Surgeon kept ignoring it saying its perm nerve damage due to waiting surgery to long. Took a road trip to Florida from Nebraska and back. Both my husband and I having CDL's did the run both ways pretty quick. Big mistake for me. A week later spent 10 days in the hospital with a pulmonary embolism in each lung. Hematologist put me on warfarin indefinately with low dose aspirin for a MTHFR clotting factor. That was the following Sept of 2012. Still continued repeat followups with complaints of pain and weakness. Went to family doc in May 2013 exhausted, fatigued, bones hurt like the flu constantly. My Vit D was at a 7 and min should be 32. Now diagnosed with Vit D deficiency. 5k mg a day plus caltrate D. December 26th 2014 we were hit by a drunk driver. Went to same neurosurgery facility but requested a diff surgeon. After CT scan it showed no bone growth from prior surgery and herniated disc now at 6/7. She was ticked at prior surgeon to not do a CT to check for sure. She did surgery again even with a fatality rate at 70% due to the MTHFR and coming off warfarin and taking lovenox shots in stomach. Cant do ANY lovenox day prior to surgery because causes actual clot in the spine when surgery performed there making risk even higher of fatality. Well she did great. Came out and said the drunk that hit us made me realize pain more so because apparently since no bone grew the screws came loose in the titanium plate and my neck was highly unstable. She didnt use cadaver bone on this one. Ground my hip bone. Actually was the worst pain ever. A year later follow up xray showed bone healing. Vit D at 31 so fam doc ended vit d supplement just continue caltrate d. Another 3 months later still complaining of pain in neck n feels like will collapse forward and choking hard to swallow. Did CT and showed zero bone growth yet AGAIN! WHAT THE HECK?!?! She was asking what im taking. Asked why i stopped Vit D. Was ticked again. Now she sent me to an Endocrinologist. Suspects osteoporosis now. Been on 5k mg Vit D and caltrate 5 months now. Trying to keep bone density up to try surgery one last time. Well went to then again today and now ordered bone density test and says he wishes me to continue Vit D and Caltrate D and now wants to do the Forteo for 2 years then onto the Prolia after that. I will leave reply of this bone density test numbers and after use of each medication to see where exactly if any benefits helped or any side effects. Fingers crossed I live through the next surgery to report about end results but wont be for a while yet. Its necessary to keep my neck from collapsing and severing my spinal chord. Just so everyone is clear why i have to do surgery. Optomistic right? Lol.

My spine is fine but I have it in my left hip and osteoporosis in my right hip - pretty much due to the fact I've been a right above knee amputee since age 25 - no weight bearing on that hip joint in 27 years. It's only been about the last 5 years that I've had a prosthetic leg that allows me to walk very far but since I've had that I now walk about about 45 mins several times a week - less in the winter when it's slippery outside. I also ride an Airdyne exercise bike several times a week but biking doesn't help prevent osteoporosis - though I think the upper body resistance may have some benefit for arms and shoulders. In any case, left side has also suffered as a result of lack of walking over the past years. I drink about a quart of milk a day and take a calcium & D supplement to make up for any daily milk shortage. I also take a generic version of weekly Fosamax. I'm not due for another bone density test for a little over a year - at that time I guess I'll see if the medication is helping. Since I already have this problem at a pretty young age and am probably at a much higher risk of falling at some point in my life, I figured the benefits of taking some medication to mitigate the risk of a hip fracture far outweighed the risks.

Just a word of caution: Do be careful about taking these over-the-counter remedies without consulting with your doc first. They can contra-indicate if you're taking other meds. I'm on the "other side" of most of you, having stopped my periods 15 years ago at age 44. (And sorry to say, the hot flashes are still with me.) My experience showed that I was not able to quickly find a successful regimen to hold my menopausal symptoms in check. I consulted with three or four GYNs until I found one who was willing to stick with me until we got it right. I really had to become my own advocate, if you will. We need to be as well educated as we can about the subject. As you look for what you can "take" to help you, you should also research really well the results of the (Women's Health Initiative) study they released back in 02. Don't rely on websites related to drug or supplement firms - read what's available on the National Institute of Health and other medical sites. In '06 the NIH released results of a separate study that showed herbal supplements were of no value in relieving hot flashes. Some women are lucky in that their menopausal symptoms are less severe and perhaps they perceive that herbs like black cohash have helped. But it's not "everyone's menopause," and what works for some doesn't work for all. After lots of trial and error, I was on an HRT regiment with both estrogen and progesterone that was wonderful for my body. I took the pills for about twelve years (referred to them as my "life line"). Hot flashes and night sweats were completely eliminated, and I was able to concentrate once again (although NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING helps for memory loss!). On and off I also tried a variety of anti-anxiety pills, none of which seemed to make a discernable difference. Depression is very common in menopausal women. Many people have had good results with the bio-identical hormones. I tried them for about a year but I didn't find the results comparable at all, so I stopped. I'm no longer on any hormones, and it has been a real struggle. I still have almost-daily hot flashes and nightly hot sweats (although the night sweats are not as severe, yet they still awaken me and that's annoying enough). Since stopping HRT, I don't think I've had a single uninterrupted night's sleep. But, as with every step I've taken since my periods stopped fifteen years ago, being off HRT is my choice. I have just learned to live with it. I think the bottom line is that you need to understand what if any risks there are in your body/family history that would or wouldn't make HRT a good solution for you. I don't think I've seen any mention here of calcium supplements, and that's so very important. We should be taking 1,200-1,500 mg daily if we're not on estrogen, a bit less with estrogen. Osteoporosis is very common in both pre-and post-menopausal women. Here is a link that might be useful: Menopause and Herbal Supplements Study Article