I have taken 3 weekly doses of Alendronate so far and other than a mild stomach ache after the 1st dose (which may or may not have been caused by Alendronate), I have not had any side-effects. I should mention that I also didn't have any side-effects for the 3 shots of Prolia that I took and my hip neck TScore actually showed a slight improvement from -2.7 to -2.6. Nontheless, I intend to try non-drug treatment (supplements and exercise) - something which I regretted not doing before agreeing to Prolia. I would prefer to not even be on Alendronate but it looks like I am forced to stay with it just to prevent the rebound effect. I am encouraged by Dr McCormick's statement (on a youtube interview) that for people with TScores -2.8 to -3.0, it may not be necessary to go on any pharmaceutical

If it turns out that I am not able to use BTM readings to time my exit from Alendronate (because I do not have any baseline BTM readings), my tentative plan (subject to what my doctor says) is to stay on Alendronate for 1 year and perhaps another 6 months on half-dose (to ease the withdrawal). I do plan to take another DEXA at the end of 1 yr of Alendronate but I read that it may take 1.5-2yrs for any significant change in bone density to register