overwhelmed by so much (often conflicting) info on natural approaches

There is so much to learn. Hard when you try to do the best for your baby and then we learn things like this.

I wish I could tell you. But not being a doctor or knowing the exact extent of your condition, that leaves my "opinion" out of the equation. I'm going to be 75 in 3 months. I did not have arthritis when I started osteostrong AS FAR AS I KNOW...the only reason I know I have it now is because of a THORACOLUMBAR XRAY that discovered it. I was having pain in my lower back and worried that maybe I had a bulging or slipped disc. No fracture, no disc issue (other than a few that had compressed a bit) but there was moderate arthritis in my lowest few vertebrae.

So I started OSTEOSTRONG just after my PREVIOUS DEXA showing osteoporosis. Now two years later, with my wonderful results without a single drug my doctor is finally supportive of my desire to use alternative methods and she see's that osteostrong has worked for me.

Find out if there's a franchise (OSTEOSTRONG) near you and call them to see if they have a recommendation. SOMETIMES a franchise will partner with a doctor (usually a naturopath) who might be able to diagnose whether or not you should do the program.

GOOD LUCK!

You don't need to lift heavy weights to get an osteo advantage. Even small weights with repetition is enough. Walking and other weight-bearing and resistance helps as well. If you haven't had PT for your osteo, you might consider that for safely using weights, exercise bands, and other tools. My osteo has stabilized with weights and other exercises and Reclast infusions; sometimes it is good to just slow down the bone loss.

I'm hesitant to post b/c people need to make up their own minds. I haven't used Osteostrong so have no firm opinion. As I've said before, we all get to choose our own paths. That said, this was posted on another forum that I respect so I'm sharing it.

So true and it seems for every research study there’s a contradictory finding a few years later .

Trixiegirl, I'm no spring chicken either. I'll be 75 in 2 months. Started Ostesostrong in Aprill 2022 and my Dexa in April 2024 showe significant increase in bone mass without any drugs or heavy weight lifiting. And Dr. Lucas was an Orthopedic surgeon who really got into bone health. He also does regular zoom calls that anyone who is a member of Osteostrong is invited to attend...they're very helpful.

It's a lot of self study and research. But I've been doing my research and saying no to big pharma for my various issues since my 20s. And here I am nearly 75 and I've never been on any ongoing prescription meds. I've taken antibiotics for a SPECIFIC thing, like staph infection or sinusitis or after a tooth extraction to prevent infection. I've taken an antiviral when I got a very mild case of shingles 2 years after I took the vaccination! But all of those things were finite...10 days or 3 days, etc. I've rejected Boniva, Fosamax and Reclast and after 2 years of osteostrong I got a very similar result that someone who took osteo drugs for 2 years would have had. And as I said, MY BONE INCREASE did not include WEAK OLD BONE forced to be left behind by the chemicals in osteodrugs that suppress Osteoclasts - thus changing the normal body chemisty and bone remodeling processes.

I would have been sad if Osteostrong had been unsuccessful...Not just for the time and money but because I'd have to do more research into another alternative. So I was thrilled with my result. Lately I've had some spinal arthritis pain and I'm treating that with FASCIA STRETCHING and it works. NO MEDS. I WISH I could trust our pharmaceutical industry but I simply cannot. I've read too much and I know too much.

My opinion: You must find a doctor you can work with. That way you don't have to have a medical degree yourself. You can stop tormenting yourself. I used a lot of information from the Mayo Clinic forum to get helpful tips and make a list of questions for my doctor. I'm leary of Osteostrong after reading about it. I guess it works for some. But I was ripped off once by a chiropractor who had a protocol to relieve back pain. I felt better while I fed the monkey. Ended up with surgery anyway. If someone has relief from arthritis by fascia stretching then the pain wasn't from the arthritis but from the fascia! I get a lot of pain relief from fascia work but it does nothing to fix the arthritis! It's still there. The Osteostrong NIH report is a little sketchy but to each their own. I'd feel better if my doctor said osteostrong was peer-reviewed and pronounced successful. Small test group. Also unclear whether some of the participants used supplements or pharmaceutical interventions.
I did the Reclast last year - had HORRID reaction. But I'll live with it. Meant it was working. Now I'm on the Tymlos and had a 3 month adjustment but I am feeling the difference by having less spine pain. It doesn't mean my degeneration is reversing - but I can tell my bones are feeling more solid. I can't wait to do my follow up testing. No pain to gain they say! Take your time and read and learn. You'll never know honestly and will have to use your intuition. I do all the right things. My cervical bones fell apart in surgery while my DEXAs were GREAT! Find doctors who get good reviews and good results and stop troubling yourself. ♥️
here's a result of a test. So it may work for some:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10555837/

