Improve bone density and strength without medication?

@jodani and @trixie girl, strontium can make the DEXA results look better than they are. Strontium is denser than calcium, and it replaces calcium in the bones. Therefore the bones look denser. Some radiologists might be able to adjust for that.

I am not taking away from your amazing efforts to maintain bone density. But those reading posts about strontium might benefit from understanding its effect on DEXA's/

My scores are like yours. But I haven’t had a fracture. I’ve had 3 doctors tell me not to take drugs, an orthopedic surgeon, a functional medicine doctor and my dentist. My planned course of action is for 2 years try to do everything possible to up my scores without meds. Then have another dexa and see. My daily supplements are recommended by my FMD. Calcium citrate or malate- 1000 mg daily( I take Osteo-K by NBI), D3 5000 IU (I was significantly low), a B complex, Magnesium 2:1 ratio to calcium (I take citrate and glycinate), Vit K2 (I’ve done a lot if research on this one. FMD said up to 45 mg. That’s MK4. There is also MK7 that I take every other day at 182 mcg.), Boron 3 mg, Copper .9mg, Zinc 15 mg , Manganese- 1.8-23 mg, selenium 55 mcg. A lot of these I get with my multi vitamin.
She also recommended yoga, fast walking, stomping and whole body vibration for exercise.
You will find TONS of info and opinions about osteoporosis when you start researching. To me, you do what s best for you based on your health and comfort. I’m not comfortable taking the drugs. I’ll reassess after my next Dexa. Also there are other tests, P1NP and CTX, you can do to determine the action of your bone building.
I would suggest reading Dr Keith McCormicks books as well as Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox by Kate Rheaume-Bleue. Also I’ve just started watching Dr Doug Lucas on YouTube.
Good luck in your journey.

@plav @cpd54 I am just going through some of these discussion threads and was wondering if you ended up having to take meds or are you still trying to improve the natural way? I was recently diagnosed (tscore of-3.2 spine, -2.2 hips). FRAX score is excellent; less than 1% chance of hip fracture, 5% chance of osteoporotic fracture. I am 5’1”, 100 pounds, 64 YO. Very active.
No underlying causes for OP; just menopause and not getting enough calcium before.
So I decided not to do meds now, trying to improve or stay stable by using proper nutrition, supplements, strength training, etc. I will reassess in a year then I will decide my next step. Any advice from you both would be appreciated

If you are going to do that, I would get the P1NP and CTX blood tests beforehand as a baseline. Then, check them in six months - no need to wait for a year. You can see if what you are doing is having an effect. If you see CTX going up, that's a sign that you may be getting worse.

Remember that it's important to have those tests first thing in the morning, fasting. CTX in particular can vary wildly during the day.

I did get my CTX and P1NP tested. CTX is 464. P1NP is 63. So I need to get my CTX to go down, correct?