Real stories from real women about bone health
Anything is superior to taking bone drugs!
Marcy, 68, struggling with her right leg since a knee replacement, fell while exercising
and broke her hip. Marcy had been taking calcium for the last 20 years, exercising
and eating healthier as her doctor had recommended. After doing much research, Marcy
became frustrated with her doctor’s recommendation of continuing with calcium
supplementation alone or going on the bone drug Boniva. She decided to take her
health in her own hands and heal her fracture naturally.
“I fell at a gym in February 2008. The accident happened during an aerobics
class. I was moving sideways and my foot caught the rubber mat and I kind of pivoted
off the leg. I was not able bend to support my weight. I slammed into the floor
and broke my hip. I was traumatized. My hip was set with pins and everything…thank
God it was only pins.
“When I went to my regular doctor, he said, “We need another bone density
scan.” The density came out to be -3 in the hip, so he said “You have
to go on Boniva.”
Oh, he couldn’t wait to get me on Boniva! He never asked how I was feeling
— just said I had to be on Boniva. I said, “No, this is not what I want
to do.” Then he said, “Well, then, the only thing I can suggest is taking
4 calcium pills a day and two glasses of milk.” I had been taking
calcium for about 20-some years. I had by now realized that calcium,
vitamin D, and exercise do not build bone alone — I don’t
care what the doctors say!
“I went home and tried to do some research on this whole process. I have been
eliminating processed foods a lot. I eventually got off my emotional eating of candy
— that has been gone for about 3 years. So I knew something was missing and
started doing a lot of reading. I discovered in my reading that I really do have
a magnesium deficiency.
I have had a lot of eye twitches and upper lip twitches and muscle twitches all
over my body [all signs of magnesium deficiency]. I never knew what it was. I added
more magnesium and the twitches eventually went away. The other thing I noticed
was that my nails were splitting right down into the nail bed, I mean it was really
bad, and it was extremely painful. So I was going onto websites and I discovered
the Women to Women website, and I figured, well, I will go with this. It sounded
pretty good, and at least it was a comprehensive vitamin supplement!
“In March of 2008, I started the Essential
Nutrients. A girlfriend of mine I talked to about osteoporosis mentioned
strontium, and I got
a strontium supplement in August of 2008 and started taking two pills a day along
with my Essential Nutrients. Within 5 months I noticed my nails weren’t splitting
anymore. I started to recognize that strontium is important. In September of 2008,
I went and saw the doctor, and he said, “Oh, the hip is half healed!”
“In February of 2009, I switched over to the
Better Bones Basics and Better Bones
Builder. I noticed there was strontium in both of these, so I cut back
my strontium supplement to one a day. I also continued to take more magnesium twice
a day. I saw my doctor again in beginning of March 2009, and they said I never have
to come back again! I really didn’t have any problem with the hip [at that
point]. My right leg was still weak, and I was working on [strengthening] the muscles
or tendons in the legs, and I mean constantly working on them. So then I decided
maybe I should go to the doctor again. I had a bone scan in August 2009, and in
the hip region I’d gone from -3 to -2.5, which is a 16.7% increase in a year
and a half. I thought that was pretty amazing!
“I am still on the Better Bones
Program, with extra magnesium, and extra strontium. I think it has helped
me a lot, and I’ve seen a lot of improvement in my fingernails. They don’t
break off in the nail bed anymore — they only break off if they are more than
a quarter of an inch long. I have also noticed the past two times I have gone to
the dentist that my teeth aren’t as sensitive as they use to be.
“I have read the New Member
Guide for Better Bones, and followed the meal plan the best I can. Quite
a few of the things in the meal plan I had already been doing. I use quite a bit
of the vegetables in my salads. I do eat a lot of green vegetables. A good percentage
of my diet is raw, and I like raw vegetables! I eat my eggs, too. I put them in
my smoothie and it works just fine. I will spend quite a bit of my day exercising;
a slow day of exercise is 1 hour.
“I have been very strict about taking the Better Bones Basic and Better Bones
Builder twice a day. I have it measure out a week at a time, I have one of those
pill sorters at the house and set it up for the week. Everything fit very nicely
in there. It is in the kitchen, I have it sitting right on my counter. That really
makes it easy; that way I don’t have to think, “did I do this or not?”
When I travel, I find that little bags of a day’s supply are easy to remember,
and I just take out one a day. I just carry the bags with me. That works out real
well.
“I have suggested the Personal Program for Better Bones to several people.
I feel it is a superior program than taking the drugs — anything is superior
to taking bone drugs. The Better Bones Program does include quite a few things that
I have never taken before; the Program tries to cover all the ingredients. I really
want to see what happens next year at my next bone scan and see if there is even
more of an increase!”
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Last Modified:
10/20/2009