New DX with a lot of Confusion and Stress

Can I make a suggestion to watch Michael Lavacot’s presentation on YouTube. Someone linked this in ones of these strings and I watched it and was very impressed by the information. He takes meds, but his wife doesn’t take osteoporosis drugs. She is on estrogen as am I. I don’t like side effects that come with drugs so chose this for now. If no improvement maybe I will rethink in the future. The most interesting portion, to me, was that the placebo group in one of the studies gained bone density.
This is because it was a blind study and all participants were asked to take calcium and vitamin d. this tells me that maybe it is possible to improve bone health naturally. Watch it and see if you agree.
He is selling nothing!

The video:

The risk is that you may lose the gains you made from Evenity if you do not follow up with another drug. Are you on hrt/bhrt?

@gravity3 not on any hrt/bhrt although I am starting to research. Complete hysterectomy in 2001 and the black box warnings for hormones then discouraged hrt. My initial feeling was the endo didn't seem interested in that as an option since I'm now over 60, but read several posts here where ppl have found Drs open to that option. Finding another Dr seems like a nightmare. Do you have info or suggestions to how I can push my endo to look at this as a viable option?

@2young4bones

Who knows. He/she may be open to reading the latest research,etc. my endo said.... I don't do hormones. I was sick of getting that kind of response so I elected to go with a functional medicine provider. I started last year at 76. I find it profoundly maddening that my generation of women have to put up with this uninformed attitude after having been denied hormone treatment because of the women's health initiative study.

@2young4bones

If it were me I would ask your Endo if she/he is open to reviewing the latest research and the FDA s latest info. My endo is part of a very large medical group and I wonder if the docs are following the stance of the medical group they belong to.

@2young4bones I was diagnosed with OP last year, and believe me, I understand your stress and confusion. It’s a hard diagnosis to accept, but I’ve found that this is a great space to garner support and information.

I’ll say that the most important things you can do are to find a doctor who will LISTEN to your concerns, and in that vein, really advocate for yourself.

There has to be a physical therapist out there who will work with you on developing a specific bone-building program. That is my next step too.

Please remember to take really good care of yourself now. Put your needs first. Rest when you must, and make no apologies.

Wishing you well~

I think we are all scared of taking meds, also of not taking meds. I too have “severe” OP numbers similar to yours. I did not receive any information about diet or exercise other than “resistance exercise” (been doing aerobics with weights for decades) and “eat calcium rich food, here is a list”. No PT until I asked since I need to have a referral to schedule. No specific osteoporosis physical therapist that I could find, but I did learn a lot from the one I saw. My CTX which I requested after reading about bone markers was at 52. Have no idea if that means anything; also had NTX which according to the lab paperwork was in normal range. Fosamax 8 months then reclast last July. I also am checking out the Y for weight bearing machines as the PT said that would possibly help. The doc scared me with the lecture about holding handrails, no shoveling, no bending or twisting, no golfing etc. made me think I should wrap up in bubble wrap and stay home! PT rolled her eyes a bit and said, after watching my so-called golf swing that I’d be fine to golf. She said strengthening core and keeping back flat; don’t bend over curved like a shrimp. OP was silent for me, no back issues like you. I did break my wrist in a car wreck couple years ago, EMT and ER doc said happens all the time (airbag injury) and the surgeon who fixed it said my bones looked good. He isn’t a DEXA machine though! I am 68, asked about HRT or BHRT and that was a hard no from gyne, mom had breast cancer.

You have to do your own research. The drugs fill the wholes but make your bones more brittle. The quality will go down. Research the drugs. Last month they took the black box warning off estrogen. The medical community has failed us. You have to be your own advocate and remember, doctors are trained to treat the symptoms not the cause. It is not their fault. It is all they know.

2young4bones,
your own suggestion is the very best. Repeat the urine calcium. I'd stop D altogether in anticipation of the test.
You may have high free lambda because you are overworking your kidneys by tasking them to get rid of all that calcium'.
D enhances the absorption of calcium.
I'm not one of the resident experts that you have called up in your post. But I want everyone to at least try Forteo or Tymlos because I see them as the best medication available. They clear your system quickly so you aren't trapped by months of side effects. (Unless a person make the admirable, but mistaken, amazonian mistake of tolerating side effects)
They do raise calcium levels transiently. The temporary raise in calcium is an essential part of the mechanism by which these drugs work.
When you ask for the repeat 24 hour urine, you might also ask for a repeat D, as it can stay in your system for months, a parathyroid level. And P1NP to accompany the CTX.
Few PT are trained in the dangers of exercise for low bone density patients. And it differs for individuals depending upon where the lbd is. But if you have a trabecular structure successfully bearing the weight of life and then you remove a few of the struts, and then you raise the weight it has to bear cognizant that there will be bone muscle crosstalk, when you reach the peak weight that your muscles can bear (imagine weights held high overhead) your bones with all those missing struts might just collapse before hearing any crosstalk.
Your CTX is high--higher because it has to remove the damaged bone from the fracture.
Low bone density makes us think we need to stop the loss. The cells that CTX represent are attracted to damaged bone. Don't we need CTX to remove damaged bone. Wouldn't it be to our bone's advantage to increase the cells that replace the bone represented by P1NP.