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Hello everyone, Pam has been asking me to create a sharepost on strontium citrate and for the longest time i thought "what can i share that is different from what can be read in any number of places on the web?" Well, now i do have something to share, my experience with it for almost three years. When i was first dx with osteo in 2006 i was just like everyone whoes dx with it or any or ther condtion. I was scared, fearful of the unknown and uneducated about what to do. My dr. wanted me to take actenol and i did for 2 months before i decided it was not the path i wanted to take to treat this. I was fortunate that i only had minor side effect...very dry eyes and a feeling of a lump in my throat all the time, but enough to say this was not right for me. Once i decided to quit, they both went away in matter of a week or so. That is the best decision in regard to my health i've ever made. I waited a month to help clear my system of the actenol (i did this on my own) and then started strontium citrate, 2 340mg. caps at bedtime. Then i waited.
I was scheduled or a a DEXA after 9 months of use and whoa and behold i already had improved scores, a 4% gain. I was really excited and determinded to take it till the next one 2 years later. During the 2 years i took the strontium faithfully every night, upped my exercise routine, did more of the walking i already enjoyed doing, tried to eat a healthy diet most of the time and took supplements that support bone heath. I've never had a side effects from the strontium. I did notice as time went on that i didn't have as many aches and pains in my hips and lower back and sitting in a car for several hours didn't cause me to squirm looking for a comfortable postion.
I just had the 2 year DEXA a couple of weeks ago and once again was very happy with the results. When i was first dx in 6/06 my left hip was -1.9, femoral head -2.7 and lumbar spine -2.9. Now after almost 3 years of use i have a 14% overall gain in bone mineral denstiy. The total hip t-score is now -1.1 and lumbar spine -1.9. I wasn't given a score for the femoral head. There were no adjustments made to the DEXA other than stopping use for 30 days prior as requested by my dr. I know the reading may not be 100% accurate and the scores may be off a bit, but i'm still very pleased about the gains i've made. I will continue with strontium for another 2 years and hopefuly get both scores well in to the normal range. I'll keep up the rotuine i've been doing..its now habit and part of who i am. A big plus for me is that i enjoy exercising and being active, and eating healthy is good for all of you, not just your bones.
My dr. was very impressed with the gains i made, but until it becomes FDA approved he won't tell his other osteo pateients about it. Fear has become part of a doctors daily life and they don't want to do anyhting that may cause them problems. You can be sure that i'll be spreading the word. A good friend of mine has been taking it for 2 years and has a DEXA later this month...i hope she has the same good outcome that i've had.
Hi Phyllis, as you know I've been so proud of you for thinking out of the box and taking a route for treatment that you feel is best for you. Keep up the good work, and I wouldn't be surprised if your scores go to normal on the next dxa.
Your positive attitude, I believe has a lot to do with the results, plus your diligent exercise, diet, and overall outlook.
Whenever we can find the thing that works for us we've made great strides, so thanks so much for sharing your story for those on the fence about this supplement. We all might not get the great scores as you, but it's entirely possibly it could happen.
Congrats on your wonderful advocacy for yourself on osteopenia and osteoporosis. We can all learn a lot from you with your down to earth decisions, once you realized you couldn't take a bisphosphonate.
Again this news is FANTASTIC NEWS! We all have a lot to learn from each other on the road to our personal advocacy.
Your friend and supporter of your decisions for treatment.
Pam
Hi, I would like to share my experience with strontium citrate. I've been taking this treatment now for two years, and my latest DXA scan results showed a remarkable improvement over my baseline results. I would like to invite you all to visit my non-commercial, ad-free blog to learn about my experiences with this product. Please check out http://www.strontiumforbones.blogspot.com. I'm not selling anything!
Hi BoneLady...congratulation on your gains. It's a good feeling to know that what we are doing is making in difference not only in our lives, but in the lives we touch along the way. I've been reading you blog for some time now and would like to thank you for all the good info you have provided to so many of us "out of the box" bone builders. I'm hoping with the FDA trials of strontium malonate that we'll soon be able to get accurate DEXA scores. My dr. had me stop strontium for 30 days prior to the scan..did you do that? I've had all 3 of my scans on the same machine. Once again thanks and take care...phyllis
Hi! Phyllis, I'm glad you've been reading my blog. I hope you will comment on my latest post. I like to get feedback. I did not stop taking strontium before my DXA scan. Some people stop taking strontium for various time periods before a scan, while others do not. Strontium stays in the bones for years; that's one of its benefits.
