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← Return to Forteo: What is your Experience?
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Forteo: What is your Experience?
Osteoporosis & Bone Health | Last Active: 2 days ago | Replies (107)Comment receiving replies
I was on Forteo for 6 months. I had no side effects except for injection site reaction, however, because my 24 hour urine for calcium was elevated prior to taking it, it just continued to get higher and higher and would get kidney stones if I didn't stop it. 3 months into taking Forteo, my P1NP went up to 250 from 68! It's too bad I had to get off this drug. I followed up with an infusion of Reclast and of course I experienced flu like symptoms but was relieved when taking Tylenol every 6 hours for 36 hours. Took a few days to be back to myself. Just started taking transdermal bioidentical hrt and progesterone for one week and will be going for bloodwork in 6 weeks to see my estradiol level since loss of estrogen was my main cause of osteoporosis and secondary cause is having hypercalcuria. My 2nd endocrinologist prescribed a low dose of chlorthalidone back in December and I have follow up bloodwork including my CTX. I also consult with Dr. Keith McCormick, and he said by taking transdermal hrt, it will help my CTX as well as my hypercalcuria and that I wouldn't need to be on chlorthalidone. He states this fact in his Great Bones book about the calcium flooding in the blood and how the body regulates the level and passes the excess calcium through kidneys and excess passes out in urine. He states this is all due to loss of estrogen in post menopausal women. When I read that paragraph, I said this is me! Only time will tell when I have various bloodwork and urine tests when I go in early April which is 6 months after my Reclast infusion.
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@doglover1962
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/critically-speaking/id1463016517?i=1000676606414
Good morning. Yesterday I came across this podcast with Dr Keith McCormick and found it extremely informative. As it turns out, I was supposed to go for a DEXA scan today and after hearing him mention the add on test called Trabecular Bone Score which is helpful in assessing bone quality, (not just density) I called my doc to ask if we could add it on and she had never heard of it, but since I checked my Medicare Advantage Plan with United Healthcare and they cover it- I found a facility about 60 miles from my home that performs it and cancelled my DEXA for today and will reschedule at the other facility. I already had his book “The Whole-Body Approach to Osteoporosis “ which I hadn’t read yet and started reading last night. (Highly recommend!) On my last Bone density scan 2 years ago I was just a hair away from Osteoporosis. I am 71 now and have always been an active gal-walk 3-6 miles a day etc but I have degenerative disc disease diagnosed in 2019 plus all the unpleasant experiences of menopause (hot flashes, insomnia, vaginal atrophy etc) so I am on a mission to improve my Osteoporosis trajectory. Did you find the consult with Dr McCormick helpful and did he want to order labs? Will you continue to have follow ups with him?
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Hi @doglover1962 do you mind sharing your estradiol dosage? Do you use patches or pallets? The blood estradiol level confused me a bit - I'm not sure the relationship between the blood level and the desired bone effects as measured by ctx; in your case you also try to control hypercalciuria. My base blood estradiol was 18pg/ml prior to HRT. With a low dose 0.025mg/day of estradiol, blood level barely budged to the low 20s. However, my CTX reading indicated a strong antiresorptive effect as if I'm on a bisphosphonate. Both my endo and obgyn asked me to keep estradiol at current low dose. Please keep us posted how your regimen turns out. Thanks