Topic : 04/05 “What’s Up, Doc?”

I was diagnosed with osteopenia and my doctor told me I needed to take Fosamax...the only choice I was given.  After less than 2 years of taking it, I had sensitivity in my teeth.  My  face hurt, my teeth hurt on the right side, then my gum became swollen, opened up and a piece of my jawbone came out. This all happened in a matter of two weeks (my vacation..which was miserable even though I was in Las Vegas and The Grand Canyon)  When I saw a specialist, the first question was "Do you take Fosamax?"

I now have osteonecrosis  which is Jaw Death.  My doctor said this is rare, but it doesn't seem rare when it's you.  My piece of bone was sent to Ohio State University where they are doing a study.  Now, every time I go to my dentist, the hygenists tell me that they are watching for other cases.  If you do take Fosamax or any other bisphosphonate, be sure to advise your dentist, as tooth extractions or any oral surgery can speed up or worsen the necrosis of the jaw.

In all my life I had never even  had a toothache, have had regular appts.  I am sorry that I let a doctor so intimidate me that I took a drug that will now remain in my body for EIGHTY YEARS! 

Thank you again for all of your input.  BTW, I take calcium citrate w/ vitamin D after I learned about the calcium carbonate absorption issues.

I am not really worried about this osteoporosis thing.  I am building good, new bone by my intentional weight-bearing exercise as well as my basic everyday living (chopping firewood and being very active).  In addition, the test they use to "diagnose" a person with this condition has it's limitations (as do all tests).  It does not measure bone strength nor does it measure bone flexibility.  I believe having strong, flexible bones is a good thing.  Density is just one part of the whole picture.

I wish you good luck with your medical issues.  You too seem to be on the right track.  We must be our own advocates.  We know our bodies better than anyone and we internally know what is right or wrong for us.

I will continue to monitor my "scores" and if I begin to loose faster than I gain, I will consider other options (nutritionally, secondary causes, parathyroid, etc.).  Dr. Weil is awesome isn't he?  Wish all doctors would practice like him!  (There are others too, Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Susan Love & Dr. Ornish).

Wish you the best and again, thank you for taking the time to share.

Hi and I'm sooo sorry to hear about your situation.  Listen, I've done lots and lots of research on this...that's why I went on the show.  Hopefully, to tell people taking the drugs isn't the only way!  If you have a "score" that's below normal (and I have my issues with that...), do weight bearing exercise.  That's the only TRUE way to build good, new, healthy bone!  You don't have to become some big-time body builder.  Get a Bowflex or some free weights or just some resistance bands (Walmart).  There are lots of books about how you can REVERSE this condition.  Let me know if you'd like some titles.

Here's a website to read about the drugs you were taking...not good and again, I'm so sorry you took them!

www.womentowomen.com

You'll have to click on stuff 'till you find the article titled "Osteoporosis and Fosamax" by Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN

I feel bad for the limitations that Allopathic doctors have, which is they have a limited number of option to give and that is ewhat has been given to them whhich means drugs. The underlying problem is that in order for a pharacuetical company to get a patent on a substance (after spending millions oftentimes on research) is for that substance to be unnatural to the body. By definition, bioidentical hormones and nutrients and minerals are not patenable so extremely limited pharmaceutical dollars are spent on those natural substances.  The tools (drugs and unnatural substances) doctors are given are the one created under this system. Unfortunately most of these have side effects, little research on what happens when combined with other drugs and so we have people like yourself who are damaged by drug companies and well meaning researchers and physicians who just want to help with the limited tools they have. Some of the substances do save lives or extend lives, but when you look at the statisics of medical mistakes in hospitals it is really appalling and hard to accept the demigod status that is given to many physicians. They are humans working within a very fallible system. The demand for alternative medicine is increasing and as one very smart person said, "you have to be your own advocate." Not everything you read on the internet is true but it is a good place to get ideas of what each individual drug's limitations and go from there. I am sorry you have been hurt by fosamax but there my be treatments out there to reverse your problem. When I worked in the department of Dentistry at OSU, they were using synthetic and ground up cadaver bones to rebulid jaws of people with severe bone loss so that those people could have a foundation for implants for crown teeth. Maybe there is something that could be for you in a similar manner surgically. I know they have tmj specialists there at Ohio State  too. Also I wonder if Chelation therapy could remove the drug that is in your system for 80 years. I encourage you to read other emails from this show because there is good information throughout. Good luck and I hope this somehow helps.

