Treating Osteoporosis: What works for you?

@heritage1955. You are very young to have low bone density. Have you had your serum ( blood ) Calcium checked ? One disease which can cause bone loss at a young age is Hyperparathyroidism , not to be confused with the thyroid.

Believe it or not i was diagnosed the osteo at age 19 later i had several other drs that blew me off because i was to young to have it finaly at age 36 the cause was found it is caused by having pbc if i had known earlier it could have prevented alot of issues that i have now

U may want to see if there is any underlining cause for it i was diagnosed at age 19 drs blew me off at 36 was diagnosed with pbc once it was being treated then the rest was easier to treat

I went that exact route six years ago (-3 ) and now have a compression fracture! I know what you mean about wanting to avoid the meds, but not sure there is a better alternative. You do not want a fracture!! I'm on my 5th month of healing with very limited activity!

I am trying Atelvia delayed release tablets. Been on it for one year and have not had any bad side affects.
Waiting for results on new bone scan to see if numbers stayed the same or better. It is taken after breakfast
with 4and one half ounces cold water. Stay upright for 30 minutes. This is better than others that you take on an empty
stomach and then stay upright for 30 minutes. One of my Doctors has lowered my Calcium, said it might get too
much in my blood and that would be bad. Anyone please comment Thanks

Welcome to Connect @blythe.
Thank you for sharing your experience with Atelvia (risedronate). Please keep us posted on the results on the bone scan.

I thought you and the others sharing on this thread might be interested in this article by Kurt A. Kennel, M.D., a specialist in endocrinology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. In this article, he answers common questions about osteoporosis treatment and describes how osteoporosis medications work. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/osteoporosis/in-depth/osteoporosis-treatment/art-20046869?pg=1

Are you concerned about lowering your calcium intake?

The link to the article does not seem to work. Any suggestions? Thanks!<br><br>

Try this link @jensdreamb http://mayocl.in/22J3TbO

Hi @angelas,
I was diagnosed with osteopenia when I was in my mid-thirty's. After a lot of work ups, including thyroid. The one thing they found was that my kidney's were excreting a large amount of calcium. I did have a kidney stone - calcium oxylate type - prior to this diagnosis. I was put on hydrochorothiazide to help retain more calcium and that seemed to help. I had always been active and became even more so with having physical labor in my job, walking a lot and hiking. I sloughed off on this a bit as I got older, much to my regret. I was taking Boniva for a while, then got lazy. I am now 60 and have had 3 Reclast infusions ( one/year), and am taking Alendronate now to maintain the bone density that I gained. If you can tolerate the medications, I would encourage you to include them in a plan of weight bearing exercise. Taking drugs is always a tough call, especially when we get so much conflicting information about their efficacy and the potential side effects. I also sought second & third opinions to help me make my decision.
If there are better medications out there, I would appreciate hearing about them from others in this thread. Good luck @angelas!

My Doctor thought I was getting enough from food and that any more was not good for my heart. Also my Vit D was high.
I get blood tests every 6 months to keep an eye on everything.