I reversed osteoporosis without drugs

Thanks for replying. These are the results from my December 2023 BTM labs

NTx 13
CTx 130
Osteocalcin 9.4
P1NP 33.5

I get that most doctors don’t test BTMs—my endocrinologist only ordered the labs because I requested them.

@fearfracture what meds had you taken or were you taking at the time of the tests? Did you fast? The P1NP and CTX look low.

I’m pretty sure my endocrinologist has no clue what he is doing. I had my 1st DEXA in 2019, at age 50.5, and my lumbar t-score was -3.9 and my hips were both in the -3.1 range. Six months later, my endocrinologist said my bones were “horrible” and pushed meds. I asked if there were any natural remedies I could try and he had nothing to offer. Following his urging I started alendronate, which I took for 1.5 yrs. The alendronate caused digestive tract issues. During an appt w/ a cardiologist, I was told my heart was fine and the symptoms I was experiencing were probably heartburn and he prescribed omeprazole. I specifically asked the cardiologist if it was ok to take omeprazole given my low BMD and while taking alendronate and the cardiologist said that it was fine. I told my endocrinologist that I was taking the omeprazole and he said nothing. Fast forward approximately 9 months, my new OB/GYN told me that the alendronate was probably causing my heartburn and acid redux and that I should stop taking it and talk to my endocrinologist. So after 1.5 yrs on the alendronate, I quit taking it. One month later, my new gastroenterologist told me that omeprazole is not good for bones and he switched me to famotidine.

My endocrinologist yelled at me that I needed to do something about my bones so after a 4 month bisphophonate holiday, in November 2021, I had one zoledronic acid infusion. My endocrinologist’s plan was that I have a 2nd infusion in 2022.

Prior to the infusion, I’d been focused on ruling out Celiac (which I don’t have but I am gluten sensitive so am gluten-free) and focusing on potential horrible side effects of zoledronic acid. My endocrinologist did not warn me about ONJ before prescribing bisphophonates, I learned about it in April 2021, after I’d been taking alendronate for 13ish months, from my new dentist. “Do you have osteoporosis” was a question on the new patient paperwork and I asked the dentist why they asked that question and she then told me about ONJ. This freaked me out a bit. Doctors are supposed to at least ask about your oral health before prescribing osteo-meds, mine had not. I had not been to the dentist in 12 years and my endocrinologist just assumed my teeth were healthy. Fortunately for me, they were/are. I did have my dentist fill a few small spots in my teeth before taking the zoledronic acid just to potentially prevent future complications.

After receiving the zoledronic acid in November 2021, I started doing my own research and quickly learned that my endocrinologist wasn’t up to par. He hadn’t done most of the tests recommended by Dr. Brown (betterbones.com) to rule out other causes of osteoporosis. He hadn’t mentioned anything about it taking heavier weights to stimulate bone growth naturally. He didn’t even tell me about vitamin K2.

I’d been seeing this endocrinologist prior to my osteoporosis diagnosis because in 2017, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism.

Everyone seems to be aware that hyperthyroidism can cause osteoporosis because it causes high bone turnover but many people, including my endocrinologist apparently, don’t seem to know that hypothyroidism is also bad for bones.

Hypothyroidism basically slows every system/process in your body. Hypothyroidism slows bone turnover and slows bone formation.

I skipped the second zoledronic acid infusion my endocrinologist had ordered for November 2022. Instead, one year to the date of my one and only zoledronic acid infusion, I had BTM labs, at my request. My numbers showed that my BTMs were not elevated. The bisphophonates stick around for a long time so, sure, they could have still been effecting my BTMs, but my gut feeling is, my BTMs were NEVER elevated but since my endocrinologist didn’t test my BTMs prior to prescribing osteoporosis meds there is no way to know for sure, except that I didn’t see any real improvement in my BMD after taking the bisphophonates.
When I tried to get my endocrinologist to go over my BTM labs, the only thing he said is your osteocalcin is low. After that appt, I came home and researched osteocalcin and found that ppl w/ hypothyroidism often have low osteocalcin and bisphophonates lower osteocalcin!
During my next appt I brought up my osteocalcin levels again and told my endocrinologist that studies show that post-menopausal women can increase osteocalcin w/ exercise. I explained that I exercise daily (gym 3 days a week, walking, etc) so if my osteocalcin levels are low shouldn’t we be trying to figure out why. He didn’t answer me and recommended that I go to church. I’m not joking.

I requested BTM labs again this past December and the numbers I posted are from those labs. They were done 2 yrs 1 month and 11 days after my one and only zoledronic acid infusion. Again, I think I never had elevated BTMs and should never have been prescribed bisphophonates.

