Treating Osteoporosis: What works for you?

After getting a Dexascan they found osteoporosis and was told I was at rIsk of hip fractures. I am 82 so I said I would do the Reclast. I am to start Reclast July 14. The PA that ordered the infusion only told me about side effect with my jaw that you can get problems with it. That was all she said. After researching Reclast on the Mayo Clinic site there are so many side effects. I am 82 and am more interested on living my few years without so many side effects and want quality of life first. Has anyone hafnReclast for a while and any complications from it ? Thank you.

Yes, the internal medicine doctor mentioned increasing Vit D/exercise/increasing calcium but nothing else. She said the only way to build up the bone is through medicine (Forteo) and then to maintain it with a bisphosphonate thereafter. I kinda feel like the doc is treating me like I'm 90. I'm looking to have a second opinion with an Endocrinologist soon. I'm concerned about the length of time I would be on medication as I think typically women are diagnosed and start treatment at a later age. Would really like to hear what others are doing in a similar situation.

What are your t-scores and have you had any fractures? Did your doctor do BTM (bone turnover marker) testing? How is your balance (have you had any falls)? Did your DEXA include TBS (trabecular bone score)? Have you lost any height?

How many months have you been doing the 1 mg of Reclast? I wondered how that is working for you?

What is TBS? My balance is dreadful. I have severe osteoporosis.

TBS is trabecular bone score. The only way to get this info is to have a DEXA on a scanner with TBS capabilities. Most scanners do not have TBS software installed and therefore
most DEXA reports do not provide this info. Additionally, most endocrinologists never mention the benefits of getting a DEXA w/ TBS to patients. Trabecular bone is the web-like or sponge-like bone inside your bones and TBS is a better indication of bone health/strength than t-scores. Vertebra are more likely to fracture (collapse) if TBS is low.

What are you doing to improve your balance? And if you don’t mind sharing, what is your age?

I’m 54 and I was diagnosed w/ osteoporosis at age 50. On my 1st DEXA, my total lumbar t-score was -3.9. I don’t have any fractures and my balance is excellent. Over the last 1.5 yrs, I’ve incorporated balance specific exercises to keep my balance up as I age and to potentially increase it.

My 81 y.o. mother was experiencing balance issues and earlier this year she went to physical therapy for her balance and it really helped. If you don’t want to do physical therapy, look up balance exercises for people with osteoporosis.

Also, I can’t find a link to the specific study that I read this in, but about a year ago, I found a study that said that women doing HRT who supplemented magnesium were able to increase their TBS. If you don’t currently take a magnesium supplement you may consider adding it. Start slow. Too much magnesium will over stimulate your bowels—sometimes it just takes a little experimenting with which type of magnesium your body can tolerate best.

Here are some links to info on magnesium. The interesting thing is that labs (blood work) are not necessarily accurate regarding magnesium in the body—even if the numbers come back w/i range, one can still be deficient.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8313472/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5926493/

TBS is trabecular bone score. The only way to get this info is to have a DEXA on a scanner with TBS capabilities. Most scanners do not have TBS software installed and therefore
most DEXA reports do not provide this info. Additionally, most endocrinologists never mention the benefits of getting a DEXA w/ TBS to patients. Trabecular bone is the web-like or sponge-like bone inside your bones and TBS is a better indication of bone health/strength than t-scores. Vertebra are more likely to fracture (collapse) if TBS is low.

What are you doing to improve your balance? And if you don’t mind sharing, what is your age?

I’m 54 and I was diagnosed w/ osteoporosis at age 50. On my 1st DEXA, my total lumbar t-score was -3.9. I don’t have any fractures and my balance is excellent. Over the last 1.5 yrs, I’ve incorporated balance specific exercises to keep my balance up as I age and to potentially increase it.

My 81 y.o. mother was experiencing balance issues and earlier this year she went to physical therapy for her balance and it really helped. If you don’t want to do physical therapy, look up balance exercises for people with osteoporosis.

Also, I can’t find a link to the specific study that I read this in, but about a year ago, I found a study that said that women doing HRT who supplemented magnesium were able to increase their TBS. If you don’t currently take a magnesium supplement you may consider adding it. Start slow. Too much magnesium will over stimulate your bowels—sometimes it just takes a little experimenting with which type of magnesium your body can tolerate best.

Here are some links to info on magnesium. The interesting thing is that labs (blood work) are not necessarily accurate regarding magnesium in the body—even if the numbers come back w/i range, one can still be deficient.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8313472/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5926493/

Thank you for sharing this great info.
Does anyone know if the Dex machines at the Jacksonville Mayo have this capability??