I am frustrated at the comment the doctor made about getting kick backs from drug companies for prescribing their drugs. I worked for doctors for 12 years, what do you call free lunches, breakfast ,snacks or gift baskets or maybe free golf! Drug reps bring in all kinds of goodies to the doctors and their staff to have a minute of their time to push their drugs. I agree with the woman about taking the drug for osteoarthritis, if she can exercise and live a heathy life and feel great about what she is doing, I think that is great!!  My son is a juvenile diabetic, if the drug companies would put all that money and effort into research we might have a cure for diabetes and we wouldn't have so many children living with this disease.

That's way too complicated for these people to remember.  I've got a better acronym for them .... G.R.O.W.   U.P.

I shudder to think what kind of people these kids will become having had NO BOUNDARIES set for them.  They may grow up not even being able to say "no" to themselves.

Dr Phil, I am surprised that you are not more informed on a well known practice that makes a lot of sense, if you really think about it.  Women have nursed other women's  babies from the beginning of time and was very popular with women of the upperclass that thought it beneath thier status to nurse, it was not fashionable at that time.  Some women do not want to expose thier baby to formula, some women for health reasons or other reasons cannot nurse thier baby and choose to have someone they know help out by sharing thier milk.  I was also saddened to hear your response of disapproval about something that you obviously know nothing about but have a strong emotional aversion to.  You represent what is "right" to a lot of your viewers, please be careful about your assumptions.

I would also like to see other health providers represented on your show such as advanced nurse practitioners, and certified nurse midwives.  Many people choose to see a variety of health practitioners.  And when I watch your show I would like to feel represented and not just in a bad way.

hi catlady and everyone.  just saw the what's up doc show.  i was sympathetic, CL, because i was given a diagnosis in 2006 and offered drugs.  when i said no thanks, i never heard from my clinic again, they do not seem to be interested in follow up.  i figured i was on my own and since that time have done a lot of reading in the medical journals.  i was a 15-year vegan so we could share some nutritional issues.  as a result of my reading, one of my ongoing things to monitor is vitamin D.  i am trying to keep my level over 100 nmol/L, but at last test it was down to 80 so I am supplementing again. 

my big question for you CL is have they tested your vitamin D3 level (and i mean specifically serum 25hydroxycholecalciferol), and your parathyroid hormone?  if they have and everything looks good, then i have nothing else to contribute.  if they haven't, here are some links to interesting reading:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16960175&query_hl=9&itool=pubmed_docsum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11238511&dopt=Abstract

this one is from march 2007 and has no abstract, but i got in to have a read of the full text through my school access and basically yep, it is just a whole whackload of people saying we have to stop going around in circles in the research and change the recommended daily intakes for vitamin D.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17344484&query_hl=15&itool=pubmed_docsum

this article is from the january 2007 issue of the american journal of clinical nutrition, yet another finding that the Upper Limit for vitamin D3 intake should be 10,000IU.  (whereas current recommended dailies are a paltry 200IU-600IU).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17209171&query_hl=17&itool=pubmed_docsum

i could dig through my files and come up with much much more if you would like to read it.  over 75 nmol/L appears to be a valid target, established in the research, for preventing osteoporosis, and there is a whole other fun arena of reading about vitamin D3 with respect to immune system function, once you get done with the bones.  anyone with cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, all that kind of stuff, you may find it an interesting research topic.

obviously nmol/L is metric, the conversion factor is:

25-Hydroxyvitamin D 1 ng/mL = 2.496 nmol/L

which i got from this site:

http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/scales/clinical_data.html

i hope this is useful to you catlady, best wishes.

Hi-

That's exactly why I went on the show....so that people like you - who know the truth - would tell the truth.  THANK YOU!!!

When Dr. Phil said to me about that "that's who they do business with (i.e. the drug companies),I wish I would've said, "the doctor is supposed to represent ME...I'm who they do business with!!!".  Of course, you can't think of everything to say when you are up there on stage...I did the best I could.

Thanks again for sharing what you know to be true!