It all started as a feature for the health pages of Irish Country Living. I would be brave and do the blood tests and spread the word about how important it is to have a blood test and DEXA scan to check if you have any bone loss (pages 22/23).

I was a prime candidate, although I didn’t realise it. I am in my late 50s, had broken both my wrists in a fall over 10 years ago and had been diagnosed with some osteopenia two years ago. I was taking calcium supplements in a hit-and-miss fashion. But, sure, I thought if you are eating plenty of dairy and drinking the fortified milk aren’t you getting plenty of calcium. Not so.

In order to do the feature, I made contact with the Irish Osteoporosis Society and set up a meeting with Prof Moira O’Brien who is, without a doubt, the plainest speaking medic I’ve ever met in my life. She is also a ball of energy, is a former head of the Irish Olympic medical team who established the first sports medicine master’s in Ireland and the UK, and lectures on the sports medicine master’s in Trinity.

I put myself in her capable hands and did the extensive blood tests that checked PTH, calcium, Vitamin D, cortisol and kidney function and two weeks later the DEXA scan. The latter was grand and cost me €100. I’m terrified of needles so the blood test had to be endured even though my nurse couldn’t have been more understanding.

The results were shocking. I had severe osteoporosis in three vertebrae in the middle of my back – along where you close your bra – and, worse still, one of them was fractured. I got the shock of my life, especially as I had no pain and no other symptoms. I got even more of a shock as Prof O’Brien laid out a list of the things I couldn’t do until the medication would lift me out of the red zone.

Any bending is out. So that means I can’t garden. I haven’t been able to go near a snowdrop and won’t be doing any gardening for at least a year. Ironing, hoovering, sweeping the floor are all out. Anything that involves bending, such as filling and emptying the washing machine, is out. Walking or any load-bearing exercise is very much in. Cycling and swimming are no help.

A look at the blood tests showed I had plenty of calcium but was seriously deficient in vitamin D and my cortisol levels were far too high. So now we had the cause. Vitamin D is essential for the production of bone and what little I had was being zapped by my high level of cortisol, a stress hormone.

I was prescribed a vitamin D supplement and told to go on a sun holiday immediately, something I’ve never done in my life. Now that my cortisol and vitamin D are back in order, I begin treatment next week. This involves an injection every six months along with a self-administered daily injection – and that’s a whole new challenge I will talk to you about next week.

Prof O’Brien reckons there are 300,000 people with osteoporosis in the country, of which only 15% are diagnosed. They are men and women from their 20s upwards. Have you had a bone scan or had your bloods done recently? Maybe it’s time you did. CL