Osteoporosis- results with treatment?

[bizlady]

Recently diagnosed with osteoporosis lower back and hip. Doc wants to talk about treatments. I am aware that everyone is different, and there are potential side effects.

I wonder, for those that chose treatment, did you see improvements, and if so, over what period? Any side effects worth it?

 

[pacergal]

Recently diagnosed, I am on weekly dose of Fosamax for 5 years. Will have a repeat dexa/bone scan then to see how things are going. Not too surprising for me, as I am allergic to milk and have never eaten as much cheese/yogurt, etc as I need. I also make sure to get recommended calcium.
No problems so far, I take it with a large glass of water on an empty stomach, don't eat for 30 minutes.

 

[Teacher Terry]

My sister was diagnosed and chose not to take the RX but did take large doses of over the counter calcium for a year and then was back in the normal range. She was in her mid 60’s at the time.

 

[Sunset]

I will eat tums once in a while.
Drink milk at lunch.

Hope it helps to not develop osteoporosis...

 

[Aerides]

DM took Prolia for several years, and it does show a difference - improvement in bone density - in her scans. Don't rely on your PCP for this though, find a rheumatologist you like.

She's 76 now, no fractures, so there's that!

 

[Koolau]

Recently diagnosed, I am on weekly dose of Fosamax for 5 years. Will have a repeat dexa/bone scan then to see how things are going. Not too surprising for me, as I am allergic to milk and have never eaten as much cheese/yogurt, etc as I need. I also make sure to get recommended calcium.
No problems so far, I take it with a large glass of water on an empty stomach, don't eat for 30 minutes.

DW had a bad reaction (primarily nausea) from Fosamax. Doc has decided to just watch her scans and see if the bone loss accelerates before going to an injectable. DW now takes CA and vitamin D only.

 

[Katsmeow]

I started Fosamax (generic) a few years ago. I had a narrowing in my throat and was having food get stuck occasionally. I had an endoscopy and the doctor stretched out the stenosis and recommended that I take a different class of osteoporosis drugs. I switched to Prolia and have had no problems with it. I have not had a new DEXA scan to see how I am doing. Actually plan to ask about doing it this year since I've been on Prolia a couple of years now.

 

[Osprey]

https://www.health.harvard.edu/womens-health/yoga-another-way-to-prevent-osteoporosis

I am trying yoga and increased calcium/vitamin D to see if I can improve my bone density.

 

[Markola]

DM took Prolia for several years, and it does show a difference - improvement in bone density - in her scans. Don't rely on your PCP for this though, find a rheumatologist you like.

She's 76 now, no fractures, so there's that!

My 83 yo DM has had excellent results with Prolia for several years.

 

[Koolau]

I'm curious if anyone has tried or knows much (good or bad) about Evista. One "side effect" of Evista is it appears to prevent some breast cancers. No experience myself. Can't vouch for the attached article but it sounds interesting. YMMV

https://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/hormonal-therapy/evista

 

[Chuckanut]

https://www.health.harvard.edu/womens-health/yoga-another-way-to-prevent-osteoporosis

I am trying yoga and increased calcium/vitamin D to see if I can improve my bone density.

There are a lot of confounders in this study. I wonder about things like self selection, no control group, and the dropout rate skewing the results. Out of those participants whose log showed they did the Yoga poses at least every other day, only about 20% submitted both DEXA scans.

Note: I don’t question the value of Yoga. My exercise routine has several yoga style components. Keeping and increasing strength and balance as we age is critical.

I remember reading that prunes, five to ten a day, helped rebuild bone in those who suffered bone loss. However, I only found one study that made this claim and it is old. Does anybody know of a more recent and/or better study?

 

[Born2BRetd]

I tried eating 5-6 prunes a day for several weeks and it did not agree with my system. Instead of giving me the runs, it stopped me up like a cork and I had no appetite at all. I tried reducing to 2 a day and that still gave me problems.

However, someone else might not have any problems with the prunes at all, and if they can tolerate it, it's better than nothing.

 

[erkevin]

Wife has been on Prolia for 4+ years, no issues. Annual bone scans show a reversal of bone/density loss. I believe that the patent for Prolia expires in 2025.....hopefully no more $3k a year going forward.

 

[happy2bretired]

This thread is a little old but hopefully it’s somewhat useful information. I was on Prolia for awhile, I had a total of 4 injections, every 6 months. During early winter of this year, I overate Doritos and injured my mouth while eating them. A month or so later, my oral surgeon discovered exposed bone in my mouth (just a tiny little thing) probably from the injury from Doritos. The second oral surgeon I was sent to didn’t see any infection but started me on an antibacterial mouthwash.

Prolia has a half life of 6 months. That means that the bone is redeveloping every six months. The first month after the shot is when the growth the fastest and then the growth tapers down for the next 5 months.

The cut in my mouth allowed the growing bone to surface in my mouth, The fifth month after receiving my last Prolia shot was terribly painful. The little tiny exposed bone caused much agony for me. I was given Gabapentin for nerve pain along with Tylenol, around the clock. Then later, after a hard lump developed under my chin with swelling and hot to the touch, I was given Clindamycin, an antibiotic.
I am pain free now and holding my breath that I don’t have to go through that again.

