1. < Osteoporosis & Bone Health

What helps improve osteoporosis without medication?

Posted by imatine @imatine, Dec 4, 2020

Hello, did anyone here try to heal from osteoporosis away from all the prescribed medications we all know of? Did you try following a specific diet? Excercise? Meditation, etc. ? Thank you

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Osteoporosis & Bone Health Support Group.

myoldbones | @myoldbones | Jun 27, 2023
In reply to @windyshores "Some of us have fractured and will suffer just about any side effects to take medications,..." + (show)
@windyshores

Some of us have fractured and will suffer just about any side effects to take medications, but as it turns out, many of us can tolerate a medication at some point, without significant problems. Drug companies are required to list side effects, and those who do suffer significant ones are more likely to post here.

If osteoporosis is not severe and there are no fractures, Dr. Keith MCCormick's books are very helpful. He wrote "The Whole Body Approach to Osteoporosis" and more recently "Great Bones," which has a lot of info about meds. I hope the non-medication route works well for you but I post here because I delayed meds and now have 7 spinal fractures- life changing pain and disability.

Jump to this post

Windyshores, thanks for responding. I appreciate the references. I'll look them up. You have,aslo, given me something to think about. 
On Tuesday, June 27, 2023, 08:47:42 PM CDT, Mayo Clinic Connect wrote:

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REPLY
myoldbones | @myoldbones | Jun 27, 2023

Windyshores, thanks for responding. I appreciate the references. I'll look them up. You have given me something to think about.

REPLY
1 reply
windyshores | @windyshores | Jun 27, 2023
In reply to @myoldbones "Windyshores, thanks for responding. I appreciate the references. I'll look them up. You have given me..." + (show)
@myoldbones

Windyshores, thanks for responding. I appreciate the references. I'll look them up. You have given me something to think about.

Jump to this post

@myoldbones, although Dr. McCormick wrote a book on holistic approaches, he is very open about the fact that he did meds himself, first.

I am almost done Tymlos and my spine went from severe osteoporosis to borderline. It really wasn't that bad, for me anyway. As this forum knows, I tried hard to get on meds for years and finally found a way to do it by starting Tymlos at a low dose and ramping up. For me, this helped with side effects.

ps love your user name!

REPLY
trathfon62 | @trathfon62 | Jun 28, 2023
In reply to @myoldbones "I am new to this group and happy to find others who are attempting to avoid..." + (show)
@myoldbones

I am new to this group and happy to find others who are attempting to avoid meditations. I am in my eighties and afraid of the side effects listed for the medications and the reports that people have experienced. I asked my doctor for alternate plans to avoid medications, but the doctor only mentioned different medications. I was not asking for a cure or bone growth, just something like effective doses of vitamin supplements or physical therapy. The doctor had no suggestions. I was told by the doctor that the side effects I wanted to avoid were not the result of the medications but health problems people already had. I am glad this group has interests in pursuing ways to live with osteoporosis by trying to avoid medications or at least managing them.

Jump to this post

They are side effects or they wouldn’t be listed in the pamphlet. I wish doctors would be honest when it comes to these medications. Exercises to improve balance, eating enough protein and taking the right supplements for bone health might help. Wishing you the best!

REPLY
1 reply
windyshores | @windyshores | Jun 28, 2023
In reply to @trathfon62 "They are side effects or they wouldn’t be listed in the pamphlet. I wish doctors would..." + (show)
@trathfon62

They are side effects or they wouldn’t be listed in the pamphlet. I wish doctors would be honest when it comes to these medications. Exercises to improve balance, eating enough protein and taking the right supplements for bone health might help. Wishing you the best!

Jump to this post

@trathfon62 the drug companies are legally required to list every single side effect, however rare. This was an advance in transparency but has caused a lot of fear for us patients.

I have found doctors don't know a whole lot about side effects. Pharmacists do. My only issue is that MD's need to learn how to say "I don't know"!

REPLY
cpd54 | @cpd54 | Jun 29, 2023
In reply to @myoldbones "I am new to this group and happy to find others who are attempting to avoid..." + (show)
@myoldbones

I am new to this group and happy to find others who are attempting to avoid meditations. I am in my eighties and afraid of the side effects listed for the medications and the reports that people have experienced. I asked my doctor for alternate plans to avoid medications, but the doctor only mentioned different medications. I was not asking for a cure or bone growth, just something like effective doses of vitamin supplements or physical therapy. The doctor had no suggestions. I was told by the doctor that the side effects I wanted to avoid were not the result of the medications but health problems people already had. I am glad this group has interests in pursuing ways to live with osteoporosis by trying to avoid medications or at least managing them.

Jump to this post

I found R Keith McCormick, DC book, The Whole Body Approach to Osteoporosis, to be highly informative, with the suggestions for alternative treatment options that I was looking for. Margaret Martins, https://melioguide.com/, is an excellent website for exercise information.

REPLY
1 reply
windyshores | @windyshores | Jun 29, 2023
In reply to @cpd54 "I found R Keith McCormick, DC book, The Whole Body Approach to Osteoporosis, to be highly..." + (show)
@cpd54

I found R Keith McCormick, DC book, The Whole Body Approach to Osteoporosis, to be highly informative, with the suggestions for alternative treatment options that I was looking for. Margaret Martins, https://melioguide.com/, is an excellent website for exercise information.

Jump to this post

@cpd54 you might also read McCormick's latest book "Great Bones" which is very informative on medications. McCormick recommends medications in many cases and took them himself.

REPLY
kakilong54 | @kakilong54 | Jul 1, 2023
In reply to @kathleen1314 "In 2004 I was 51 turning 52 at the very end of the year: Firstly, my..." + (show)
@kathleen1314

In 2004 I was 51 turning 52 at the very end of the year:
Firstly, my numbers
2004 Femoral Neck -2.8
2019 Femoral Neck -.6

I tried Doctor prescribed meds in 2004. I did not feel that I could live with the side effects.
I stopped the meds; I did lots of research and had some more tests run to ck my hormones.

I began a regime of:
Bioidentical Hormones
Strontium Citrate at night
Ez Orb Calcium in the morning; there are generic forms of this now available which are cheaper

Plus:
All the usual suspects of good health were taken or cked...vit d, k, weight bearing and jarring exercise etc
Melatonin a small amount at night to sleep, I mention because a study has shown it to be helpful to encourage the body to grow bone.

I have had no known fractures and no side effects since beginning strontium citrate or this regime.

Jump to this post

Do you have a link to the melatonin study?

REPLY
1 reply
rhubymama | @rhubymama | Jul 2, 2023
In reply to @kakilong54 "Do you have a link to the melatonin study?" + (show)
@kakilong54

Do you have a link to the melatonin study?

Jump to this post

This might be helpful. It’s a meta-analysis of 3 studies:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6475537/
REPLY
1 reply
windyshores | @windyshores | Jul 2, 2023
In reply to @rhubymama "This might be helpful. It’s a meta-analysis of 3 studies: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6475537/" + (show)
@rhubymama

This might be helpful. It’s a meta-analysis of 3 studies:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6475537/

Jump to this post

I read the study, which had a small sample size. The authors say more study is needed. But it is an interesting idea. I did note that one branch of the study was taking 450mg strontium, which would make DEXA scores misleadingly higher. I was surprised the melatonin dose was 1-3mg. That is what I take for sleep but some people are taking a lot more. I recently talked with my PCP about melatonin and he said not to take it all the time. The study did note some "adverse events."

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