Trying to choose supplements carefully

@ripley I separate calcium and magnesium by two hours because they apparently compete with each other, or so I was told. I don't take any supplements that combine them. I know the idea has been to use them in a proper ratio and I don't know for sure what the best thing is to do, but to be on the safe side, I take them separately.

@tilou I have 7 spinal fractures. These have been painful, disabling and life-altering. Many of us lose bone no matter what we do holistically with supplements, exercise, anti-inflammatories and so on. I lost a lot of bone with cancer treatment. But even without that, I was losing bone despite my best efforts.

Tymlos took me from severe osteoporosis to borderline and then I did some Evenity and a couple of Reclast so far. Tymlos was a miracle drug for me. These pharmaceuticals do work for many of us. Yes there may be side effects but with Tymlos they are short-lived for most of us, and the effects of fractures are far worse.

@ripley I separate calcium and magnesium by two hours because they apparently compete with each other, or so I was told. I don't take any supplements that combine them. I know the idea has been to use them in a proper ratio and I don't know for sure what the best thing is to do, but to be on the safe side, I take them separately.

@tilou I have 7 spinal fractures. These have been painful, disabling and life-altering. Many of us lose bone no matter what we do holistically with supplements, exercise, anti-inflammatories and so on. I lost a lot of bone with cancer treatment. But even without that, I was losing bone despite my best efforts.

Tymlos took me from severe osteoporosis to borderline and then I did some Evenity and a couple of Reclast so far. Tymlos was a miracle drug for me. These pharmaceuticals do work for many of us. Yes there may be side effects but with Tymlos they are short-lived for most of us, and the effects of fractures are far worse.

Wow, wow, I cant believe all your good people are researching what drugs companies are not able to do on their own! That's why I dont want to take drugs until they can provide a sure and economic way for me to use them and, give me positive results. I think that after considering all those results of real people here on Mayo that living beings are the cobaye for all these pharma researching companies. If you can prove otherwise let me know.

I think we may be on the same page. I am not anti-drug. My husband had Parkinson’s and before he died the drugs made his life a lot more tolerable. But I am very skeptical of these drugs. The bottom line for pharmaceutical companies is all about making money, and we are a very large and vulnerable group. The companies make billions of dollars with these drugs. My mother had six sisters. All seven of them had osteoporosis and none of them took drugs because they didn’t exist then. They had no major issues and all lived into their 90’s. I know some of you have had horrible experiences with fractures and therefore choose to take the drugs. I understand that. I know many of you have had positive results with the drugs. I know some of you have had horrible side effects. I guess the conclusion here is that we must each do what feels right to us.

I was skeptical until I had a 20% gain in spine from Tymlos.

Most drugs for most health conditions have side effects so it is all about risk/beneft. I have a kid on insulin who would be dead quickly without it, but insulin also causes life-threatening low blood sugars. No choice. Kid is also on anti-convulsants with side effects. No choice. My osteoporosis: no choice.

If people's scores are not too low, I think trying holistic approaches is very reasonable. But my point was to take meds BEFORE fractures, not after! @sandrajhunt do you know if your mother's sisters had a humped back, even subtley? Or if any undiagnosed fractures caused GI or breathing issues? I know older women (mid-90's) who clearly have a lot of fractures- I can tell by looking at them- but meds were not available.

The scary thing about these meds in my mind is that experts and researchers did not anticipat 1) atypical femur fracture and jaw necrosis if bisphosphonate ar used too long 2) that Prolia caused rebound when stopped leaving patients worse off and 3) that Evenity is anabolic only for the first weeks or months and anti-resorptive thereafter. For any new drug, like Evenity, I am cautious and even wary and used it for only 4 months this time around.

The other issue is how to maintain over time. We need more research! The time limits for each medication make me think that people should wait for meds as long as they can. However, osteoporosis has no symptoms and we can fracture while feeling strong. DEXA's and bone markers can guide the timing.

For most of my life, my vitamin D3 levels were in the high teens and low 20s. My doctor never really thought it was an issue. After Covid, I realized that I was doing myself a disservice by not addressing the situation. On my own, I began to take vitamin D3 4000 IU per day And my level is now over 60 which is where it needs to be as a senior. Always be mindful of the fact that you are the best judge of your own health in the end.