@loriesco, in my experience, it's difficult to find MDs with good reviews and results who are taking new patients. I keep waiting for the burden to shake loose, but there is no end in sight where I live.

that is absolutely true! @babs10 no argument there! However - one also has to learn to read between the lines on the reviews. Many times an aged doctor gets bad reviews when a daughter takes her mother for a visit and the dr. has no patience. The doctor is overwhelmed with patients and is only human - trying to serve everyone, with equal measure. So patients are demanding. Also, some get bad reviews because the office staff is rude. THEY don't receive enough training! I recently gave my beloved doctor a single star rating and put all the reasons why. I also put that she is a great doctor. It is her system that is totally screwed up at UC Health and that reflects on her ability to service my needs. The was the best thing I ever did. Things changed dramatically. I went back and gave her 4 starts. (she's a 10 star doctor.)
One of my best doctors got many bad reviews. (an arthritis hand surgeon doctor). People did not like his brusk manner. I signed up for a visit with him after much consideration. I started the appointment with something funny and he responded in kind. It was an excellent visit. He got right to the point: He could only take my hand OFF, but he couldn't put it back on! (it was funny). The point was he couldn't do anything as my hand is loaded with arthritis. He told me to stop yanking on the weeds and stressing my joints ripping open the mail. My hand got amazingly better. No surgery. Surgeons are especially in demand. I have an endrocrinologist I had to wait 8 months for. He is a piece of work. He told me point blank he doesn't want to deal with hormones. Just the bone medicine. Now I will go outside my system. I had to wait 3 years on a waiting list to get into a facility, then decided I wanted to stay with my PMC because I take low dose opioids and to switch means a new round of humiliations. She gives me all the testing I want, but she is exhausted and so I bring her the medical reports to make things easier. Now, the problem is the Doctors are all so YOUNG and INEXPERIENCED! I have to be really patient as a patient! I noticed this week I had a big chip on my shoulder but the young doctor saw right thru it and eased my concerns. I was SUPER honest with her. She responded. She did one thing I didn't approve of - provide a supplement for my vertigo. I researched it and it was not valuable. I told the nurse and my regular doctor I wouldn't be getting it. COVID really screwed things up for us all. I knew when the Affordable HCA (ACA) came on board (2013), there wouldn't be enough doctors to service the aging population. That was in fact the case - BEFORE COVID! Now we are sunk. There is a two-tier system in the process. Canada already has theirs in place. We call it "concierge medicine" in Southern California. It means you pay for a doctor on call so you don't have to wait. (think someone told me its $1500 or 2500 a year). It is the reality. I also know they are separating out the poor people's insurance coverage from the middle class at UC Health. So i never tell them I have Medi-cal (Medicaid) or they send me far away. We just have to work harder to get what we need.
On the positive side - I use telehealth video visits. So mostly I do not have to leave home for video visits! that is GREAT and my PCM and I both love it! My health care is about an hour away. So it saves energy. I also get refers to local radiology, lab tests, and anything I can get close by. Medicare is great for that. Go anywhere as long as its a medicare liscenced provider. So have everything outside of my PCM and SPECIALISTS done close to home. I lined up all the scanning, radiology, blood tests, etc. I can do close by who I like. Hope something in this helps you or others. best, Lori

Congratulations on doing your own research re the pharmaceutical industry. The damage some of these osteoporosis drugs do to our bodies is somewhat shocking. And because many of us have trusted our doctors (who know very little re nutritional education and natural healing because there is huge profit for themselves in NOT knowing), we continue taking them experiencing the results of the damage done. (And in this forum one can read about that damage done through Boniva, Fosamax and Reclast.) But if people do their research they will find the truth of what it is that can rebuild bones. And that we don't need to be at the mercy of Big Pharma and our doctors telling us that bones can only be maintained using these powerful meds. We live in a society that has been hoodwinked into believing that a natural alternative is only new age nonsense. Check out Barbara O'Neil and Dr Susan Brown who offer proven studies and suggestions indicating otherwise.