Side effects of osteoporosis medicine

If you were diagnosed with osteoporosis, chances are you got a litany of reasons why you should take drugs to treat this “disease.” Most likely, your doctor also mentioned all sorts of horrible things that could happen to you if you don’t take the drugs.

What’s interesting is that most doctors won’t tell you anything about their harmful side effects. They leave that up to the consumer – you – even though the doctors are supposed to be the experts!

But since you’re here and reading this, you are one of the consumers who is an expert – an expert on your own bone health.

So to counter some of the scare tactics and drug-pushing mantras of the Medical Establishment, today I am bringing you the top 5 reasons never to take osteoporosis drugs.

Reason #1: Drugs Are Synthetic Chemicals That Work Against the Body

There is a misconception that drugs heal the body. They don’t. Drugs can only temporarily mask symptoms – and not always. What’s more, they artificially mimic healing by counteracting the body’s processes. I’ll explain…

Osteoporosis drugs “work” by stopping bone remodeling, which is the body’s finely-balanced process for renewing bone. This process goes on continually, with crucial vitamins, minerals, enzymes, proteins, and various other substances all coming into play. Osteoclasts (bone-removing cells) and osteoblasts (bone-building cells) work together to tear down and replenish your skeleton.

Bone Loss is Only Half of the Remodeling Equation

That’s right – you have to lose bone to build new bone. Like any building project, demolition is necessary to remove old structures before building. Imagine what a mess the average city and neighborhood would be in, if we simply tried to build on top of old structures. It would be unstable and unsightly.

When bone cells wear out, they need to be removed. Osteoclasts do this, and then osteoblasts put new bone cells in their place. Thus, your bones are always being rejuvenated, and they are able to stay strong and flexible.

Osteoporosis drugs stop the entire process, not allowing old bone cells to be shed, so bones become thick and brittle, composed almost entirely of worn-out cells. Yes, the bone may appear denser, but the bone’s tensile strength is greatly compromised, ironically, making bones more prone to fracture. This is what happens when synthetic chemicals work against the body.

And this is precisely why…

Reason #2: All Osteoporosis Drugs Have Bad Side Effects

You may be wondering which osteoporosis drug is safe, and whether or not a particular drug has side effects. Unfortunately, a safe drug without side effects simply doesn’t exist.

All osteoporosis drugs, regardless of which company manufacturers it, have bad side effects.

What’s So Bad About Them?

All osteoporosis drugs can induce life-changing side effects. Many of the side effects and the resulting conditions are irreversible. Let’s take a look at some of the most significant ones.

• Osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) is a terrible, difficult-to-treat, and potentially disfiguring side effect of bisphosphonates. This disease was first noted back when match factory workers, who handled white phosphorous daily, developed the tell-tale symptoms of ONJ, called “phossy jaw” back then: jaw pain, infection, abscesses, and rotting jaw bone. Bisphosphonates, being phosphorous-based, have a similar effect.
  The Medical Establishment’s response was to put black box warnings about ONJ on all bisphosphonates. The sad reality is that most people who raise concerns about such warnings will have their fears brushed off by their doctor.
• Atrial fibrillation (fast, irregular heartbeat) is associated with bisphosphonates, a side effect confirmed by recent research. Just this month, scientists at the Maimonides Medical Center in New York published a meta-analysis showing that bisphosphonate use increases the risk of serious atrial fibrillation by 40%.¹ “Evidence from RCTs and observational studies suggests a significantly increased risk of AF requiring hospitalization,”¹ researchers conclude.
• Esophageal cancer risk is greatly increased with the use of bisphosphonates, especially Fosamax. According to an analysis of the FDA’s database (the adverse event reporting system, or AERS), nearly 75% of bisphosphonate-caused esophageal cancer were directly attributed to Fosamax use.² Alarmed by what they found, the researchers concluded that “Increased awareness and vigilance is needed for patients receiving oral bisphosphonate therapy.”

“Increased awareness” and shunning these dangerous drugs is exactly what the Save Our Bones Program – and this website – are all about!

Sadly, This is the Most Ridiculous and Ironic Side Effect

Perhaps the most ironic (and ridiculous) side effect of osteoporosis drugs is increased fracture risk.³

The ostensible reason behind taking drugs for low bone density is to decrease the chances that one of your bones will break. That’s what makes this side effect so ironic!

Atypical femoral fractures are the most common break associated with osteoporosis drugs, and especially bisphosphonates. These are referred to as “atypical femoral fractures” because they are just that – not typical.

The femur is the strongest bone in the body. Under normal conditions, it doesn’t simply snap. But when it’s been made brittle and hard by drugs, it can break near the head of the femur when you’re doing simple, everyday things.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that the drug has been pulled from the market, or won’t be prescribed anymore. Instead, the Medical Establishment thinks their tracks are covered if they simply put a warning on all bisphosphonates, like they did for ONJ.

