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 Program. 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 one of those pill sorters at the house and I measure out a week at a time. 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!”

Click here to return to Women’s Stories.

Last Modified Date: 05/26/2011