When your prescriptions are killing you

[catherine]

That is encouraging. I'm quitting the fosamax so I'm going to need to find a natural alternative.

Read Loren Fishman http://journals.lww.com/topicsingeri...t_Study.9.aspx

It's a very small study, but indicates that yoga is effective at reversing bone loss.

[lessisbest]

Molly,

Have you ever done an elimination diet, or consider doing one now? Food allergies affect different people in different ways. I had what one would say is a very "healthy diet" using primarily whole foods, milled my own grains, made all our baked goods using only what I thought were "healthy" ingredients and methods, avoided bad fats and sugars, but until I eliminated wheat (and other gluten-containing grains) from my diet did I see any great changes in all of my issues. Increasing my intake of bone broth and bovine gelatin also improved many things.

I eliminated nightshade plants back in the 1980's and that helped my arthritis, which I've had since I was 14-years old (62-years old now), but I all but eliminated my inflammation when I went gluten-free. Wheat was the main cause of all my inflammation.

There isn't a one-size-fits-all fix. You listen to your body to find what works best for you and adjust along the way. Keep studying - both old and new information. I've been a vegetarian, but that wasn't the answer. I followed the Macrobiotic Diet to no avail - all the soy I consumed when Macrobiotic was affecting me negatively, and I avoid soy as much as possible to this day. I'm a student of the "Nourishing Tradition" way of eating, and still incorporate many of those teachings to improve nutrition. Avoiding the Standard American Diet will help nearly everyone, but we still have to deal with the genetic "hand" we are dealt. I take a number of supplements, but no pharmaceutical drugs. I seriously studied herbs for many years and incorporated many of those in the past, but even herbs can be toxic to your liver if you take enough, frequently enough, so they aren't a perfect plan either. Most people who study herbs only consider the good, not the bad.

Good luck on your health quest.

[Molly]

Those supplements plus lots of bone broth soups (Google bone broths) and fresh green and rainbow vegetables all seem to help. Bone broths are super for calcium and other minerals needed for strong bones and cartilege.

Great idea! I got a recipe online and am starting a pot already with my leftover turkey bones. Thanks!

[Molly]

Molly,

but until I eliminated wheat (and other gluten-containing grains) from my diet did I see any great changes in all of my issues. Increasing my intake of bone broth and bovine gelatin also improved many things.

I have reduced gluten but have not eliminated it yet. I will try that route. If you gave up tomatoes, that means no spaghetti sauce or chili, right? I don't eat a lot of that, but I do enjoy it.

It's really hard when you're trying to cook for two. Especially trying to get variety out of meals.

[Molly]

Read Loren Fishman http://journals.lww.com/topicsingeri...t_Study.9.aspx

It's a very small study, but indicates that yoga is effective at reversing bone loss.

Thank you. Yoga will be difficult, because I have very limited mobility. My PT has me on a program of gentle stretches, but we're talking millimeters. Something is very wrong with my muscles, which is why I'm trying to find ways to nourish them back to health. But yoga is definitely in my future.

[Molly]

If you are having generalized muscle pain, are you sure it isn't fibromyalgia? It is something you might want to bring up to your dr.

I was actually diagnosed with fibro years ago, but the only thing my doctors prescribed were anti-depressants. I had horrible reactions to each and every one. The longest I was on them was a few weeks.

The issue I'm dealing with now is much worse. I'm really beginning to think the fosamax is causing damage. Will never take again.

[catherine]

Thank you. Yoga will be difficult, because I have very limited mobility. My PT has me on a program of gentle stretches, but we're talking millimeters. Something is very wrong with my muscles, which is why I'm trying to find ways to nourish them back to health. But yoga is definitely in my future.

Yes, I realized that after I wrote it--I was just thinking chair yoga or whatever movement you can do would be helpful, but it sounds like you're in the right place with your PT.

I like the idea of the broths--I'm now making broths on a regular basis. If you can get grassfed beef bones, apparently the benefit of that that are superior to regular grain fed, and boil them as long as possible--up to three days. And don't forget the vinegar.

[HappyHiker]

I'm glad youre going off the Fosamax! I Googled it and yep, you're right..it can lead to muscle pain and can make bones more liable to fracture in many instances. Sounds like an "evil" medication...

Please let us know how the bone broth works for you.. it works over time and is not an instant fix, but I often make it and have it on hand--especially in the winter. My aging bones seem to be doing quite well and muscle pain is absent as long as I don't overdo the exercise a la "week-end" warrior over-extension.

Steady as she goes.

I do weekly yoga with a friend--helps me have good balance and keeps my spine (and mind) supple.

Perhaps you'll soon be able to to take up the practice after your body heals from its assault from meds.

Don't you hate it when prescribed meds make matters worse rather than better? Turning to Nature's pharmacy is so often the better solution with the least (if any) side effects.

Wishing you great health!

[kib]

This is an article about conditions that can be misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia (because what we all need is medical advice from the internet, I know ... just wondering if that old diagnosis was right, or if maybe you had something else that is now coming back at you.

http://www.health.com/health/gallery...352008,00.html

Your thoughts about fosamax seem very reasonable, though. Hope getting off the meds helps.

[ApatheticNoMore]

The yoga if it's good for osteoporosis (small study alright) might also be due to stress relief. No I'm not promising some form of relaxation exercise (meditation, progressive relaxation etc.) will cure osteoporosis, I'm just saying that stress is one of probably many things (maybe including fosomax? ) that seems to be bad for bones.

If I was to follow a diet that I hoped would cure general health conditions, well I think the "Perfect Health Diet" is very reasonable. But again I don't have the one dietary answer to everything, it just seems fairly sensible and moderate, focused on good nutrients, and they recognize the benefits of short term fasting for *some* conditions (those that may involve infections but probably not osteoporosis as fasting is a stressor) and the importance of circadian rhythm strategies as well.

Any lifestyle approach to health I figure will be slow, which may argue for one to take medicine if it provides immediate symptom relief. Some people say they are more motivated to follow a healthy lifestyle due to symptoms, but for me it would probably just be lying in bed eating cake to comfort my pain or something (ow, ow, ow .... mmmm cake). Ha, I know how I am. But when the medicines themselves are likely CAUSING the symptoms that's a whole other issue!