What's the evidence on Calcium and Vitamin D for bone density?

I went off Fosamax after reading about all the lawsuits against the company. My doctor said he did not blame me.
Nancy

I was diabnosed with 'severe' osteoporosis at 35 years old. Way too young! I played tennis2-3 times weekly, worked in an active, demanding business, was raising a small child....don't know why I had this issue, but did. I finally had a doc who had a tad of information to help. I took oyster shell calcium. Lots. It did help, with exercise. Now, I take D3, even living in Florida over 50 years, calcium, Centrum Silver for women, zinc, Super B and B12 shots.....these supplements are helping me greatly. Like I mentioned in another note, I eat yogurt daily. I eat 80 calorie, 12g protein, of course high calcium and good for my digestion/tummy. I walk at the mall now, a little but hope to increase it, and I also use water therapy which helps me is many ways, especially with pain and strenthening. I've never tried Fosamax or any of the newer meds. If I needed the meds now, I'd take whatever was available to help and stop the deterioration. My bones are damaged, stronger but damaged- multiple herniated discs, cracked vertebra, athritis all over, etc....I was 5'10", now 5'5"! Just lost another 1/2 inch! Not good....glad I started out so tall!

Please add vitamin K2 (mk4, mk7) and boron to what you are currently taking. Look for Dr. Jorge Fleches on You Tube - he is a graduate from a famous hospital in California, Loma Linda. He has osteoporosis and started taking boron - he stopped losing his height. I've been taking it for over a year and a half now - and I've stopped losing inches also. Boron has taken all of my arthritis pain. Ruth Bader Ginsburg ate prunes all the time - prunes have boron (just not enough). I take two 3 mg capsules of boron with breakfast, lunch and dinner and two before bed if I need it. Dr. Fleches swears by boron for osteoporosis - and the relief from arthritis and fibromyalgia is a bonus. I was also diagnosed with osteoporosis (severe) at a young age. I had a pituitary tumor that robbed me of a lot of essential hormones. My last test was -5.7 (DEXA) and I was fracturing. Since I added boron, I stopped fracturing. I need to get another DEXA scan but my doctor wants me to wait until the pandemic is under control. I am a gardener living in CA and when I had my vitamin D level tested, it came back at 3 ng/ml - which is horrible. I have since gotten it up to 90 ng/ml which is where I feel best. The vitamin K2 (mk4, mk7) makes sure the calcium you are ingesting goes to your bones - not to your arteries or kidneys. You can do a Google search to The Ultimate Vitamin K Resource by Chris Masterjohn, Ph.D. I have posted a link to it here many times, and will look for it again. We aren't supposed to post websites here - but the moderators allowed it last time. I would tell you to ask your doctor about boron - but I have NOT found even one doctor who knows what it is! The upper limit for taking boron has been arbitrarily set at 20 mg/day - but I know many who go over. I go up to 24 mg, but some people are taking 100 mg or more for osteoporosis. It increases the amount of estrogen in your body if you go above 20 mg, and that is why they say to stay at 20 mg or less. But I also have a low estrogen patch because I was desperate to stop fracturing. It's 0.025 mg, and you only need 60% of the patch - so I cut maybe a quarter of the patch off. But according to Dr. Fleches, the boron is key. You can get it from Amazon for dirt cheap. I couldn't use my hands for anything due to rheumatoid arthritis that has dogged me for decades. Now I can crochet and play piano again! NO arthritis pain and I am no longer getting shorter or fracturing! Give it a try if you wan, esst. You really have lost a lot of height ess77. I'm sorry this happened to you - to all of us.

I took fosamax for about a year. I have bilateral hip replacements and my jaws are in very bad shape from childhood abuse. I have had to have surgery on my jaws. The fosamax caused both my jaws and my hips to hurt. I quit taking it. I did research and found those drugs reportedly work by not allowing your body to get rid of old bone (usually it would come out in urine). Instead, the old bone hangs around and makes your real bone look bigger - more substantial. The minute you stop taking the drugs, you pee out all that dead bone and so you are back to having fragile, brittle bones. The side effects, especially osteonecrosis, just aren't worth it. After talking to several women who took drugs like Reclast, Prolia and Fosamax (who now have osteonecrosis very bad), I decided to try supplements and an estrogen patch instead. Your doctor would have to prescribe the estrogen - and your family history and your own medical history will determine if that is safe for you. I wear a 0.025 mg patch and then every other month I take progesterone. You only need 60% of the patch to be effective. For supplements, I am taking calcium to make up for what I cannot get from food, magnesium, vitamins D3 and K2 (mk4, mk7), collagen peptides in my tea, and boron (3 mg capsules - I take two capsules with breakfast, lunch, dinner and before bed). Vitamin K2 (mk4, mk7) has been shown to make modest improvements with osteoporosis. Boron is the heavy hitter. It also got rid of ALL my arthritis pain (both rheumatoid and osteoarthritis), as well as fibromyalgia pain. Doctors don't seem to know anything about boron. You can find a video by Dr. Jorge Fleches on You Tube. He had osteoporosis and started taking boron for it - and he had great success. It is a very very inexpensive supplement. Do your own research, talk to your doctor, and see what you think. I will post my DEXA scan results as soon as the pandemic is over - I have NO immune system so my doctor wants me to wait to get the scan,. My last scan revealed a -5.7 score which is NOT GOOD. I have finally stopped fracturing - so something is working.

