Treating Osteoporosis: What works for you?

I know others have had lots of issues with Prolia but I have had positive results - 6% increase in bone density. I have no side effects so this is an easy decision for me to continue (been on it several years) I know its a difficult decision.

Nope, you can never "catch up." I haven't looked at Prolia, but the drugs I have researched do not grow new bone. They keep old bone from leaving as would normally happen. Old bone and new bone are not the same. The minerals your body needs to be able to add them to bone are: calcium, magnesium, boron, and zinc (with copper). You won't get enough vitamin D from being in the sun unless you're wearing a bikini and at the right place on the globe. I had a blood test (and another and another), thanks to my rheumatologist, and learned I need 5,000 IU of D3 / day. Even tho I'm in a place on the globe where I don't have to completely cover up outdoors most of the year. The Japanese treat osteoporosis with all this and add K2. ... The bones in the arms benefit from lifting weights, especially. Dumbbells are inexpensive. I have mine on an A frame which fits into a closet.

Nope, you can never "catch up." I haven't looked at Prolia, but the drugs I have researched do not grow new bone. They keep old bone from leaving as would normally happen. Old bone and new bone are not the same. The minerals your body needs to be able to add them to bone are: calcium, magnesium, boron, and zinc (with copper). You won't get enough vitamin D from being in the sun unless you're wearing a bikini and at the right place on the globe. I had a blood test (and another and another), thanks to my rheumatologist, and learned I need 5,000 IU of D3 / day. Even tho I'm in a place on the globe where I don't have to completely cover up outdoors most of the year. The Japanese treat osteoporosis with all this and add K2. ... The bones in the arms benefit from lifting weights, especially. Dumbbells are inexpensive. I have mine on an A frame which fits into a closet.

Currently I’m using standardized Curcumin. My doctor gave me prescription for meloxicam but it irritated my stomach. Have decided I just won’t use the chemical drugs. The fastest relief I’ve found is from a homeopathic cream. Traumeel and it comes from Germany.<br />
I want to fix the problem not medicate it.<br />
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Sent from Mail for Windows 10. <br />
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I have the same problem.I have been on the "bone pill" for about 3 years, and it's (to make a bad pun) a hard pill to swallow! Taking this on an empty stomach once a week, with a large glass of warm water, leaves me nauseous all morning! How do you cope, if you have finally started this treatment? Thanks for any helpful hints, and I hope you have had a good weekend.<br />
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Try ginger with it. Ginger tea or candied ginger are the forms most like best.

I have severe osteoporosis. I am on my 3rd year of seeing a wellness coach at a local physical therapy place. I started doing an hour twice a week of strength and resistance training. Then I dropped to an hour a week and Medicare will pay for physical therapy for resistance training. So I do an hour with a wellness coach (individual training) and intense. Then 40 minutes with a physical therapist. Not on the same day. After 1 1/2 years with the wellness coach and a year with the physical therapist, it stopped the osteoporosis in my spine but not my hips. I cannot take the Boniva, Fosamax of the world. My only resort now is for Prolia. But my first bone scan was in 1999, the year I turned 50 and my spine scan was -1.44 then. . It took until 2018 to get to -2.5 in my spine. My total left hip was scanned in 2008 at -2.5 and in 2019 it was -3.4. I am still weighing whether I want Prolia at 70 years old.

Did I understand you to say that medicare will pay for physical therapy when diagnosed with osteoporosis?

@gigiray I know that Medicare will pay for some PT if you have osteoporosis. I was about to have some to get me started on the best exercises when the pandemic hit and the PT place closed down for a while.

I think the restrictions may somehow vary by state though because my experience with PT in NH does not match the experience that a relative in MA has had. In NH there is constant reporting on how much progress has been made and that did not seem necessary in MA.
JK

You mentioned "I think the restrictions may somehow vary by state though because my experience with PT in NH does not match the experience that a relative in MA has had."

Medicare rules are the same for everyone, put in place by the Federal government. The "reporting" discrepancy in PT is most likely based on the terms of your supplementary Medicare policy, which may vary by state, because that is who regulates the health insurance companies. But underneath it all, the policy must comply with Medicare rules, which covers PT policies. It is an enormous, complex web, and part of what contributes to the high cost of our insurance and medical care. Medical practices and facilities have entire departments that do nothing except deal with Medicare and private insurance coverage and the complexities of coding each segment of care so that it gets paid for.

But if there is no progress, or the patient is deemed "non-compliant" (like failing to do the at-home exercises, or failing to show up for appointments) Medicare payments will stop.
Sue