I have read that many people who are taking hormone treatment for prostate cancer are advised to take Calcium and Vitamin d supplements to help with the impact of hormones in the bones . Can you advise me what would be the correct dose and can I get these prescribed by my doctor ?
Thank you
Hi Skippy1959,
Thank you for getting in touch with us and welcome to our online community. I see that you have joined a number of different forums. I really hope you are finding them helpful and supportive. My name is Adrienne and I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists on the Macmillan Support Line.
Our bones naturally break down and repair themselves. Some hormone therapies can cause the bones to break down faster than they are able to repair themselves, causing the bones to become thinner and weaker. Bone thinning/bone loss can be a side-effect of long-term hormone therapy but not all hormone therapies cause this. If the hormone therapy you are on can lead to bone thinning, your doctor or nurse should have talked this over with you and even referred you for a DEXA scan. This scan looks at the thickness of your bones and it lets the doctor know if you would be at risk of a fracture. If your doctor thinks there is a high risk of your bones becoming weaker, either due to the hormone therapy or the cancer itself (if it has spread to the bones), they may offer treatment to help. This treatment is called bisphosphonates and it helps to strengthen your bones.
It's completely understandable that you would want to do whatever you can to ensure your bones were as healthy as possible during your treatment. Getting enough calcium and vitamin D can help lower your risk of bone thinning.
The recommended dose of calcium for adults aged between 19 and 64 is 700mg per day. Taking high doses of calcium (more than 1500mg per day) can cause problems with your stomach, including pain and diarrhoea. The best way to get calcium is through your diet although not everyone is able to do this. Foods like milk, cheese, yogurt, canned salmon/sardines/pilchards, tofu, calcium-fortified orange juice and leafy green vegetables are all good sources of calcium.
The recommended dose of vitamin D for adults is 10 micrograms (or 400 IU) in autumn/winter months as during the spring/summer months, the majority of people will get all the vitamin D they need from the sunlight on their skin and a well-balanced diet. Vitamin D is found in foods such as egg yolks, oily fish, red meat, liver and some fortified foods such as certain breakfast cereals. Too much vitamin D over a long period of time can cause too much calcium to build up in the body which can actually weaken the bones and damage the kidneys and heart.
The best thing for you to do would be to speak to your consultant or specialist nurse about this. If they think you would benefit from a calcium and/or vitamin D supplement, they can prescribe them for you. It’s really important that you don’t take any supplements whilst you’re having treatment without discussing it with your healthcare team first.
I really hope this information was helpful. Please know that you can always give us a call to talk things through further.
Take care and best wishes,
Adrienne (Cancer Information Nurse Specialist)
You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email.
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