They allowed me to post this resource website before - so I am posting it again. This is about vitamin K. It is a quick read and it will be valuable for anybody with osteoporosis to read. This man has a doctorate degree in nutrition. https://chrismasterjohnphd.com/blog/2016/12/09/the-ultimate-vitamin-k2-resource
I have read peer-reviewed, double blind studies about vitamin K2 and it has been shown to make modest improvements in people's osteoporosis scores. Also, look for Dr. Jorge Fleches on You Tube talking about boron. Boron is a big key in the osteoporosis and arthritis mysteries.

One last thing: I stopped eating all sugar and I do not drink carbonated beverages at all. Both of these changes are very valuable things to do for osteoporosis! I know it might be a bridge too far for many people - but sugar causes inflammation and inflammation causes disease. It has also been shown to cause osteoporosis or make it worse. The diet I am following can be found in the book called The Candida Cure by Dr Ann Boroch. I've been doing it for six years almost and I feel SO MUCH BETTER. I hope some of this helps someone. I have been pouring over nutrition textbooks for six years now - talking to women who have taken the bone-building drugs (and got serious side effects like osteonecrosis), etc. I have been to a dozen doctors or more - and all they know to do is give those nasty medications. They do not understand nutrition for the most part. This led me to do the research on my own,. I was fracturing and needed to put a stop to it. I am in an osteoporosis support group on Facebook - it is a very active group with a ton of good information - it's called Osteoporosis Natural Remedies. There is at least one nutritionist that posts there as well as the women who have been down this road,. People post their before and after DEXA scan scores. You CAN DO THIS using food and supplements. I will post my new DEXA scan score just as soon as this pandemic is over (I don't have an immune system - so have to wait). My last score was -5.7, but I stopped fracturing.

Thanks for the sharing. I've taken potassium in fairly large doses for many years. My aldosterone doesn't do it's job, primary aldosteronism. So, spirolactone and postassium and now tyroid meds do the trick. Important to have our homones involved in all this stuff, all the testing. They affect all our systems and are kind of sneaky that way.....sneak into the picture and are often overlooked by the docs. Also, it's so important to stay on top of the tests so we keep everything balanced. I guess I'm so tuned into my body now, after dealing with all this junk for so long, after fighting for so long to get proper help and resolution.....I look at my doctors now as my health partner. That's a good change for me........Be well, stay safe.

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Dear ess77, your story is not typical and quite frankly shocking! That must be very hard to take especially since you are so fit and that you use weight bearing exercise as a big part of your life. I am so sorry to hear that you have to struggle with this. sounds like we eat the same yogurt in the morning! I only recently learned here on the blog, that in order for vitamin D2 enhance the absorption of calcium, that there must be fat present so I've Incorporated 1/4 of an avocado slice into that breakfast meal and have tried to make sure there is a tiny bit of fat at my other meals whether it's a teaspoon of olive oil or butter to cook my food in or seasoned it with.

I have learned so much about osteoporosis and the diet I should have in the supplements I should have here on the blog. I am so grateful!

I wish you all the best on your journey and would love to hear how your next bone density scan Is.

Many blessings, Sunny flower

Dear Parrotqueen, have you had any GI upset from taking the bar on as you take it? I have only been taking 3 mg twice a day with meals and that was going to be my next question, do you take it with a meal?

I tried to take strontium separately from my calcium that is, two hours before or after I take calcium in a meal but, it just tore apart my stomach! So then I learned it was okay to take it with food as long as it wasn't near any calcium food. So I will try to give that another try but suppose I should wait to see if I can tolerate more boron 1st.

Once again, thank you for your great tips and information! I am seriously grateful! I hope you are doing well, at minimum much better than tolerable.

Many blessings, Sunny flower