Hesitant to begin drug treatment for my osteoporosis

Another school of thought - more than Oxalates, it is that high percentages of unprotected supplement minerals are crystalizing in the small intestines and becoming useless.

I learned this from a research and development division of a wellness manufacturer who founded a patented fix (two in fact) to the problem that caused up to ten times higher absorption of minerals.

You researchers will like reading about this - search for Oligo Technology introduced in 2008. Trust detail: when they discovered a fix, they threw away over $10 million supplements saying they could not in integrity sell a problem when there was a fix for it. (They had tested 250 name brand supplements and all had this crystalizing problem.)

artiste181, welcome, this is a really good site.
I suggest that you try Tymlos and follow windshores as your guide. You can access all of her posts by clicking on a @windyshores.
My short opinionated rundown follows:
There are very few pharmaceutical options divided into drugs that build bone and drugs that preserve old bone.
The anabolics are Tymlos and Forteo, eliminating Forteo because you had side effects.
All of the bisphosphonates work by preserving older bone. I don't like the mechanism of action, so I don't even bother with the side effects. Except with Prolia, which I think the most dangerous of all of the meds, also the easiest to take. Bisphosphonates preserve older bone by preventing remodeling. Prolia has a different mechanism of action. It prevents the bone destroying cells from fully developing collecting what has been called a resevoir or a pool of those cells which mature when you stop the medication. So you have to follow Prolia immediately with medication to prevent extreme damage to your bones.
Then there is Evenity the newest medication (with a scary a black box warning for stroke and heart attack) begins as an anabolic and ends as an antiresorptive.
So I'm for Tymlos. It has an advantage in that if you have side effects you can reduce the dose with the windyshores method or stop taking the drug. It leaves your system withing 24 hours so you aren't trapped with a month of side effects.
Everyone will have a different opinion. I wish you luck with a tough decision.

I see bone cancer is a risk - I already had breast cancer so doubt Tymlos would be good. My T scores are 3.5 and 4.1.

I am an active 61 year old who has had osteoporosis for at least a decade and I have not taken any medications for my osteoporosis except vitamins. In October I started HRT which my gynecologist prescribed and I have had good results (NTX score from 2 months ago shows bone building and my Dexa scores improved in the spine and femoral neck). My endocrinologist prescribed Fosamax which I haven’t taken yet. My GP recommended not taking Fosamax since I’m having good results with the HRT. Can anyone offer any guidance about taking Fosamax and HRT?

I am an active 61 year old who has had osteoporosis for at least a decade and I have not taken any medications for my osteoporosis except vitamins. In October I started HRT which my gynecologist prescribed and I have had good results (NTX score from 2 months ago shows bone building and my Dexa scores improved in the spine and femoral neck). My endocrinologist prescribed Fosamax which I haven’t taken yet. My GP recommended not taking Fosamax since I’m having good results with the HRT. Can anyone offer any guidance about taking Fosamax and HRT?

The list is quite extensive and depends on individual needs/ symptoms. Keith McCormick doesn't suggest everyone take every supplement he lists. He also goes into the extensive research/studies and why they can help. You can find him online as well. I take Omega 3s, vitamin D, boron, ALA, ALC, NAC, vitamin K2 MK4 and MK7, magnesium, calcium, curcumin, resveratrol, CoQ10, berberine, collagen, and protein powder. Sorry for the long list. I'm not suggesting all these are for everyone.

mic1953 you might benefit from finding out more about your osteo, esp your T-scores, so you can make informed decisions about treatment. You might be fine without a Rx medication - most of us know lots of people in our age range 😱 who probably have osteoporosis and have not been diagnosed, and who manage fine as long as they don't fall. But you've crossed the line where you can use the excuse that you didn't know. You should look into the Pro's as much as the Con's. IMO. Good luck whichever way you go.

I was on both Fosamax and HRT for over five years. Never really thought about it or paid any attention to it. I had no issues at all.

@steinbeck would you be open to sharing your T score and/or FRAX score? If it's not severe osteoporosis, HRT could be a very reasonable choice, in my opinion. NTX is a marker of bone resorption, not formation - so if it becomes sufficiently suppressed, bone loss tends to slow down. This may also lead to some increase in bmd over time. What form and dosage of estradiol are you using?

I'm also on bioidentical HRT since finishing Forteo, a bone-building treatment. My CTX - another bone resorption marker - dropped so much that my endo described it as "minimal bone turnover". So for now, HRT alone seems sufficient to maintain my bone mass, which was confirmed by a DXA scan.

Did your endo recommend adding Fosamax to your HRT regimen? What was your recent NTX reading?