DEXA results after mostly partial Tymlos dosing
A few people have asked me to post my DEXA results since I did not do a full dose of Tymlos (except for a few weeks in March). I started Tymlos in September 2021 at two clicks and moved up slowly to 6 clicks and mostly stayed there. For maybe 6 months I did 7 clicks, and only a few weeks at 8. I have been on Tymlos for 18 months (and still have two pens left!). My doc may want me to use those two pens, or he may want me to do a test dose of Reclast (1/4 dose) to assess that approach to "lock in" gains. I may also ask about Evenity. Here are my results, better than I expected (I have 7 past spinal fractures).
INDICATIONS FOR TEST: Osteoporosis, Tymlos, H/O fracture
Findings: L 1 excluded from analysis
Region T-Score
AP Spine -2.5 (2021 was -3.7)
Femoral Neck -3.6 (2021 was -4.1)
Total Hip -2.9 (2021 was -3.3)
Additional data on Z-Score and BMD in g/cm2 is available by clicking the image.
World Health Organization criteria for BMD interpretation classify patients as:
Normal (T-score at or above -1.0)
Osteopenic (T-score between -1.0 and -2.4)
Osteoporotic (T-score at or below -2.5)
At this facility, the least significant change in BMD with 95% confidence is 0.025 g/cm2 at the L1-4 spine, 0.026 g/cm2 at the total hip, and 0.029 g/cm2 at the femoral neck.
Today's examination is compared to the technically similar prior study of 6/12/2021. The % change in BMD since the last examination is as follows:
AP spine 19.1
Total hip 9.4
IMPRESSION:
Based on BMD, diagnosis is osteoporosis. Marked gain in BMD as noted above.
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@hanna47 the goal should still be getting to the highest dose you can tolerate. You can back down to 1/4 (2 clicks) or 1/2 (4 clicks) dose and move up as your body adjusts. I ended up doing mostly 7 clicks.
I read that Tymlos "eats" Vitamin D3 so I upped mine to 3,000 units/day and my level stayed steady for the whole two years at 52-3.
Tymlos temporarily raises calcium levels. Evenity lowers them. Just fyi.
For muscle cramps (mine were unrelated to Tymlos, occurred before I ever started) I drink low sodium V-8 which is rich in potassium but if you have kidney issues, talk to your doctor first.
Thanks. I will try a lower dose and work up. I also read that if you want the pen to last longer than 30 days should refrigerate so I might do that.
Yes keep it in the fridge!