Have you stopped things that might hu... - Osteoporosis Support

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Have you stopped things that might hurt your bone health?

bonygirl profile image
22 Replies

I have recently been diagnosed with osteoporosis and there is no way that I will agree to taking Prolia or similar drugs. You could not pay me a million dollars to take these dangerous drugs!

I would like to go the natural way to just try to maintain my current situation.

So I have increased calcium food and supplement intake daily, do weight bearing exercise and have stopped eating/drinking anything with caffeine, stopped drinking sodas, etc.

Have you also stopped caffeine and sodas to minimize further harm to your bone mineral density?

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bonygirl profile image
bonygirl
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22 Replies
Carpet6 profile image
Carpet6

HiI've tried to minimise damage to bones in the same way as you, but will have my third injection of Prolia (known as Denosumab here in England) in December. I'm 15 months through a 2 year course of daily injections of Terrosa (Teriparatide). I'm aware of the risks but my consultant feels this is the safest way forward. I'm interested in the different views on here.

Claire

HeronNS profile image
HeronNS in reply to Carpet6

Just clarifying - you are actually taking TWO heavy duty bone medications simultaneously? I'm aware the teriparatide treatment will end soon, but I guess you'll be on Prolia indefinitely? Please do keep us up to date about how you feel, and how things are with you as time goes by.

Carpet6 profile image
Carpet6 in reply to HeronNS

I'll certainly stay in touch. At the moment I feel well, and hope to be saying the same after my third Proliainjection on 8th December.

Your cat's lovely, HeronNS.

Best wishes.

HeronNS profile image
HeronNS in reply to Carpet6

?cat?

Carpet6 profile image
Carpet6 in reply to HeronNS

In your photo next to 'Reply to HeronNS. Isn't that your cat?

HeronNS profile image
HeronNS in reply to Carpet6

You have a cat (very handsome one, btw). I have a picture of frosted leaves - if you click on my picture it should take you to a page with a larger version. I see what you mean, though. As I type this my avatar, the leaves, is right beside "Reply to Carpet6". You are very observant, I hadn't noticed this somewhat confusing feature before. :D

Carpet6 profile image
Carpet6 in reply to HeronNS

Thank you for clearing that up. I was beginning to wonder if I was seeing phantom cats!

NY2GANANA profile image
NY2GANANA

I only drink water. My diet is limited due to numerous allergies so I added vitamin K2, melatonin and magnesium to the multi-vitamin and calcium with D3 that I was already taking. I need to do more weight bearing exercises and been looking into the vibration plate machine. Anyone have and comments about those gadgets?

Rainshower profile image
Rainshower in reply to NY2GANANA

I am in the same position of refusing bone drugs unless I feel it's mandatory....which means a DEXA score progressing through the floor.My new doctor has strongly suggested walking with a weighted vest. I replied that Dr. Susan Brown, who I listen very attentively to on YouTube (she also has written numerous books on bone health) also favors weighted vests but hers are too expensive for me. Doc told me to try Walmart.....expect to pay $1 per pound. The weights can be added or taken off. I will begin with 5 pounds and work upwards. Hopefully there is a store near you if you are on a budget as shipping costs will be very high because of the weight.

HeronNS profile image
HeronNS in reply to NY2GANANA

If your medical people say it's okay, you could consider a weighted vest. They seem to be more expensive than when I bought my hypervest in 2015. Go figure - charging what the market will bear I suppose. But even ordinary walking is helpful as it is the impact as you walk which is making the bones stronger. Other activities which are known to improve bone density include Nordic walking and tai chi.

Alisa25 profile image
Alisa25

I haven’t completely given up caffeine, but I do try to maintain a healthy diet and I exercise, lift weights and take lots of supplements. I was diagnosed 6 years ago and stayed away from meds until this past April. My lab work showed an increase in my bone turnover, so now I’m trying to slow that down and have been taking Alendronate. My hope is to get off of this drug after a year when my next Dexa scan is, and just try to maintain the bone that I have. Best of luck to you!

FearFracture profile image
FearFracture

Yes. Prior to being diagnosed w/ low BMD I had already switched to 1/2 caf coffee and diet caffiene free colas. Although when I drink any type of coffee it is actually approximately 2 parts coffee 1 part 1% milk, in January 2022, I weaned myself off 1/2 caf and then gave up decaf too. I occassionally have a 1/2 coffee--usually if I am on a long drive I will splurg and have a 1/2 caf to stay awake, but that isn't very often. Also every once it a while I just can't wake up and I will have an instant half-caf coffee but again that is not very often. I have not given up chocolate but I don't eat that much because I try to avoid sugar, but I do get a little caffiene when I eat dark chocolate or when I add cocoa to yogurt.

In November 2021, I quit colas or all fizzy drinks. They contain way to much phosphoric acid. Since November, I've probably only had a total of 12 oz of diet ginger ale (if I get an upset stomach a few sips of diet ginger ale seems to help).

Note, I am also NCGS (non-celiac gluten sensitive) so I avoid gluten completely but I don't worry about a little cross contamination. If a person makes a ham sandwich in my kitchen, that's ok. I just have something else and I don't worry about a few crumbs from their sandwich possible getting on my lunch.

