Philippa, that's something I didn't know about HRT (rapid calcium loss once you stop).  Maybe it's a good idea to taper off gradually at some point rather than go "cold turkey."

My mom is 86 and still taking HRT (under the supervision of my two sisters, who are family practice MDs).  She seems to be thriving on it, coupled with a good deal of daily exercise (gardening, housework, walking, stair climbing, some arm exercise with small weights, and a Health Rider) and a diet restricted in simple carbohydrates.  (She has mild late-onset diabetes.)  She does not have her uterus any more, though, so she takes only estrogen (Estradiol).  She also eats a good deal of soy and takes soy supplements (among other nutritional supplements.)  Her mother, by the time she died at ca. age 87, had bones so thin that they hardly showed up in x-rays and was very bent over at the waist (though she had been a very hardworking farmer's wife up to at least age 55 or 60--i.e., her bones got a lot of weight bearing exercise in younger years).  She had had several strokes, though, so that does seem to be a family risk factor, as well as osteoporosis.  These are all things to weigh in making the decision re HRT.

I tried Fosamax for a while and stopped it because of pronounced side effects.  It was either persistent diarrhea, ankle edema, irregular heartbeat or some combination of those.  (I can't recall exactly, because there was another medicine I took that caused one of those symptoms, too.)  At any rate the side effects were severe enough to be disruptive to my daily life and work.

I do eat a lot of edamame, soy "ice cream," soy nutrition bars, etc.  But if I eat very much, I'm not an asset to most group activities, if you catch my...er...drift.  (If Beano weren't so expensive, I guess one could just take a couple of those before every soy meal...)
 

Carol C, are you saying you use only a cream (topical) form of both progesterone and estrogen and that both are human-derived?  Can you tell me what the brand names are or who makes/markets them?  I'd like to ask my doctors about them.

My sister has suggested I ask my doctor about a combination of estrogen, progesterone and (a very low dose of) testosterone.  It's got to be the right balance, and she says I might have to try different doses and monitor my reaction for a while to tweak the balance to get it right.  I haven't run this by my Kaiser doc yet (because procrastination is one of my hobbies), but I'm wondering if any of you have any knowledge of this kind of combined HRT.  Or is there a good website for information on such?

Genie

Ebbie, re the documentaries and not seeing bent-over old people, it could be any of several explanations.
--Osteoporosis makes you prone to hip fractures, and I'd imagine the mortality after one in a non-industrialized culture is even higher than it is where good hospital care for internal bleeding and pneumonia are more available.
--People in some gene pools may be less prone to osteoporosis.
--Life expectancy in general tends to be shorter in some of the populations you see in such documentaries.
--The lifestyle in some agricultural societies is such that folks, by necessity, get far more physical exercise than is practical in modern Western cultures.