Anyone progress from osteoporosis to osteopenia?

@thisnthat ,Congrats on your hard work and improved DEXA scores!

My scores are much worse than yours, and the doctor recommended Tymlos. Still haven't bit the bullet yet and taken it, because I have always had such bad reactions to drugs. That being said, I'm willing to try it at a lower dose and titrate upwards.

You mentioned a low intensity vibration plate. Are you using the Marodyne low intensity vibration? I have been considering that myself, but at $3K, I have hesitated because there really isn't any scientific proof it works. None the less, people claim that it does.

Regarding Strontium, I just started that, too. The controversy is regarding the lab made Strontium that was prescribed in Europe, not the citrate form, which is supposedly natural.

Keep up the hard work. Getting fractures is very unpleasant.

Hi, mary1951!
Thank you for the kind words! 😊

Yes, I use the Marodyne LIV platform twice a day, but have also just ordered the wearable Osteoboost vibration belt (should receive it in about a month). An initial albeit small clinical trial indicated it may be quite effective at improving bone density. We shall see! The price, at around $900+ is much more reasonable.

I saw my rheumatologist last week, the same one who had wanted me to go on Reclast (which I refused, having heard about longterm pain as a possible side effect, as well as arrhythmia). He had completely overlooked my latest DEXA & TBS scores, and his own recommendation that I needn’t go on OP drugs after all!
Instead, he asked me how I was going to treat my osteoporosis!!!! Gobsmacked, I replied that I no longer had osteoporosis, and that my latest scan showed my spine as normal! Clearly flustered at this oversight, he looked at my results and asked how did I achieve this big jump in my score. When I started to respond, his eyes glazed over and I knew it was a waste of time. He is totally in the Big Pharma thrall.

That aside, I really do think you can achieve amazing results if you are willing to put in the work. If I had gone on the Reclast, the average improvement in lumbar spine bone density is about 4.1% a year. Using natural means in under a year and a half, I had:
- approximately a 32% improvement in my spine;
- over 6% in the average femoral neck score; and,
- about a 32% improvement in the average total hip scores (calculating SD, or standard deviation).

I am now at the point where my functional gynecologist says it’s okay to cut back on the supplements. Not much on pill taking, so happy about that!

@thisnthat- 32% improvement in spine is what I need! You need to publish your protocol and sell it!

Yes, I share your feelings about doctors and drug companies. I looked up my endocrinologist and saw much money he has been making on Osteoporosis drugs. In 2018 alone he received $38,000! Unbelievable! It appeared that much of it was Prolia.

So I am not all that keen on starting Tymlos, but feeling like I have no choice with 2 compression fractures and a T score of my spine at -4.1. Hips and Femoral neck aren't bad at all but the spine is very scary.

I'm going to look up the Osteoboost belt you mentioned.

Thanks for you input. It is very refreshing.

@thisnthat- 32% improvement in spine is what I need! You need to publish your protocol and sell it!

Yes, I share your feelings about doctors and drug companies. I looked up my endocrinologist and saw much money he has been making on Osteoporosis drugs. In 2018 alone he received $38,000! Unbelievable! It appeared that much of it was Prolia.

So I am not all that keen on starting Tymlos, but feeling like I have no choice with 2 compression fractures and a T score of my spine at -4.1. Hips and Femoral neck aren't bad at all but the spine is very scary.

I'm going to look up the Osteoboost belt you mentioned.

Thanks for you input. It is very refreshing.

Just want to say that a therapeutic dose of strontium, if that has been used by anyone posting, is not "natural," and it skews DEXA results (apparently by 10%) unless the radiologist makes adjustments. Also it is too slow-working for those of us in trouble.

I think that people with osteopenia or mild osteoporosis can consider more holistic protocols. Anyone with a spine score below -4 has serious osteoporosis and I believe drugs are the only way to go. I say that as someone with 7 fractures whose worse score was -3.7.

My doctor is a caring MD who works with me and accommodates my many health issues. He has truly saved my life. I think it is most important to find the right doctor, especially one who listens, is knowledgeable and flexible.

@windyshores , I am not pro-doctor for a lot of reasons. I had a wonderful doctor when I was younger. He was a DO and saved my life. But we moved out of state and the doctors where I live now are not the same.

