What should I know before starting Evenity?

@sunny65 are you the one who wrote me about fractures? I started to respond and then lost it....

After fractures the muscles are dealing with a shorter spine and I think of them as confused! After the fracture stabilizes, a lot of the pain is from muscles. I have baclofen and clonazepam but use them sparingly. I did PT massage- I was lucky to find a good one. Tai chi helps.

Evenity side effects for me were neurological (sensations). Dr. McCormick told me that 40% of his patients on Evenity have joint pain. You can read about the role of sclerostin (which Evenity inhibits) in joints and throughout the body. But people seem to have a lot of improvement on it.

Ask your doctor (or read "Great Bones' by McCormick and watch Dr. Ben Leder's You tube video "Combining and Sequential Approaches to Osteoporosis" about whether the 4 months you have done means the anabolic bone growing phase is over. There is a study using Reclast after 6 months of Evenity vs 12 months of Evenity because after 6 months Evenity, like Reclast, is anti-resorptive. So maybe it is okay to stop at 6 months! I hope your doctor can answer that.

@missy61 People don't seem to do Tymlos after Evenity that much but you could ask. Some do Prolia (preferably 1-3 shots) and then Reclast. Maybe you will do well enough on Evenity that you can just go on the "Lock in" with Reclast.

My fractures are T4, T6, T11, T12 (from a traumatic fall 2006), then L1, L2, L4 (from an unwise movement). Not fun.

Dear @windyshores , thank you for replying. The first 2 shots of Evenity were ok. My back pain never left me, but was somewhat manageable with Tramadol. However, after 3rd shot my back pain was so bad that I ended in emergency room . After 4th - last week my lower back pain increased dramatically again. I talk with endocrinologist and she wants me to keep pushing through because she seen improvement in CTX test.
Also she told me that she don’t mind to switch me to Tymlos. I am so confused because I don’t know if on Tymlos I still have this severe back pain. You’ve mentioned that your back pain improved after 3 months. My question is : did you feel pain lessened when you started Tymlos? Or just in general after 3 months. My back pain is so severe for 6 months now and doesn’t stop even at night . I still make myself go for a short walks and trying not to give up. I never been in more pain in my life. My pain doctor offered to try to do nerve ablation. So, I agreed because I don’t know what else to do. My doctor increased dose of Tramadol and even this don’t give me much relief.Should I still try to stay on Evenity for another 2 months or try to switch to Tymlos at least for one year. My DXA test showed severe osteoporosis That was a year ago. I am going for another one shortly and see if I have any improvement after 4 shots of Evenity. Thank you for any advice.

Evenity is more anti-resorptive in the second half. I don't know the effectiveness of Tymlos after 4 months of Reclast but I was told Tymlos is especially good for healing fractures so if you can switch, and if your doctor says it will be effective, I would consider it. My fracture pain lessened more on Tymlos than any other medication.

Evenity is on the government's latest list of drugs getting a rebate:
https://www.cms.gov/files/document/reduced-coinsurance-certain-part-b-rebatable-drugs-july-1-september-30-2024.pdf

If I am reading the list right, instead of the co-pay being 20%, it will be 19.67% and the co-pay for Prolia will go down to 18.49%.

I am 66 years old and have been on Reclast for two years with some improvement in my scores, although the second year my spine score went down. My endocrinologist at Mayo Clinic discussed Evenity and Tymlos and I think I am going to try Evenity since it is one year and convenient to go once a month to the clinic to get the injections. I had concerns about the black box warnings regarding heart attack and stroke, but she reassured me that she has not heard of anyone experiencing this. I also have an appointment with my cardiologist to see what he says before I start. I don’t know what else to do and yes, I’m very nervous about taking this drug, but I know it’s supposed to give me big gains in my spine where I need it the most. Any additional advice?

Don't know how much help it is but can share with you my experience. I'm 64 and yesterday had my last of 12 of the double shots of Evenity and so I don't know yet how much of a difference it will have made. I had similar worries (and now concerns about what will be next.) But what I do know is:

I had no side effects. I had them scheduled within a 29 to 32 day window and luckily that didn't clash with anything. I was in and out in 15 minutes and the nurses told me that people do really well with it. I learned a few things: who does it makes a difference. One nurse there on certain days would somehow manage the syringe or angle or whatever it was in my arm or belly (I could choose) and would leave a small mark for a day or two, no discomfort though. The other nothing... no bleeding, just this cold feeling when the stuff goes in... and walked out to the car feeling fine!

So at least if you do decide to go with it I'd think that along with the incidents of serious issues being so small... and how much is just the pharmaceutical covering itself against battles over heart issues that might have happened anyway... there are lots of people like me that had no issues. A site like this naturally would have lots of people that had issues writing but there are many like me who got on the site to get feedback on timing questions and such. (And it's great to have a community like this.)

Hope it's reassuring.

I am 66 years old and have been on Reclast for two years with some improvement in my scores, although the second year my spine score went down. My endocrinologist at Mayo Clinic discussed Evenity and Tymlos and I think I am going to try Evenity since it is one year and convenient to go once a month to the clinic to get the injections. I had concerns about the black box warnings regarding heart attack and stroke, but she reassured me that she has not heard of anyone experiencing this. I also have an appointment with my cardiologist to see what he says before I start. I don’t know what else to do and yes, I’m very nervous about taking this drug, but I know it’s supposed to give me big gains in my spine where I need it the most. Any additional advice?

I am 66 years old and have been on Reclast for two years with some improvement in my scores, although the second year my spine score went down. My endocrinologist at Mayo Clinic discussed Evenity and Tymlos and I think I am going to try Evenity since it is one year and convenient to go once a month to the clinic to get the injections. I had concerns about the black box warnings regarding heart attack and stroke, but she reassured me that she has not heard of anyone experiencing this. I also have an appointment with my cardiologist to see what he says before I start. I don’t know what else to do and yes, I’m very nervous about taking this drug, but I know it’s supposed to give me big gains in my spine where I need it the most. Any additional advice?