The best part about giving up gluten is that it means you are pretty much avoiding tons of processed foods that aren't good for anyone. I'm hoping that it's helping me to get my omega 6 to omega 3 ratio back to where it should be and also helping to reduce my sodium intake.

I don't think I've seen a big discussion about omega 6 to omega 3 ratios on this website but I am convinced that this plays a huge role in staying heatlhy. In the last say 70 years, our diets have changed drastically and thrown this ratio way out of whack. I take a fish oil supplement daily and I try to eat 1 can of salmon, mackeral or sardines, every week (in two servings).

futureforward profile image
futureforward

It is all rather confusing what to avoid and what to eat. I don't want to give up my once daily cup of coffee but never even thought about iced tea until I read your posts. I can give up that and I don't drink sodas. Truly I never even thought about chocolate having caffeine...

FearFracture profile image
FearFracture in reply to futureforward

If you don't drink a lot of coffee or eats tons of chocolate, you probably don't need to worry about giving them up. I still eat chocolate occassionally. I make mock chocolate pudding by adding unsweetened cocoa powder to plain unsweetened Greek yogurt and top it with 1/2 of a banana or raspberries to add a little sweetness and it is delicious.

If you are drinking coffee or tea all day it might be an issue. If you are only having 1 or 2 cups it's probably not that big of a deal, especially if you drink your coffee with a good amount of added milk. Also you could always switch to q/2 caf or decaf.

Coffee is a good source of antioxidants. Colas on the otherhand have ZERO health benefits and should be cut out of your diet as much as possible. The phosphoric acid in colas is horrible for your bones.

Mark_ABH profile image
Mark_ABH

Hi everyone, here is a good article about coffee, tea and bone health. If you are getting adequate calcium in your diet, you don't have to worry about a couple cups of coffee or tea affecting your bone health.

americanbonehealth.org/nutr...

Green tea, in fact, might even have beneficial effects on the bones. Both coffee and tea also seem to have many beneficial effects on other aspects of health. I have seen several studies lately that suggest protective effects against cardiovascular disease from coffee.

bonygirl profile image
bonygirl

How about kefir for bone health? I have read a few studies looking at the impact of kefir drinking for people with osteoporosis. I love it and drink plan low-fat kefir once in the morning and then before bed. I usually add berries or bananas and sweeten the drink with unsweetened applesauce . So delicious and no added sugar!!

Pte82 profile image
Pte82 in reply to bonygirl

bonygirl, about twenty years ago my mother at 85 had osteoporosis causing her femur to break when she stood. Her doctor had told her to take calcium with D and she did. I asked her doctor what could be done...nothing was his answer she's 85. She also had Alzheimer's and was in a nursing home to recover from the operation. Within a year a scan showed she was putting bone back and the doctor at the nursing home was amazed. I had added New Zealand bovine bone and magnesium to the calcium and D3 along with 3mg of boron. Today I would have included annatto tocotrienol. Always consult your health care provider before using any supplement.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

dougcookrd.com/annatto/

krispin.com/magnes.html

bonygirl profile image
bonygirl in reply to Pte82

So helpful! Greatly appreciated! I will look up the items you suggested and try to add them to my diet 😀

Mark_ABH profile image
Mark_ABH in reply to bonygirl

There are studies that suggest fermented dairy products (cheese, yogurt, and yes kefir!) might have more benefits than milk. Probably something to do with how they act on the gut biome. Interesting stuff!

Babsie51 profile image
Babsie51 in reply to Mark_ABH

I love my kefir smoothie!!!! I also drink plain kefir every morning now since January. Hoping it will help my readings next time!! Helps JUMP start my day..with added oats and spinach, strawberries,blueberries, grapes..YUMMY! And so HEALTHY!

HeronNS profile image
HeronNS

Never a soda drinker, and I drink tea for my caffeine, not coffee. However I did do a lot of stuff to improve my bone density, more a question of starting doing things rather than giving up foodstuffs, and wrote an account which you will find here:

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

Good luck! 🍀

TWEETYCAT profile image
TWEETYCAT

I have done so much research on this since being diagnosed 4 years ago. One thing I found that surprised me was regarding vitamin A leaches your bones. Women can be getting too much of it if you take a multi vitamin. I used to take a vitamin that had 1,300 mcg which is too much. If you eat a regular diet you do not need to supplement with vitamins. I take bovine/calcium supplements from grass fed cows from New Zealand and never take your magnesium with your calcium. They fight with each other for absorbency and will just be flushed out of your system. I take my magnesium 2 hours after or before my calcium. It takes at least 4 hours for 500 mg calcium to be absorbed by the body and if you are taking more than that at a time, you are throwing your money away. If your calcium supplement has magnesium in it, you are defeating the purpose. I found that magnesium citrate is best absorbed by the body. Always split your doses up throughout the day. Take K2 mk7 W/NATTOKINASE and D3 and BORON daily. After following this for the first 2 years my scan showed 1 point improvement. I was happy because it stopped the loss. I hope to see much improvement with my 4th year on this bone scan next year and will post results. I started to use a weighted vest on my 4 mile walks daily 6 months ago, I rebound and stand in place an stomp while marching in place at night while I am watching tv and use hand weights.

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