The only reason I was even diagnosed with osteoporosis was because my sister in law told me I needed a DEXA scan after I fell off my bike and broke my collarbone 4 years ago. I was 69 at the time and had been seeing that PCP for 15 years and she never once suggested I needed a DEXA scan. I didn't even know what a Dexa scan was!

I was a ballet dancer and in great shape up until I went into menopause and things started falling apart. When I found out I had osteoporosis she suggested Fosamax, even though I had to tell her I shouldn't take it because I have LPR and chronic gastritis. So I thought healthy food and exercise was all I needed and didn't even know I had fractured a vertebrae because this same doctor refused to order any Xrays, or anything diagnostic in spite of telling her for 3 years that I had severe back pain. I didn't find out about the old fracture until last year when I had an X-ray for something else and that revealed it. Then this new fracture happened after I had been dragging trees from the back to the front of my house after hurricane Milton. I had also been carrying my 2 year old 35 pound grandson around for the week before that because he had croup and just wanted to be held, and I was his sitter that week. Then I caught the cough he had, and was coughing my lungs out while I cleaned up the yard after the hurricane.

So it was a bad confluence of events that probably led to this recent fracture, which caused me to see a pain specialist who finally ordered an MRI that showed the fracture.

Yes, we have to be our own advocates. Doctors killed my father who went into a hospital for a simple stent and never came out again because of their butchering. They went into his lung, he was bleeding internally and his heart stopped.

So when I find out my endocrinologist has taken literally thousands of dollars over the years for prescribing Osteoporosis drugs, I do hesitate to trust him. Especially when he told me to take Tymlos and I have had radiation.

I am probably going to take it anyway, but I'm very, very frightened of the side effects with my history of drug sensitivity, low blood pressure (52/88) and after reading the reviews for that drug on drugs.com.

I care about my body, which is why I am trying to be cautious. I do feel that if the PCP had told me about Dexa scans when I was 55 instead of 69, I wouldn't be in the pickle I am in now.

@windyshores , I am not pro-doctor for a lot of reasons. I had a wonderful doctor when I was younger. He was a DO and saved my life. But we moved out of state and the doctors where I live now are not the same.

The only reason I was even diagnosed with osteoporosis was because my sister in law told me I needed a DEXA scan after I fell off my bike and broke my collarbone 4 years ago. I was 69 at the time and had been seeing that PCP for 15 years and she never once suggested I needed a DEXA scan. I didn't even know what a Dexa scan was!

I was a ballet dancer and in great shape up until I went into menopause and things started falling apart. When I found out I had osteoporosis she suggested Fosamax, even though I had to tell her I shouldn't take it because I have LPR and chronic gastritis. So I thought healthy food and exercise was all I needed and didn't even know I had fractured a vertebrae because this same doctor refused to order any Xrays, or anything diagnostic in spite of telling her for 3 years that I had severe back pain. I didn't find out about the old fracture until last year when I had an X-ray for something else and that revealed it. Then this new fracture happened after I had been dragging trees from the back to the front of my house after hurricane Milton. I had also been carrying my 2 year old 35 pound grandson around for the week before that because he had croup and just wanted to be held, and I was his sitter that week. Then I caught the cough he had, and was coughing my lungs out while I cleaned up the yard after the hurricane.

So it was a bad confluence of events that probably led to this recent fracture, which caused me to see a pain specialist who finally ordered an MRI that showed the fracture.

Yes, we have to be our own advocates. Doctors killed my father who went into a hospital for a simple stent and never came out again because of their butchering. They went into his lung, he was bleeding internally and his heart stopped.

So when I find out my endocrinologist has taken literally thousands of dollars over the years for prescribing Osteoporosis drugs, I do hesitate to trust him. Especially when he told me to take Tymlos and I have had radiation.

I am probably going to take it anyway, but I'm very, very frightened of the side effects with my history of drug sensitivity, low blood pressure (52/88) and after reading the reviews for that drug on drugs.com.

I care about my body, which is why I am trying to be cautious. I do feel that if the PCP had told me about Dexa scans when I was 55 instead of 69, I wouldn't be in the pickle I am in now.

