Post Evenity DEXA numbers

@susanfalcon your original numbers weren't bad at all (spine borderline, hip osteopenia). Did your doctor first try to put you on a bisphosphonate? Did your insurance cover Evenity without severe osteoporosis? This is great news for you!

@susanfalcon52,

Congratulations on your excellent DEXA scores improvement. Have your doctors recommended follow up medications for you?

windyshores,
The endocrinologist and the rheumatologist both said “Evenity.” I had had a sketchy history with Forteo and Tymlos in the past. By sketchy, I mean that I only used each of them for six months. This was because my insurance at that time didn’t cover them. There was a nephrologist here who had made osteoporosis her specialty. She got me six months of Forteo from a drug rep. I had had a dexa at her office and was waiting for someone to call me with results. Finally, the doctor called me - from rehab - to cheerfully say that I had gains. She had fallen at home and broken her neck!
The irony. She told me that when she returned to office in a few weeks, we would figure out how to get more Forteo.
A couple of weeks later, her nurse called me to say that this lovely doctor had died, but had six months of Tymlos in the frig that she had wanted me to have.
I picked it up and used it, but then did nothing for two years. So, I had a lot of bone loss.
If I want to make a grown man cry, I bring up the nephrologist at my visits with the rheumatologist. 🙂
I never had any side effects from either the Forteo or the Tymlos.
Please forgive the long post. Originally, I meant to respond to the question about my numbers not being so bad before Evenity.
The right hip a year ago was
-2.2 and the right femoral neck was -3.2. As I said, those are now titanium, so non-issues.
It seems easier to just replace all of it with titanium. And, cheaper.
Onward to Reclast! I hope my side effect luck has not run out.

healthseeker,
Yes, I am having a Reclast infusion in a couple of weeks.

I have completed my year of Evenity. I started off with some very alarming scores. I didn't have any significant side effects with Evenity and was religious about the proper amount of calcium from food, regular exercise. I have never drunk coffee or alcohol. My spine improved 17% and I got some improvement in both hips. I am a very petite person so I was a perfect candidate for bone loss. I will post my scores in a few minutes since I have to go into my portal. Basically I went from scary severe to bad! Now the big decision is what to do next.

Post Evenity results:
L1-L4: -4.0 improved to -3.1 (17% improvement)
Left femoral neck: -2.7 to -2.5 (4.3% improvement)
Right femoral neck -3.2 to -3.0 3.9% improvement)
My insurance covered my course of Evenity. I woudl say overall it was worth it to get the improvement. I will insist on annual bone scans rather than wait the 2 years -even if I have to pay out of pocket. I turn 80 in a few months. Hope this is helpful.

@birdie78 congrats on the improvements! I am curious what your doctor recommends.

We seem to post a lot about avoiding Prolia but if you are 80, it is possible you could take it the rest of your life, as my friend (now 83) has been doing- without dealing with the rebound of getting off.- unless you live to 100! Or you could do 1-3 shots as McCormick recommends and then switch to Reclast or alendronate. I hope you have a good endocrinologist to talk this over with. I am doing Reclast after my short course of Evenity after 2 years Tymlos. My doctors don't use Prolia very much.

Some of us have gotten to the end of our initial anabolic treatment(s) and as we look at all the years ahead, the sequence of things becomes the key issue. Hope you find a good path and share it here.

1-3 shots of prolia or evenity?

Prolia- that is what McCormick discusses in "Great Bones" as a safer course with Prolia (1-3 shots or a year and a half). You have already done 12 shots of Evenity, right?

My friend in her 80's plans on taking Prolia the rest of her life so she does not anticipate dealing with rebound. As we have been told, if Prolia is used too long, the risk of jaw necrosis or atypical femur fracture goes up. My friend seems unaware of this and just takes what her doctor gives her. She has many health issues and may be able to stay on Prolia, who knows.

Thanks for sharing !!!
Good progress