Anyway, I do believe in Prolia, my last DEXA scan did show a nice increase in bone strength but that will begin to fade because I am not getting any more Prolia shots. I just wanted to point out that there is a possibility of getting jaw necrosis with Prolia. Also, be aware that mouth injuries and Prolia can be very painful and can be very serious.

 

[RetiredHappy]

I would recommend 4000 IU of Vitamin D2, 100mg Vitamin K2 (MK-7 form), drink a couple of glasses of lactose-free skim milk (I highly recommend Fairlife fat-free), each day.

I was osteopenia 20 years ago when I started my Calcium+Vitamin D2 regimen. I was tested again in 2017, with slight improvement. My doctor put me on Fosamax in 2017 and I stopped after 6 months because it was hurting my stomach. I then went on high dose Vitamin D2, K2 and lots of milk starting in 2022. I just had another DEXA scan in April 2023, all my readings were back to normal except for one which was just slightly low, like 0.01. I expect my next DEXA scan to show that I am no longer osteopenia.

My friend who had osteoporosis, went on Prolia and it is working for her.

 

[athena53]

Anyway, I do believe in Prolia, my last DEXA scan did show a nice increase in bone strength but that will begin to fade because I am not getting any more Prolia shots. I just wanted to point out that there is a possibility of getting jaw necrosis with Prolia. Also, be aware that mouth injuries and Prolia can be very painful and can be very serious.

I'd read about osteonecrosis of the jaw before and asked my oral surgeon about it- I just completed my 8th dental implant so we see each other regularly! Although I already had to sign a very thorough list of waivers acknowledging the things that could go wrong (they never have but I understand there are risks), he said if I were on bone density supplements I'd have to sign a whole additional set of waivers.

 

[W2R]

I just completed my 8th dental implant

Holy Cow, that's a lot! I've had maybe about 5-6, but 8? I think you are without a doubt the forum's expert on dental implants. Congratulations on getting through so many, and I hope yours have worked out as well for you as mine have for me.

 

[athena53]

Holy Cow, that's a lot! I've had maybe about 5-6, but 8? I think you are without a doubt the forum's expert on dental implants. Congratulations on getting through so many, and I hope yours have worked out as well for you as mine have for me.

Yes, I'm VERY happy with them. This is over a 20-year period. My parents got us to the dentist regularly, even with 5 kids and no dental insurance and I definitely had the most cavities every time. We pretty much ate the same diet so maybe it was bad luck. By this age (71), fillings fall out and need to be repaired, I had decay under a tooth holding up each of two bridges over the years (hard to find till it's really bad), had a hairline crack in a root... There have been times where a new crown or a bridge MIGHT have worked but the implant was the surer bet. The most recent one was a cap that fell off, leaving little of the tooth to work with.

Anyway, I've been diagnosed with osteopenia in my hips (spine is in great shape) and am hoping that supplements will protect me.

 

[4legsgood]

My dad was on Fosamax and his dentist refused to do work on his teeth until he was off of it for some number of months. This was quite a few years ago so maybe not a policy now.

 

[audreyh1]

I started taking a Boniva generic monthly and calcium daily a year ago. I think it’s called IBandronate. My hip measurements improved dramatically in one year. Something like -2.5 to 2.2 in one hip and -2.3 to -2.0 in the other.

 

[Choosehappy]

I had osteopenia for years after reaching menopause. If you’d like a nonRX option, look into AlgeaCal plus. This is a marine algea based plant calcium (plus 15 other nutrients) supplement. The supplement has human clinical trials showing an increase in bone density. There is a large following on Facebook (The Algeacal Community) as well as a website. It’s worked well for me. It’s a slow process (1.3% average bone building improvement/year), but no i longer have osteopenia in my spine and hip, just my femoral neck. The change for me happened between my 2021 and 2023 DEX scans after taking it daily for 2 years. For people experiencing more than a 1% bone density loss per year, they recommend also taking strontium. Algeacal Plus is not an inexpensive supplement ($75/mo), but it works and for me there’s been no side effects.

 

[happy2bretired]

The second oral surgeon I saw told me to hold off on implants for now. I have one implant and really need another one. I am down to 1 pair of molars that still work together. The bottom tooth of that pair is giving me trouble and I would like to get it extracted just to be able to eat without discomfort, but….no implants for now. Grrrrrrrr I have most of my teeth except for molars. It’s a real pain not knowing how to handle tooth loss when you get to 74.

 

[Chuckanut]

Isn’t there some time frame between doses when the surgery can be done? I seem to recall a lady telling me that they had to time some oral surgery to make ensure sufficient bone healing. then back on the next dose.

 

[happy2bretired]

Yes the half life of the drug (Prolia = 6 months) is what needs to be watched for dental surgery..

 

[athena53]

I'd read of "atypical fractures" as a complication but not recently. Below is the Mayo Clinic article on bone density meds. The segment on fractures reads,

Can osteoporosis medications hurt your bones?
A very rare complication of bisphosphonates and denosumab is a break or crack in the middle of the thighbone. This injury, known as atypical femoral fracture, can cause pain in the thigh or groin that begins subtly and may gradually worsen.

The anecdotes I've read were of fractures that occurred when there was no unusual stress- e.g. walking down steps.

9 commonly asked questions about osteoporosis medication

Find out more about your options for bone-preserving drugs, including how often you need to take them and what side effects you might expect.

www.mayoclinic.org