Evenity worked for me: Why I chose medication for osteoporosis

@juanitalinda So sorry all of that happened to you! I can’t imagine how painful that must have been. I had great success with Evenity and I hope that you do as well.

I like your comment of risk/benefit. It's kinda how you weigh the benefits and risk.
There is the benefit of avoiding medications and possible side effects vs the benefit of avoiding fractures. I decided on Evenity and can't wait for my DexaScan in a few months.

For me, the possible side effects of the medication were certainly less severe than the benefit of avoiding another hospital stay with the possibility of another fracture.

Actually, my bone doctor pointed out that osteoporosis can be FATAL, and in my case it was a real possibility in the next few years. He felt Evenity was the fastest acting and therefore best choice for me.

For example, I often hike with my dog where there is little/no cell phone service. I leaned over to pet my dog and my femur broke into at least 5 pieces. Fortunately, my phone was in my pocket and still working and I had a cell phone signal. If not, I could have been there for hours.

As it was, I was taken to the hospital where I stayed in skilled nursing for a month. Those nurses and therapists were bossy as heck .... but the statistics show that lots of people with hip/femur fragility fractures die within the first year. (Look it up ... you don't want to be there.)
10 months later I was in the bathroom putting on deodorant when I coughed. I heard a pop from the fractured vertebra and fell .... fortunately, I did NOT hit my head on the porcelain tub or toilet. Once again I was lucky. I know someone who did die from falling in a tub.

We all have to weigh the risk vs benefits based on the information at hand.

PS .. I do have a family history of osteoporosis so had exercised, walked, weight lifted, taken calcium supplements and Vit D and HRT. That background also factored into my decision.

If Evenity doesn't work, I am going to be seriously depressed.

My experience sounds similar to yours, Susan. I also had decades of running as well as heavy weight lifting. I followed a very healthy diet, took supplements, and bio identical hormones. Unfortunately it was not enough to overcome my genetics. I decreased from-2.4 to -3.4 in my spine and I was at a severe risk of fracture which would have changed my life. I’m a risk/benefit type of person and my risk of fracture was very high versus a very low risk of side effects from the medication. Evenity improved my spine to -1.8.

I like your comment of risk/benefit. It's kinda how you weigh the benefits and risk.
There is the benefit of avoiding medications and possible side effects vs the benefit of avoiding fractures. I decided on Evenity and can't wait for my DexaScan in a few months.

For me, the possible side effects of the medication were certainly less severe than the benefit of avoiding another hospital stay with the possibility of another fracture.

Actually, my bone doctor pointed out that osteoporosis can be FATAL, and in my case it was a real possibility in the next few years. He felt Evenity was the fastest acting and therefore best choice for me.

For example, I often hike with my dog where there is little/no cell phone service. I leaned over to pet my dog and my femur broke into at least 5 pieces. Fortunately, my phone was in my pocket and still working and I had a cell phone signal. If not, I could have been there for hours.

As it was, I was taken to the hospital where I stayed in skilled nursing for a month. Those nurses and therapists were bossy as heck .... but the statistics show that lots of people with hip/femur fragility fractures die within the first year. (Look it up ... you don't want to be there.)
10 months later I was in the bathroom putting on deodorant when I coughed. I heard a pop from the fractured vertebra and fell .... fortunately, I did NOT hit my head on the porcelain tub or toilet. Once again I was lucky. I know someone who did die from falling in a tub.

We all have to weigh the risk vs benefits based on the information at hand.

PS .. I do have a family history of osteoporosis so had exercised, walked, weight lifted, taken calcium supplements and Vit D and HRT. That background also factored into my decision.

If Evenity doesn't work, I am going to be seriously depressed.

I really hope you have amazing gains on Evenity. I am sorry for your fractures. I have been on Evenity for 10 months. My spine was -4.5. No fractures. (yet) Keep in touch. I would love to hear about your gains!

I really hope you have amazing gains on Evenity. I am sorry for your fractures. I have been on Evenity for 10 months. My spine was -4.5. No fractures. (yet) Keep in touch. I would love to hear about your gains!

May I ask what medication you are taking after completing Evenity?
Thanks : )

I will be starting Prolia and will take that as long as I can. My provider has many women who have been on it for 10-12 yrs.

Wow! -4.5 is quite the score! Mine is 3.5 after Forteo, which was started when my spine gave out causing 13 consecutive compression fractures. I am currently back on Forteo while I wait for Evenity approval. Do you have a follow up plan for after Evenity? Any side effects noted? Do let us know your follow up density scores! Thank you for sharing. I keep waffling on the Evenity, but also scared about redoing Forteo.

Pami, I also had a very low t score in my spine of -4.6. I went on Evenity for 1 year and now my t score in my spine is -3.3. I am now on Prolia and have had one dose so far . I will most likely have one more dose than move on to reclast.