Remember, These Are Just the Biggies…

The list of annoying and even debilitating side effects also includes nausea, flatulence, blurred vision, joint pain, muscle pain, and abdominal cramping. They may not sound that bad in print, but if you’ve tried to live with one or several of these effects, you know how devastating they can be.

Reason #3: Quite Often, Osteoporosis Drugs Don’t Work

I actually hesitate to use to term “work” when describing any osteoporosis drug, which is why I often put it in quotes. If the drug is supposed to improve bone health, then it doesn’t work at all; it fails miserably. And even if it “works” according to medical protocol – that is, it effectively increases bone density scores in some people – there is still a high price to pay, as discussed in Reason #2 above.

We also talked about how osteoporosis drugs, in a pharmaceutical sleight of hand, can appear to increase bone density by halting healthy remodeling.

Many in the Save Our Bones community have posted that they’ve been taking osteoporosis drugs for many years to no avail. In fact, many have had to go to the emergency room because of the effects of these drugs.

Why take the chance? The price of osteoporosis drugs is just too high!

With the Save Our Bones Program, you can achieve significant results without taking chances with your health, body, and well-being. Many have done so, and I invite you to read their stories here.

Reason #4: Drug “Approvals” are Meaningless

A drug has to be “approved” by the FDA before it can be put on the market. Have you ever wondered why such dangerous drugs get approved, especially when they have side effects worse than the condition they are intended to treat?

Take, for example, the osteoporosis drug Forteo. This drug is a synthetic form of parathyroid hormone, which, oddly, is known to break down bone in conditions like hyperparathyroidism. Yet mysteriously, the Forteo injection causes abnormally rapid growth of bone cells, resulting in a very frightening side effect: osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer.

Despite the fact that how Forteo “works” was a complete mystery, and despite this potentially fatal side effect, Forteo was approved by the FDA.

Another seemingly “natural” drug not only may cause cancer; it’s also entirely useless in increasing bone density.

I am referring to calcitonin or calcitonin salmon, the fish-based nasal spray, pill, or injection that doesn’t even “work,” and may actually cause cancer in those taking the drug in pill form.⁴

How Does This Make Any Sense?

The FDA was put in place to monitor drug safety with the public interest at heart. Unfortunately, the reality is much less philanthropic than we’ve been led to believe.

The FDA has forged a disturbing connection with Big Pharma that means two things: more money for them, and harm to your health.

You see, Big Pharma pays “user fees” to the FDA as part of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act of 1992. The intention of these fees was ostensibly to speed up the drug approval process so the United States could keep up with the rest of the world. Not surprisingly, in this game of “catch up”, the only winner is Big Pharma.

In addition, executives with the FDA and Big Pharma are caught in a revolving door as they work for one and then the other. For example, FDA executive Keith Webber left the regulatory agency to work for drug company Perrigo. And on the flip side, Dr. Lawrence Yu, an executive for 8 years at the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer (Upjohn) and GlaxoWellcome, left and joined the FDA. These are just two examples of many.

The Latest FDA Scandal

A recent public records request led to the revelation of hundreds of e-mails between the FDA and various pharmaceutical companies. They also revealed something about how the drug approval process works…and how corrupt it really is.

When a drug is up for approval, the FDA holds a panel, in which clinical trial evidence is discussed. In this most recent scandal, painkillers were the topic of discussion, and much of the discussion took place not before the panel, but behind closed doors.

You see, a select few individuals on the FDA panel’s steering committee met in private with Big Pharma employees to draft documents that would lead to approval. They were effectively bypassing the panel votes.

How did the FDA decide which drug company’s employees got to attend the secret meetings? They chose those who paid, of course – as much as $25,000 to attend one meeting. Shameful!

The question of approval for osteoporosis drugs could be answered easily if only Reason #5 were understood.

Reason #5: Osteoporosis, as Stated in the Save Our Bones Program, is Not a Disease

“…you don’t have a disease and therefore, it is not ‘your’ osteoporosis or ‘your’ bone disease. Your bone loss is a direct reflection of your biochemistry.”

These words are found in Chapter 1 of the Save Our Bones Program. It refers to the true cause of osteoporosis: an imbalance in the body’s chemistry. Therefore, achieving biochemical balance is the core of the osteoporosis solution. And no drug can do that – only you, by taking your bone health into your hands and with the necessary knowledge, can achieve an ideal state of acidity/alkalinity that your bones need to thrive.

The Save Our Bones Program, with its comprehensive yet easy nutritional and lifestyle guidelines, is designed to help you achieve that balance and reverse osteoporosis or osteopenia once and for all.