BoneLady
Hi Phyllis. What great news about your Dexa scan. I asked my endo about stronium ane he said absolutly not under any circumstances. He said people see an increase in the Dexa scans but it is not a true reading. Something about stornium being heavier and making appear to have more bone. I don't really understand why he would not give me the go ahead. He just said Do not. I am tempted to go out online and start taking it anyway I have heard nothing but good reports about it....
HI CM...Your dr. is right, taking strotnium does give an overestimated score, since it's a heavier that calcium and shows up differently on the scan. I've read that it can be up to 50% in some articles and less in others. Its not an exact science and won't be until our FDA approves its and regulates the testing. DEXA machines need tobe calabrated differently for stromtium and not many are willing to do that for a few people. With that said when i had my DEXA in June it showed when compared with previous scans to be 14% gain over 3 years..even if its really only 7%, that is a still a gain that i got without side effects or introducing potentially harmful chemicals into my body. Your dr. is like most..since it not FDA approved it can't possible good, effective or safe. If you are interested in strontium do your own research and come to to your own conclusions. take care..phyllis
As we learned from the harmful effects of bisphosphonates that were FDA approved; and promoted like God's gift; not everything FDA approves is safe or even effective. FDA like many places is run by politics and big money; namely, lobbyists of big pharma. So sometimes things get approved over a meeting, and a handshake deal. Other times, despite rigorous testing protocols and approval, drugs turn out to be toxic or fatal for some users then need to be taken off the market.
I took Fosamax on my doctor's advice for two years. I asked her about jaw deterioration after the first year because 3 friends had told me they experienced this side effect. She told me that this was not a side effect and told me to continue use. I followed her advice because she was my doctor. A year later I had some dental problems and was told that my jaw had deteriorated to such a degree that I required a bone transplant before treatment could continue. Most physicians depend upon FDA materials and drug company studies to give advice about drugs. The next drug suggested was Forteo a hormone treatment that mentioned osteosarcoma in rats as a posssible connection to human side effects. I refused this treatment. I investigated the use of strontium citrate on my own and found clinical study reports from WHO and Mayo clinic. There is now a trial going on in California. I chose to take strontium citrate on my own and keep monitoring for any possible side effects. You must begin a dialogue with your doctor about the use of strontium vs other drugs. A dialogue does not include one person giving orders to another. If there are real concerns in your case about its use he should be able to explain them to you in a manner you can understand. If your physician refuses to have this discussion, then I might consider a second opinion with a person who is willing to truly speak to you as a person. Just my opinion.
I am 53 years old and developed osteoporosis at the age of 45--had to beg my doctor to do a Dexa scan back then because I could tell something had happened with my posture. The long story short is that I took Fosamax for about four years and stopped when I began hearing about the jaw side effects. I have lots of dental problems. Last year, I had to have several root canals and several crowns. Did you know that Fosamax stays in your system for 14 years? Me neither. Not until I had to sign a ream of paper last year because of using Fosamax in the past to have an oral surgeon pull a tooth that had receded from my jaw and began to abscess (the oral surgeon's exact quote "Not only would I not use Fosamax, I would never use the IV form of a biophosphenate--that's even worse"). I also had a tooth that continued to hurt down into the jaw after a root canal and crown and the dentist said "We are not going to touch it and hope that it calms down". And so here I was, dental problem after dental problem, not going to use Fosamax or any other biophosphenate, and wondering what to do. I heard about the synthetic form of strontium in Europe and started doing my own research and found out about strontium citrate. I am happy to say that I began taking 680 mg per day along with 1200 calcium and 1000 of D and noticed a difference after about a month in my overall hand and arm strength and the tooth that was hurting all day, every day, mysteriously stopped hurting. I used to have kitchen scissors to open any container or bag, especially the ones that required you to pull up the cellophane tab on top of foam like those in bleach bottles, I would have to cut them out. It is remarkable that I have been opening jars, bottles, pulling up the tabs, having to cut down on how much gusto i exert to open my fridge door because it's overkill now, etc. The most dissapointing thing is that doctors do not explore any other options that might work. I have decided to not even bother to have any further Dexa scans--I know what I am doing is working. I want to also throw out there that a little dab of testosterone is helping to strenghten my bones. i think it's sad that these options are not offered or tried in the elderly--I work in a rehab center as a nurse where I see lots of compression fractures, broken bones, hips, etc. and it is always the same therapy--Fosamax, Boniva, calcium, Forteo. I just want to be an advocate for the patients, but I am not the doctor and he is not willing to explore other options for these people.