Adcal D3 medication

I started Prostap injections when diagnosed in January 2013.  In November 2015 my Oncologist arranged a DEXA Scan for me as long term HT  can cause bone issues. The scan showed that I had slight thinning of the bones (Osteopenia). She prescribed Adcal-D3 chewable tablets (calcium carbonate and vitamin D3).

The dosage was 1500mg calcium carbonate (equivalent to 600mg calcium) and 400 I.U. colecaciferol (equivalent to 10 micro grams of vitamin D 3)

The tablets also contain small quantities of soya oil and sucrose.

Hope this helps.

Arthur

I take two chewables/day - that's the normal dose. What were you prescribed?

I believe these are mainly effective on hormone therapy if you are also doing bone stressing exercise, as hormone therapy significantly reduces normal bone uptake of calcium unless the bone is being stressed. With bone mets, you'd need at ask what's safe to do without a significant risk of fractures (will depend where the bone mets are). There is a second way calcium can help. Your body treats your bones as its calcium reserve, and borrows from them when it needs more, and would normally replenish at another time, but that replenish mechanism is the one which doesn't work without testosterone (or estrogen). By making sure there is some spare calcium available, it will reduce the borrowing from bones. The ability to store calcium other than in bones is very limited though. Sweating is a function that consumes calcium, and for which calcium tablets might be beneficial in preventing the body drawing on the bone reserves. If I know I'll be sweating at some point in the day, I take one of my two/day just beforehand, but I don't know if that really helps.

My Adcal-D3 aren't prescribed (you can buy them without prescription), but I did check with my GP first. He offered to prescribe them, but they were cheaper off-prescription. (Of course, with an exemption card, that's no longer the case, but I've carried on buying them myself anyway.)

If you have bone mets, you should probably ask for occasional blood tests for calcium levels, as bone mets can generate extra blood calcium too, causing a calcium overdose. In that case, you might switch to osteoclast inhibitors to prevent the body's normal bone reabsorbtion process, such as biphosphonates or denosumab, and these work without exercise, but do come with the risk of serious side effects.

Edited by member 17 Apr 2020 at 07:57  | Reason: Not specified

Thanks everyone and for the explanation, Andy. Also I didn't know they can bought without a prescription.

My husband does not have bone mets. 

In February, after 8 months on HT my husband was prescribed Adcal 1500/400 chewable tablets x 2 per day by his oncologist. When they were added to the repeat prescription at our GP surgery they became Adcal caplets 750/200 x 2 per day. 

I've queried with surgery and they say there is a note to say another medication called bendrofluathamizide with it can cause increased calcium levels so that may be why there's a lower dose. 

I was trying to find out if the 1500/400 x2 per day dose is the optimum and if so will ask the GP to prescribe this and perhaps monitor for problems caused by taking it with the other medication.

Thanks

Edited by member 17 Apr 2020 at 12:51  | Reason: Not specified