My spine is fine but I have it in my left hip and osteoporosis in my right hip - pretty much due to the fact I've been a right above knee amputee since age 25 - no weight bearing on that hip joint in 27 years. It's only been about the last 5 years that I've had a prosthetic leg that allows me to walk very far but since I've had that I now walk about about 45 mins several times a week - less in the winter when it's slippery outside. I also ride an Airdyne exercise bike several times a week but biking doesn't help prevent osteoporosis - though I think the upper body resistance may have some benefit for arms and shoulders. In any case, left side has also suffered as a result of lack of walking over the past years. I drink about a quart of milk a day and take a calcium & D supplement to make up for any daily milk shortage. I also take a generic version of weekly Fosamax. I'm not due for another bone density test for a little over a year - at that time I guess I'll see if the medication is helping. Since I already have this problem at a pretty young age and am probably at a much higher risk of falling at some point in my life, I figured the benefits of taking some medication to mitigate the risk of a hip fracture far outweighed the risks.

There may be a connection, but the stronger connection is probably the periodontal disease itself, and insufficient dental/ gum care. The reason I say this is because I have recently been dealing with periodontal problems, and I have no indications of osteoporosis. My teeth are in reasonably good shape because I have been taking good care of them for the past ten years, but the years of neglect before that caused problems that can't really be fixed, so regular maintenance is important these days. I'm sure that measures toward maintaining good bone health can't hurt anything, and would probably be beneficial, but good dental care and regular cleanings will probably be more effective. When I went for my first root planing and scaling a couple of weeks ago, I picked up a couple of brochures at the periodontist's office. One of them mentioned hormonal changes as a contributing factor in gum disease. Mrs H

I suffered from hot flashes for nine years, until I started taking Zoloft. My hot flashes were every fifteen minutes all morning and evening, with a little relief during the day. For women who have severe symptoms of menopause, precription meds are sometimes needed. If you have no quality of life because of your symptoms and you are completely miserable, like I was, thoughts of suicide can enter your brain -- prescription meds are a much better option. I tried all forms of natural remedies and NOTHING helped.

okwriter - thanks for the link - very helpful. It sounds like there's an hypothesis but no conclusive scientific evidence. It does definitely make you think twice about taking it for more than four years though. But then it also makes me wonder - would you really be any worse off if you took it? You break your hip if you don't or you break your femur if you do? Fortunately my doctor's strategy seems to be two years and then we'll see. Unfortunately it's pretty difficult for me to do any weight bearing exercise on my right hip and though I walk 45-60 minutes several times a week my right hip bears no weight during walking. Oh well, it's the price I pay for having survived cancer that was supposed to kill me about 32 years ago - long term survivor side effects as they say.