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Trying to choose supplements carefully
Osteoporosis & Bone Health | Last Active: Nov 3 6:26pm | Replies (44)Comment receiving replies
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.
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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.