What helps improve osteoporosis without medication?

Oh my gracious Kathleen, reading about those falls makes me wince! Eeeouch! Those deep bruises can hurt very much for a very long time! I had so many myself besides my Fxs and have had hematomas that last forever it seems like.

Thx again for the great info. Be careful! Blessings, Sunny

Sorry Kathleen, Fxs are fractures. S

@ess77, I am taking a one yr sabbatical from Reclast and have been struggling with non-prescribed meds to keep my bones as healthy and strong as possible during these interim months. I do most of what you shared but the water therapy would be a greatly welcomed addition to my healthy bones regimen.

I know that weight bearing exercises are encouraged for osteoporosis patients but hadn't considered the water therapy. We have a p.t. facility near my home that offers water therapy. Think I'll give them a call and see if they require a doc's order to be eligible. You may have given me a new challenge to undertake for 2021 and I am eager to pursue this! Thank you!

My personal challenge for 2019 was to see if I could go 12 mos without purchasing a single piece of wearing apparel. Fulfilling that challenge led me to set walking 3 days/week on specific days as my 2020 challenge. So far, so good on that one too! Have been mulling a good challenge for the upcoming year and think your post has pointed me in the best direction!! Yay!

Wonderful!!!! warms my heart to hear your response to my message. You go, girl....I began the therapy pool, 1 hour, 2X weekly, with a script from my neurologist. The pool is at the Y next to Brooks Rehab, so they share the therapy pool. I used it for a year with medicare. Now, the sweet folks at rehab are letting me continue to use it if there's room, not too many therapy patients in the pool. With covid, they have to keep it small. The Y hasn't opened the therapy pool yet for their members, so I can't use it during Y time. The rehab folks realize how important this is to my overall health and improvement....so they are helping me out. Tomorrow is pool day, if there's room. Can't wait!
Hope you enjoy and find it as helpful in as many ways as I. Blessings!

@imatine I was diagnosed with osteoporosis in September 2019 after a minor fall in July left me with a minimally displaced trochanteric femur fracture. I have been doing all of the right things -- getting plenty of calcium and protein, taking vitamin D, K, boron, and magnesium, and plenty of weight-bearing exercise. Before the pandemic I was going to my health club and alternating days of pool jogging with days in the gym working on strength equipment. I had been doing that for quite a while before my diagnosis, in fact, my PCP thought with all of the exercise I did that I would not have osteoporosis. He was wrong.

Now that I can no longer go to the gym I do at least an hour of exercise at home using videos. Some are weight-bearing and some are cardio. On days when weather permits I walk outside.

I had a DEXA on December 1st. My numbers are considerably worse than they were. I am on prednisone so that is part of my problem. My transplant team has finally cut my dosage in half so hopefully, that will help to keep it from getting worse.

I had an endo appointment a week ago and have another coming up with a different endo this week. To me, this is such a huge decision I wanted input from two highly regarded doctors. The doctor that I already did see thought my plan, to start on Tymlos to improve my bones for two years would be good. I will see what the doctor I am conferring with this week says. I have not yet decided which doctor I will choose to treat me.

Following those two years I would need to go on something else, the recommendation was Tymlos. I am finding that doctors tend to not recommend Tymlos because it is a daily self-administered injection, and it is expensive. I have figured out the cost for the coming year when checking the Medicare Plan D plans and it would be costly up until April or May ( a bit over $500 a month) for me and then the price would go down (a little over $100 a month). I think if it improves my bone density it will be worth it. By using the Medicare calculator though I save myself about $800 a year on my drugs by switching plans.

Admittedly, I am scared of any of these drugs but I am also scared of a more severe fracture. I don't see that I have many options.
JK

Hello @contentandwell

You speak of something that we all fear - taking meds for our bones. Some of us, because of other meds we have taken or because of other diagnoses we have (hypoparathyroidism) find our bones getting weaker in spite of our best efforts to reverse the trend. Last month I talked with my endocrinologist and I decided to start on once-a-month Actonel. The side effects do concern me, but I feel more concerned about a fractured hip or other bone. As a result, I started the Actonel at the end of November and I hope for the best.

Do you plan on starting the Tymlos in January?

@hopeful33250 I think it probably be January. I will know more after my zoom appointment with the second endocrinologist.

I had been thinking that I wanted to wait until after the holidays but then I realized that we will not be doing anything for the holidays anyway so that doesn’t need to be a consideration.
JK

Hi All .I'm new to this site and am happy to be here. I have severe osteoporosis and have tried all the medications. I just had a bone density test and have not gotten the results yet. I'm currently on a newer drug called Evenity and have no idea if it will help. I have several compression or stress fractures and have lost almost 4 inches oh height. I would love any advice on how best to deal with my osteoporosis. And what results anyone has gotten from following a diet versus medications. Thanks all and take care and be safe!

The title of this posting is "Healing osteoporosis without medication"

The poster is asking: "Hello, did anyone here try to heal from osteoporosis away from all the prescribed medications we all know of? Did you try following a specific diet? Excercise? Meditation, etc."

Interestingly, most of the answers which I see relate to Big Pharma medications and I do not see any numbers, dxa or bone measures to show any "Healing" of osteoporosis without medication or with medications.

Hate to repeat but here are my numbers again with only the intervention of supplements, including strontium citrate, and bioidentical hormones.

My numbers began at:
2004 Femoral Neck -2.8

In 2019 my numbers were:
2019 Femoral Neck -.6

No fractures, no side effects. I do not believe that osteoporosis is ever healed, but I believe that my numbers and lack of fractures and side effects show the disease is more than managed. My endocrinologist has released me unless my numbers change or if I have fractures.

Hi, @loiscapecod and welcome to this group. As a long osteoporosis patient, I've been on numerous meds to treat it over the years. Very luckily for me, there have been no adverse side effects and other than following a combined dietitian recommended menu plan for prediabetes and CKD and making sure of calcium in my diet along with supplements, I've not followed a specific diet for osteo.

However, I was just told to take a yr. vacation from Reclast annual infusions because of having had it for 5 yrs. I will have a Zoom visit with my pcp in January and intend to ask what she recommends until I can resume the Reclast. I walk and do some weight bearing exercises and have experienced improved results from the meds prescribed but am now concerned about what to do going forward. While approved for Prolia, I am unwilling to try it because of reports of side effects and that if stopped, it can have adverse on previous gains.

I hope you'll share your Dexa results and let us know how the Evenity is working for you and whether there is improvement shown from the Dexa test.