Treating Osteoporosis: What works for you?

Hi Marty - so hard! What are you doing about it?

Sorry - I wrote Maryny but my phone corrected it and I didn't notice!

At the moment, the doctor has me on 7,000 IU of vitamin D a day and is going through my insurance company to skip the bisphosphonates and go straight to prolia. My vitamin D level was too low to be measured, so that is why we are hitting that hard first. My blood calcium was high, but for now, we are assuming that was caused by the utter lack of vitamin D. We're re-doing the blood work June 1st.

That's what I assumed. I hate auto-correct!

I have been working very closely with a physical therapist for over a year. what I have learned is what exercise you do depends on your level of fitness. if you are relatively fit to begin with starting slowly and going forward with pretty much anything will help strengthen your bones especially if you use weights. but if you are not fit to begin with, you need to start very slowly and move carefully in order to not create problems with different muscle systems as you get your body in shape.

if at all possible I highly recommend working with a physical therapist because they can target specific issues related to osteoporosis and make sure that your body is trained well so that when you have an injury you can keep moving very easily. for example my physical therapist spent a lot of time making my back strong and helping me learn to stand up without using my arms. my legs and back are a lot stronger than they would have been had I not been doing those two specific exercises, just walking would not have accomplish what I needed. during my ankle injury It has been much easier to stand up on one leg then it would have been had I not done those exercises. This made it easier for me to move, which kept me moving, which then allowed me not to fall anywhere near as far backwards as i did with my rib injury. this is extremely importot. Statistically one week of immobility requires two weeks of hard work to get back to Where you were.

again I emphasize that it's extremely important to have a good sense of where you are physically and to know what you need. I was part of a wonderful very well-meaning online group that suggested in order to strengthen my back I do knee squats against the wall. my physical therapist told me that had I done this I would have made my back problems worse. you need to know if you were working with somebody who is trying to make you into an exercise guru, trying to help you get more fit, or trying to help you rehab muscles.

Hi Mary

I have Primary Hyperparathyroidism. ( Not to be confused with thyroid ) High blood calcium and low vit d are the /can be the result/indication of this disease, as well as osteoporosis . Did they ever run parathyroid hormone in your lab work ? I would suggested they add pth ( serum parathyroid hormone ) to your June 1st lab work .

heritage1955 > Osteoporosis at an early age can also be from Hyperparathyroidism . I imagine they did check your serum calcium but have they also checked parathyroid hormone ( not thyroid ) . It is important to have serum calcium and parathyroid hormone labs done at same blood draw .

Hi. I was 48 wen they told me i had osteoporosis, and gave me EVISTA took it for 1 year and did helped .

That will be next if the June 1st bloodwork isn't dramatically improved.

I had my first injection of Prolia 6 weeks ago and no side effects. I had to increase calcium, vitamin c and vitamin d before I could start and after blood tests am still taking them.