@mary1951 I have saved my kids from medical providers many times over, and my mother too. One of my kids has asthma and they wanted to discharge her from the ER (toddler at the time) because they didn't hear a wheeze. You need air to make a wheeze and she was too blocked to make one. I refused to leave and asked them to test her oxygen and she was in the hospital for 10 days. Anyone with type 1 diabetes views hospitals as dangerous and knows that providers- even ICU's- know nothing about management. I could go on and on.

I view the most important job I have right now is to protect myself from medical harm. Ten years ago I had my first afib episode, and a cardiologist wanted me on anticoagulants and heart meds right away. I am still not on meds and found a doctor who supports that and provides "pill in a pocket" meds to take with my still once a year episodes.

I had cancer and got 4 opinions before deciding what to do.

This is why I wrote that finding the right doctor is absolutely key. We need doctors to prescribe. Sometimes I wish we could prescribe for ourselves! So the key remains finding a doctor who listens, cares, and basically is flexible enough to follow our wishes and needs.

@windyshores , I am not pro-doctor for a lot of reasons. I had a wonderful doctor when I was younger. He was a DO and saved my life. But we moved out of state and the doctors where I live now are not the same.

The only reason I was even diagnosed with osteoporosis was because my sister in law told me I needed a DEXA scan after I fell off my bike and broke my collarbone 4 years ago. I was 69 at the time and had been seeing that PCP for 15 years and she never once suggested I needed a DEXA scan. I didn't even know what a Dexa scan was!

I was a ballet dancer and in great shape up until I went into menopause and things started falling apart. When I found out I had osteoporosis she suggested Fosamax, even though I had to tell her I shouldn't take it because I have LPR and chronic gastritis. So I thought healthy food and exercise was all I needed and didn't even know I had fractured a vertebrae because this same doctor refused to order any Xrays, or anything diagnostic in spite of telling her for 3 years that I had severe back pain. I didn't find out about the old fracture until last year when I had an X-ray for something else and that revealed it. Then this new fracture happened after I had been dragging trees from the back to the front of my house after hurricane Milton. I had also been carrying my 2 year old 35 pound grandson around for the week before that because he had croup and just wanted to be held, and I was his sitter that week. Then I caught the cough he had, and was coughing my lungs out while I cleaned up the yard after the hurricane.

So it was a bad confluence of events that probably led to this recent fracture, which caused me to see a pain specialist who finally ordered an MRI that showed the fracture.

Yes, we have to be our own advocates. Doctors killed my father who went into a hospital for a simple stent and never came out again because of their butchering. They went into his lung, he was bleeding internally and his heart stopped.

So when I find out my endocrinologist has taken literally thousands of dollars over the years for prescribing Osteoporosis drugs, I do hesitate to trust him. Especially when he told me to take Tymlos and I have had radiation.

I am probably going to take it anyway, but I'm very, very frightened of the side effects with my history of drug sensitivity, low blood pressure (52/88) and after reading the reviews for that drug on drugs.com.

I care about my body, which is why I am trying to be cautious. I do feel that if the PCP had told me about Dexa scans when I was 55 instead of 69, I wouldn't be in the pickle I am in now.

@windyshores, Yes, ultimately finding the right doctor is essential. In the mean time, we need to always advocate for ourselves.

Thankfully, you advocated for your daughter. My 4 year old grand-daughter came down with double pneumonia and ended up in the hospital for a month. They put her on a respirator and into an induced coma. I believe they made decisions that saved her life.

There's good and bad in every profession. I just feel that paying out bonuses to doctors who prescribe expensive drugs is blatantly wrong and a conflict of interest.

I went to PT yesterday, and the lady therapist who was helping me told me she was put on Fosamax for mild osteopenia and it affected her esophagus so much that she couldn't eat or swallow and had to have her esophagus stretched twice.

Stories like that make me shake my head. The stories about reactions to Tymlos on drug.com
are horrifying and the drug only gets a 4.7 out of 10 rating. A couple people on that site said there was no improvement in their scores either! Yikes.

I am going to try it, and hopefully I will have a positive testimony about the drug in the future.
Thanks for all your feedback, which has been encouraging and not discouraging.