Real stories from real women about bone health

“Like icing on the cake!”

Melissa, age 60, knew she had osteopenia for five years. In 2009, she was told she had significant bone loss in her lumbar spine. Her doctor put her on Boniva. After being rushed to the hospital for what she thought might be a heart attack, Melissa found out that her frightening symptoms were a side effect of Boniva. Her doctor then recommended Fosamax. After doing some research, Melissa realized that Fosamax was in the same family as Boniva — and after her experience, she did not want to take Fosamax. She found Women to Women’s Personal Program, and she’s building bone density naturally.

“I’ve had osteopenia for about 5 years now, and it seemed to be holding its own for a while. But last year, after my DEXA scan, I was told I had significant bone loss in my lumbar spine. The doctor advised me to go on a bone building medicine and suggested Boniva. I thought Boniva was great because I would only have to take it once a month. So, I took it.

“The very next day I started having chest pains while at work. They got worse throughout the day, so bad that I couldn’t reach out for anything. I was so afraid that I might be having a heart attack. I called my husband and went to my cardiologist, who told me to go to the emergency room to make sure I didn’t have a blood clot in my lung. At the emergency room, they couldn’t find anything. The only correlation they could make was that I just started Boniva.

“A few days later I followed up with my doctor. He said to just let the stuff get out of my system, which takes a month, and then I could try Fosamax. During the month Boniva was getting out of my system, I started having back aches, where it felt like my spine was just crushed. Then I started having abdominal pain. It was like waves of pain that were going through me. So when the doctor recommended I try Fosamax, I learned it was in the same family as Boniva and decided I wasn’t doing that! I went on-line and started looking for a natural solution to building my bone density back up, and I found Women to Women. I took the Bone Health Profile and ended up on the Better Bones Personal Program.

“I started taking the Better Bones Program. I added in my extra calcium that I had taken all along, and started the Herbal Equilibrium as well. I also used the diet that was recommended in the New Member Guide for the Better Bones Program and started to exercise daily. I was able to go part time at my job then, which helped to alleviate a lot of stress I was feeling. Within a few weeks, I started to feel better. I felt healthier, stronger, and my energy had increased significantly. I also noticed my fingernails were stronger.

“About a year into the Program, I went back to have a DEXA scan. When I got my report, I found out my bone density in my lumbar spine had gone up 4%! I was soooo pleased! Not only was I holding my own, but my bone density had increased! I expected to stop my bone loss with this Program. Instead, I was able to increase my bone density. The increase was really a surprise to me, like icing on the cake. I followed my inner guidance and tried the natural approach to building bone, and it worked for me!”

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Last Modified Date: 05/26/2011