I reversed osteoporosis without drugs

I too have improved my BMD without drugs. I'll add a chart to show you my progress. I retired at the end of 2018, and committed to daily exercise, alternating walking and weight training. I have improved my diet, but it's not perfect. I am taking no supplements. Last January my baby (62 yrs) sister died after getting Covid and it was a stressful year, and I think my most recent scores reflect that, although I still show improvement from my 2019 starting point in all but Total Hip, and they seem to have changed the way that is calculated?? Anyway. It is totally possible, but I think everyone is different. I wish docs were more willing to run tests to check for causes, rather than prescribing drugs without understanding body function, especially Osteoclast and Osteoblast function. Attaching my scores.

Hi windyshores. I believe that there are many aspects to bone health and that stress is certainly one of them. Plus driving to Montana alone for my sister's Celebration of Life, not managing to follow my usual exercise routine, and eat my usual diet, just two months before my 2023 DEXA scan... yup. I believe that was part of the recent decline. BUT from 2017 - 2023 my scores are all improved, except for Total Hip. I can see the whole chart on the post, and don't know how I could improve it for you, so I'll just put the 2017 - 2023 numbers here for you. My 2021 numbers were better than 2023, and I blame that stress.
Lumbar Spine -3.5 to -3.4 (.1 gain from 2017 - 2023)
Femoral Neck -3.1 to -2.7 (.4 gain)
Total Hip - 2.6 to -2.8 (.2 loss, which makes no sense, my femoral neck improved but the top of my femur worsened?)
Just stopping bone loss is a big deal. I have actually improved my scores except the Total Hip score which dropped .3 this time, and this does not make much sense to me, as it was up .1 in 2021. I am have a DEXAfit scan planned in February, and then will be able to see if my whole body score has BMD score is up or down since November when my scan DEXA was done. Then, I'll go and have a chat with my doc and try to get an explanation on the Total Hip score drop.

I personally think DEXA scores can help decide on taking meds (If under -3.0). We can also do TBS to see how bone quality is, but a DEXA under -3.0 can mean meds are needed.

The blood tests, in my experience, establish a baseline before meds to make sure meds are working as well as to guide transitions to follow up meds like Reclast.

So I am not sure your doctor was wrong. Keith McCormick, the author of "The Whole Body Approach to Osteoporosis" and the more recent "Great Bones' writes that at -3.0 and below, meds should be considered. My doc at a major urban teaching hospital affiliated with Harvard, also goes by DEXA and does not use blood markers. I see another doc as well, who does use bone markers, but my main doc has been right about everything.

One caveat: it is good to make sure PTH (parathyroid) is okay. High calcium would be suspicious for that.

I too have improved my BMD without drugs. I'll add a chart to show you my progress. I retired at the end of 2018, and committed to daily exercise, alternating walking and weight training. I have improved my diet, but it's not perfect. I am taking no supplements. Last January my baby (62 yrs) sister died after getting Covid and it was a stressful year, and I think my most recent scores reflect that, although I still show improvement from my 2019 starting point in all but Total Hip, and they seem to have changed the way that is calculated?? Anyway. It is totally possible, but I think everyone is different. I wish docs were more willing to run tests to check for causes, rather than prescribing drugs without understanding body function, especially Osteoclast and Osteoblast function. Attaching my scores.

Keep in mind there is a possible error associated with each reading. I do not know what the magnitude of that actually is. If you laid down on the table 10 times, getting up between readings, a value of -3.0 might vary from -2.9 to -3.1 due to variation in position or other factors. No one wants the radiation exposure to do that. That is part of the reason why use of the same instrument is recommended. That eliminates one variable.

@normahorn, very true. and thanks as always for your perspective, @windyshores , @sallyj2, it is also my understanding that a .1 gain is not statistically significant.

Also important to keep in mind that arthritic changes in the spine (very common as we age) may show up as increased bone density so Dexa is not a terribly accurate modality for showing improvement.

In my experience, no amount of good nutrition or targeted exercise could improve my bones. I'm about as natural as you get, motivated and diligent in my diet and exercise regimen but ultimately, I had to make the difficult decision to embrace a pharmaceutical option to save my bones from further deterioration. And boy am I glad I did.

Did insurance cover the dexascan? I was told that I could only have one ever two years because of insurance.