<p>I was on Boniva for 3 years. Decided to switch to calcium adn Vit D but my bone mass dropped. I am trying to be better this year with taking those huge horse pills. Reminds me- I need to schedule my physical.</p>
<p>I find I take my calcium more regularly when I buy the Adora dark chocolate. It is really very good. </p>
<p>My bone scan also indicated I have osteopenia - but for now I am just beefing up my calcium + D intake and making sure I get some sunshine. Like many others, mine is genetic, mom is 82 and has never broken anything or taken any meds. </p>
<p>In addition to the suggestions others have given you, I would highly recommend doing activities to improve balance & flexibility. I have been accompanying an elderly woman to PT and it is amazing how much our sense of balance can deteriorate - but happily, how easily it can be improved.</p>
<p>How do you lift weights for hip bones? Do you them with your legs? Good point about balance as I suppose you need to work on not falling as you get older.</p>
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<p>Yes, but it is suspected in some cases that elderly people fall because a bone has cracked, not the other way around.</p>
<p>I am a little startled by the overwhelmingly negative view of drug treatment on this thread. I seem to be the only person here who is taking one of the drugs and is pleased that my doctor prescribed it. But perhaps that’s because I have a family history of osteoporosis and I know what it can do.</p>
<p>A couple years ago my Dexa scan was -2.7. No risk factors, not on meds & haven’t had another scan. I do Tai Chi though. 
[Osteoporosis</a> - Medical Research on Tai Chi and Qigong (Chi Kung)](<a href=“http://www.worldtaichiday.org/Medical_Research_On_Tai_Chi_Qigong/osteoporosis.html]Osteoporosis”>Osteoporosis - Medical Research on Tai Chi and Qigong (Chi Kung))</p>
<p>I am glad to see this thread as I, too, have recently been diagnosed with Osteopenia, the worst of it in my left hip. I was prescribed 50,000u of Vitamin D which I take once weekly for 12 weeks and then I’ll return for additional bloodwork. I’m also taking Viactiv daily for calcium. I had already been working with a trainer at the Y and I am doing some weight training. Unfortunately, I have had knee trouble for quite some time (surgery and now a series of Supartz injections in both knees) so it is painful for me to do much weight training with my lower body where I obviously need it. </p>
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So true. I used to work the ortho/neuro floor (nurse) and the doctors would often say that some of our elderly fragile patients had likely broken their hips which had, in turn, caused them to fall.</p>
<p>When I was diagnosed with some osteopenia as menopause progressed, I was told to wait a couple of years to get all the way through menopause and have the test again to see if I was still losing bone, or had just lost a modest amount as part of the menopause process. On the retest, there was no more bone loss. No one suggested medication to me.</p>
<p>Marian - yes, in some cases the bone has cracked, however, a diminishing sense of balance is also part of aging and I think we are wise to do all we can to prevent falling. What fascinated me as I watched the therapist work with this woman is how there are so many aspects to how we maintain balance. For example, I was surprised at how much more difficult it was for the woman I accompanied to balance herself on a foam platform. She wasn’t getting the same feedback from her feet as when she was on a hard surface and so she started to sway. EmeraldK is on the right track with Tai Chi. </p>
<p>I am not opposed to taking medication - I just want to be sure I am doing all I can to strengthen myself in all ways!</p>
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<p>Probably exercises like squats and deadlifts.</p>
<p>I have bad balance but a great physical therapist.
When I told her I had poor proprioception, she tested me with my eyes closed.
My coordination is not any better with them open!
[Balance</a> Training and Proprioception - How to Improve Balance and Proprioception](<a href=“http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/conditioning/a/aa062200a.htm]Balance”>Balance Training and Proprioception Exercises)
I do take supplements, strontium & calcium for bones,and probiotics & enzymes to improve my digestion. I still not don’t know why I developed osteoporosis, but I suspect that I wasn’t absorbing nutrients.
I also wear vibram five fingers several times a week, they help to exercise the small muscles in my feet. I get a lot of inquires about them ;)</p>
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<p>And when you lift heavy things over your head while standing up, it’s good for your entire skeleton.</p>
<p>In addition, weight-bearing exercise – walking, jogging, running, tennis, jumping rope – anything that makes you land hard on the ground – is good for your hips. You’re stressing the bones in your hips a little bit each time you land, and that makes the bone happy and dense.</p>
<p>I do a lot of walking on hills which is part of why I’m surprised by my hip numbers. Re menopause I had a blood test a few months showing I’m definitely in it but it’s recent as a blood test a year earlier showed high numbers and I was warned then about the chance of pregnancy. So the menopause is recent but final. I’m not sure what that means in terms of the numbers.</p>
<p>Don’t feel badly. I think my numbers are at least that bad and I’m a marathon runner and run hills all the time!</p>
<p>I think a lot of it is ********, to be honest. I am taking what I fondly call “the stupid Boniva”, but if my numbers aren’t vastly improved over 2 years ago (I think I can go in May for the scan), I am off of it. I’ll take my chances.</p>
<p>Okay - I thought my balance was pretty good. I make it a point to balance on each leg every day as well as do one legged yoga poses. But I just tried those one legged squats. I managed to do ten on each leg but it was shaky. I definitely need to work on it. Thanks for the link, EK4. That’s a great exercise.</p>
<p>I have osteopenia and take a supplement 3xdaily with calcium, magnesium,boron, and vit K.
Also take high doses of D3. I think that I will add strontium, but was told it needs to not be taken with calcium.</p>
<p>Yes you shouldn’t take stronium with calcium for best absorption.
Don’t take your calcium with iron either.
[Strontium</a> for Treating Osteoporosis and for Bone Health](<a href=“http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/guide/strontium-treatment-osteoporosis]Strontium”>Strontium for Treating Osteoporosis and for Bone Health)</p>
<p>I also have borderline ostopenia as I have been on Fosamax for about 2 plus years. I have shown improvement in the bone scan and when I get my next scan next year… I may have improved enough to go off Fosamax. I have no side effects from it, but if I can do without it I would be just as happy,. I have increased my calcium and vitamin D, am post-menopausal, had no real problems with that transition. I have a good diet, walk a lot and have been lifting weights for close to a year. Our insurance only pays for the bone density scan every two years.</p>
<p>I am a breast cancer patient and have been on Arimidex for 5 years. My bones were perfect, I am tall and was overweight when cancer was detected. I started on the program and lost 50 pounds and turned tiny. In the meanwhile my bones suffered from that pill that has protected me and I am now about ready to stop the five year treatment. Just saw my gynecologist this morning and he suggested Evista once I end treatment with Arimidex. So I will start that and check bones in a few years. By the way, I am a vegan mostly. Have fish once a month or so. My blood pressure this a.m. was 106 over 60. I am very happy about that. So I do believe in diet and taking those supplements. But they don’t do it all.</p>
<p>Putting in a plug for this: I have cut out all oil. ALL oil. It is possible.</p>
<p>Sorry about the BRCA, overseas, but congrats on the big weight loss. How’d you do it?</p>
<p>Went to a dietician and then stuck to the program. I had a big gain around menopause and didn’t realize it until my father died and then I started to look around. I have since really changed my diet to pretty much vegan, no fat, no dairy, no added sugars, a little fish and “things.” That has been the big surprise. No weight gain. So far so good on the cancer. With that one it hangs like a sword forever. But I can live with that, I guess. What else can I do? :)</p>