I’ll have my BTMs tested again in a few months. My goal is to ditch my endocrinologist, but until I can find another doctor who is willing to order labs for me and write a prescription for my levothyroxine, which I take daily for my hypothyroidism, I have to keep going to this endocrinologist who I think has no clue what he is doing.

I have tried to take Fosamax twice and both times felt horrible, I just don’t tolerate western drugs.
So…I have ordered strontium citrate and a supplement by Primal Harvest that has the good calcium, d2, k2, boron and magnesium.
My doctor won’t be happy but I am going the natural route first.

SWIMMING. I am now going 3 x week. On anastrozole, but EVERY OTHER DAY. I found the following Medical Library site. So far, they believe swimming helps osteopenia and osteoporosis in that swimming strengthens the muscles around the bones. The cushioning helps stop fractures. No published clinical trials yet, but all the facts show evidence of positive reaction to swimming.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7245678/#:~:text=Swimming%20may%20increase%20bone%20density,in%20the%20pathogenesis%20of%20osteoporosis.
I'm afraid of osteoporosis since I am already verging into osteopenia territory. I am 78 years old and 219 lbs. Down from 251 a year ago. Intermittent fasting. Yep, it works. Sara

@tarzy I am sensitive to meds and was able to do Tymlos because the dose is adjustable. I ramped up slowly and had excellent gains with 7/8 dose in the end.

Strontium, as you may know, can affect yoru DEXA and make bones look denser than they are. Some radiologists can adjust for this. In Europe the ranelate form of strontium was stopped for awhile due to cardiovascular risk but who knows if US supplements have this risk.

@fearfracture my numbers are also in the normal range. But that leaves us wondering then, why we have severe osteoporosis. To me, that supports the idea that bone markers don't tell the whole story and/or we run naturally low and so for us our numbers indicate a problem even if in range. It is hard to get at the truth with these blood tests, and there may not be one truth!

Another option is that our DEXA results are skewed to the lower density side because of our smaller bones. Maybe our osteoporosis exists but not as severe as the t-scores reflect.

@normahorn I have always hoped that was true...until I fractured a few times!

I understand what you are saying and I agree with @normahorn meaning I think that the DEXA scans might be misrepresenting my BMD because I am small: 4’11”, wrists 5.5” around, and current weight, which is more than I weighed for the majority of my adult life, 108 lbs.

I do have some medical history that most likely lowered my BMD. I started my period “later” at age 14.5 and ended it much earlier than most, at age 32. I did not get HRT.

I had extremely painful periods. Back then all they did was tell you to take Motrin. I pretty much took 800 MG of Motrin once a month and slept through the pain. From my research it seems that painful periods might be caused by a magnesium deficiency.

Note, my mother made sure we had well balanced meals and we drank milk and my diet, growing up, was definitely better than the average school kid’s diet these days, but it’s possible that even though my mother didn’t let us eat sugary cereals for breakfast, for some reason I might have not gotten enough magnesium or some other nutrient.

I had ache in college. I took tetracycline for an extended period of time—I now know that long term use of antibiotics interferes with vitamin k, which as we all know is needed for good bone health.

In my early twenties, my acne was really bad—horrible painful cyst-like bumps. My dermatologist prescribed Accutane, a very controversial drug—I had to sign a waiver saying I would have an abortion if I got pregnant while taking Accutane. My skin cleared up but while researching my osteoporosis I discovered that Accutane is horrible for your bones.

My weight fluctuated. I would say my normal weight was between 98-101 lbs. but at times I weighed as little as 92 lbs. The last time I weighed 92 lbs was in 2012. In 2015, I was around 100 lbs, then in 2016 something went haywire and I weighed 110 lbs and no matter what I did I couldn’t lose the weight. My mother and all of my siblings had already been diagnosed with hypothyroidism, and in 2017, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism too. My point w/ the history of my weight is that during my bone forming years 0 to 30, I was pretty light weight—weight impacts bone development.

By my mid-20s, I was skipping periods. I was actually happy about it. Periods were painful and a mess and tampons aren’t cheap. I had no idea that every missed period is bad for your bones. After a while they completely disappeared and I went to my doctor in my early thirties and was told I was in menopause. My late 20s were an emotional roller coaster—now I know why, I was peri menopausal and didn’t know it. At one point I was prescribed antidepressants when what I really needed was hormone therapy.

Frequently women shed a lot of bone in the years before and after menopause, for me this was during my mid to late twenties and my early to mid thirties. Most people build bone up to about age 30. Given that I was perimenopausal in
my mid twenties, I probably reached my peak bone mass much earlier than most.

I don’t think my BTMs are wrong. I think they are right. Hypothyroidism causes bone turnover to slow down and it also causes bone formation to slow down.

I think that my endocrinologist should have known this and should have ordered BTMs before pushing bisphosphonates.