@dingus since you quoted me, I just want to make sure that my comment is not misinterpreted. Protocols change and some of us make our own protocols (a positive in my book) and research is ongoing. So yes we are all experiments in a sense but I did not mean that is a totally negative thing: the main thing is that people know they can work with a doctor on customizing their path.

I would reverse what you said and say that "Yes, some have been harmed by Reclast and other bone drugs, but many have been helped." I fear that too much negativity will dissuade people from trying medications which can be literally life-saving and certainly life quality- saving for many. I say this as someone who, yes, has side effects, but has also experienced the long term misery of fractures.

Doctors and drug companies do a lot of good. My kid has been on insulin since age 4 and would have died 30 years ago without it. Anti-epileptics have saved her from seizures. My other kid has asthma. Drugs go through a lot of trials but yes post-marketing use shows the real up and downsides.

They did not know that bisphosphonates could cause jaw necrosis or atypical femur fractures when it was first approved. They did not know that Prolia has such a vicious rebound. They did not know that Evenity was anabolic only in the first months. On the other side, they were not sure if Forteo and Tymlos could cause osteosarcoma, and neither has.

Any medication that is relatively new is still being tested, basically. Does that mean a drug salesman is in control? No. Does that mean we should take calcium and Vitamin D and avoid meds with scores below -3.0, no.

I think what would help a lot is if doctors learned more about side effects so they could listen empathetically and work to make protocols flexible. Right now pharmacists know more, but the local pharmacist doesn't deal with most bone drugs at all.

I am always concerned for lurkers and for all those who come on here feeling terrified of drugs. I was too. I want others to feel motivated to try before fracturing like I did. I cannot even lift a bottle of seltzer without pain. That said some of us have sensitivities and comorbidities and truly cannot take certain drugs. For anyone new, with bad scores, I hope you will at least try.
Most people do fine on Reclast or whatever drug you choose, and don't post on forums. I post here because I fractured!

@dingus
this ongoing conversation with windyshores is quite helpful.
She has some excellent doctors. Many of us haven't tried that, yet. And it alters prespective. I also think that the drug manufacturers play a heavy hand with some physicians. The FDA is playing a part, I think, approving medications prematurely and at our peril.
I would also say that we trust our doctors incorrectly. We should try to understand that they actually don't know. We can read the same reports that they are reading and make as much sense of the reports as they can. For the most part, they are not reading the reports. They are looking at guidlines provided by
It is harder the older we are partially because we (some of us) didn't grow up with the ability to research--the internet. I remember being denied the package insert by a pharmacist and refusing the medication without it. I even had a PDR but wanted the latest version from the manufacturer. Many of us grew up trusting that the doctor would know.
I say trust your physician to give you the best care that they are capable of but recognize that it may not be good enough.