That moment when you find out you have Osteopenia at 33.

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Photo Credit: ethicanagorg
The last several years of my life have been pretty crazy. In 2011, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. In 2012, I tested positive for Ulcerative Colitis. In 2013, I severely injure my back. In 2014, I have surgery to fix the problem (which fails). In 2015, I hit a serious rock bottom (which I have publicly documented in order to raise awareness and help others in similar situations), and I begin treatment for Crohn's Disease. During the time between 2013 and present day, I've endured moderate to severe pain. Every single day. Sometimes I can walk, sometimes I cannot.

This brings us to what this post is really all about: Osteopenia. On Thursday, I got a call from my doctor and she told me that my bone density scan revealed Osteopenia in my lumbar spine (the entire lumbar spine L1-L5). She told me everything that I need to do, which includes adding another medication to my cocktail of medications that I take each day.

What is Osteopenia?
When people think of Osteopenia, they think of Osteoporosis, something that older people get.
Osteopenia is a bone disorder characterized by a decrease in bone density (not as bad as Osteoporosis). Osteopenia is known to be a precursor to Osteoporosis.
Osteopenia does not cause any pain, unless you break a bone. Those of us with Osteopenia are at a slight risk for bone fractures.
What we have to do is stay active, take calcium pills, vitamin D pills, and what ever is prescribed to us by our doctors. We also have to have regular bone density tests.

So why do I have it?
Well, as I mentioned before, I have Celiac disease, which is a malabsorption disease. The vitamins and minerals that I take in aren't being absorbed. Instead, my immune system sees it as being something bad and wages a nasty war against it. There is no rhyme or reason as to why my body acts like that, but it does.
The vitamins and calcium that my spine needs in order to be strong aren't being absorbed because of Celiac disease.
At the same time, my spine is already pretty delicate due to the injury and the complications from the spinal fusion I had in 2014. So my autoimmune issues and all of these other issues have created quite a mess of things.

Yesterday, I was depressed. Hearing that you have a condition that older people get kind of blew my mind. It made me wonder what condition I would be in 5 years from now.
I read stories from women in their 20s and 30s with this condition, and they were advised to not have kids because the bones wouldn't be able to handle the pregnancy and birth. I had to stop myself from reading anymore because I knew it would drive me crazy.

I decided that I'm just going to deal with it. I will do my part to delay further deterioration so I can still enjoy my 30's.
I'm going to focus on what I can do and still live a full life (I just need to change the definition of full life). I am losing weight; I've lost 8 pounds since June 1st. I'm eating clean and have cut out processed foods and sugars. The autoimmune issues I have no control over (except for eating GF, which I have for 5 years).
Is it rare for someone to have this condition in their 30s? Well, it isn't common. Osteopenia can happen to anyone at any age, but it is more likely for someone over 50 to have the condition than it is for someone in their 40s and younger to have it.

I know that Osteoporosis is inevitable in my future. I'll be damned if I'm diagnosed with it in my 30s.

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