Is Osteoporosis reversible in post menopausal women?

@fearfracture smoking does not cause breast cancer. The risk with HRT I believe, is breast cancer, and 75% of breast cancers are in people without family history.

I also want to emphasize that while falls may be the main cause of hip fractures, spinal fractures can happen, eventually, from sneezing, coughing, reaching, twisting- you get the picture. Even I have been told, from hugging. I just made one unwise movement and fractured three lumbar vertebrae. No impact from a fall, no dramatic moves.

The only person I know personally who got ovarian cancer and died in her early 50s from it, drank and smoked a lot. I also know smokers who never get cancer but as they age, the negative effects of the smoking, chemicals and constantly depriving their bodies of oxygen, are readily apparent.

HRT can cause breast or ovarian cancer (other “female cancers”).
https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/hormones-and-cancer/does-hormone-replacement-therapy-increase-cancer-risk
Smoking destroys the body and although too many ppl only associate smoking with lung cancer, smoking can cause pretty much any type of cancer along with a plethora of other negative health conditions.
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/diseases/cancer.html
https://www.healthline.com/health/understanding-breast-cancer/can-smoking-cause-breast-cancer#tobacco
If a woman smokes and takes HRT, common sense says that woman’s smoking habit will increase her risk of getting breast cancer.

@fearfracture smoking does not cause breast cancer. The risk with HRT I believe, is breast cancer, and 75% of breast cancers are in people without family history.

I also want to emphasize that while falls may be the main cause of hip fractures, spinal fractures can happen, eventually, from sneezing, coughing, reaching, twisting- you get the picture. Even I have been told, from hugging. I just made one unwise movement and fractured three lumbar vertebrae. No impact from a fall, no dramatic moves.

Did your dexa improve with the medication you are taking....

I took Tymlos for 18 months and went from osteoporosis to osteopenia.

That's encouraging @mikayla68! Thank you for posting....

I haven't seen hard data on this but know a woman who swears that she reversed osteoporosis in her 70s and has the clinical results to show that. She also dealt with breast cancer at the same time and did a lot of research and modified her diet and added barley leaves or something and lots of other stuff. So I don't know which variables made the most difference but she's now in her late 80s. More active than when she was in her 70s and has remained cancer-free.

I have a new PCP who ordered a recent DEXA scan which showed that I have osteopenia and am getting close to osteoporosis so he wanted me to begin osteoporosis drugs. I dug out a DEXA scan result* from 10 years earlier, and my recent results are actually better than 10 years ago.

I took both reports back to the PCP and his opinion was that, somehow, I'm doing slightly better, or not losing any further ground, and he's fine with me continuing what I'm doing and not taking any drugs. The reason I mentioned this is that a DEXA scan is a point in time and it's valuable to look at any rate of change as well.

I don't know why my bone density has improved but have a speculation. I bought a bone-support supplement for a friend who needed to heal a broken neck. That is, he needed for all the little pieces held together by his halo to somehow reach each other and bridge and heal. (Which they did to the neurosurgeon's delight as this was a very bad injury with two shattered vertebrae.) I also started taking the same supplement because it was on the kitchen counter. For what it's worth, and I don't think it's any magical supplement just a good blend by reputable manufacturer, it's called Bone Support and has the basic trinity of algae-based calcium, d3, and K2.

*The above is one of my arguments for always keeping a handy copy of every single medical test that you have ever had. That became really important during lockdown when my former physician's offices essentially closed and no files could be received from them. It's also a lot easier to see a new physician, or get a second opinion, when you can provide a copy of your medical record and not wait for another physician's office to forward it as many medical offices are still short-staffed.

Like many conditions, I think feasibility of natural reversal through diet/lifestyle all depends upon genetics. I would have LOVED to reverse this without medication. I already was doing weight training and weight bearing cardio 6-7 days a week for decades. I'm the poster child for healthy eating with great calcium, vita d and other bloodwork numbers. Docs tell me I'm healthier than majority of their patients 1/3 my age. Yet I still have severe osteoporosis. 🙁

I wish everyone here luck in reversing w/o meds. But if your numbers are already bad, I feel like bone building meds may give one a better fighting chance and fresh start to battle this, vs starting from a low point?

If someone is already proactively doing all they can naturally & DXA scores aren't getting worse - but also aren't improving a lot either - waiting too long has other risks.

As one doc explained: if you do - heaven forbid - break a bone and that bone is strong, surgeons have something good to work with, pins set better, healing is better. If bones are weak/soft/thin, surgeons have a much harder time and healing may not be good.