What are the long-term positive/negatives of taking osteoporosis meds?

Thank you, @mayblin This is helpful.

I understood from talking to the Evenity patient support person, that it acts as an anabolic the first 4 months and then more like Prolia?

Thank you for sharing a very important question. In answer to if you should or should not do something about recent osteoporosis diagnosis. Yes, I hope you do try treatment.
I didn't like how I felt after infusions 24 years ago, I quit. Unfortunately at 63 years old I am fractured multiple times from neck to tailbone, including femur and hip. My pain is unbearable. Please do your research and keep asking PATIENTS questions. All drugs have side effects and I am not a voluntary person for anything medical. That being said, I wish I had allowed doctors to find an alternative infusion when I was younger and stronger opposed to my current situation; stage 4.
Together, we are our best resource of information. Wishing you much success with your decision and treatment.

An injection monthly for one year would be Evenity that partly builds bone and partly is an antiresorptive. It is more efficacious if you take it before any other bone drugs. You do need to take other bone drugs like Prolia or bisphosphonates afterwards otherwise all the gains you made on it will be lost in about a year. Another once yearly infusion option is Reclast/ Aclasta which is anti- resorptive. It is the strongest bisphosphonate and maintains your gains for longer. If you ever take Prolia, also an anti- resorptive, you need to take a bisphosphonate immediately after to prevent rebound. There are other anabolics that need to be followed up with anti- resorptives.So everything finishes with a bisphophonate basically. The only other option is Evista, a SERM, which people tend to stay on longterm. You cannot stay on bisphosphonates for " ever" as there are risks with longterm bone suppression. It is claimed that bisphosphonates prolong life in those diagnosed with OP but I suspect this is extrapolated from figures of being perhaps less likely to sustain a hip fracture rather than other benefits. Perhaps they tend to lower cholesterol. I have read that Evenity may raise it. I don't think you can draw any conclusions about longevity from a 5 year time period.
Personally I do not believe " the natural route" and the use of bone drugs when you are in a " hole" and have fractured are 2 separate pathways for one's whole life. I think many of us will need to combine both. Hope this is helpful.

Mayblin, hi.
That's what I was going to say. Now what am I going to say. Both of your citation choices would have been mine. In the past I've detected that we may have a slight difference of opinion on Evenity.
You've learned that it adds bone, not just in the first 2 or 4 months, but intermittently throughout treatment. Do you weigh in on modeled or remodeled. P1NP rises in the first two months.
love hearing from you

I want to thank everyone that has shared their knowledge and experiences with the numerous meds that are used to treat osteoporosis and osteopenia. Your sharing and all the leg work that you do is very helpful to many and hasn’t gone unnoticed. THANK YOU!

I read your mind @gently 🙂

Charts from manufacturer and clinical studies show continued bmd increases over 12mo treatment period with Evenity, although the rate of increase declines gradually from beginning months towards the end of 12mo. Could this simply be explained by the strong upswing of P1NP (osteoblasts activity) during very early stages (~2wks post first dosing being strongest)? The pattern of bone marker changes with evenity resembles a pure anabolic, guess what, teriparatide when used with a higher dose once weekly formulated in Japan. This makes us wonder if a short burst of P1NP means a long lasting effects of osteoblasts then to the eventual mineralization, which shows up in dexa scan. Might these prolonged sequential events explain bmd increase throughout 12mo? The dual effects of evenity undoubtedly augment its bone building capability.

njhornung, there is no doubt that the Amgen drugs both add bone. And since our doctors pick up the language of the pharmaceutical advertisements, both Prolia and Evenity will be labeled anabolic, inconsistent with their primary mechanisms of action, though more aligned, perhaps, with the etymology of the word anabolic. Thanks to you and leslie I yield the term as meaning "to throw up" rather than "to build." The term PTH-bone isn't revelatory without being familiar with the action of parathyroid hormone. But, it will do for now.

Hi i am new to this group . i’ve been taking prolia injections twice yearly now for over five years maybe six years or so and I recently three months ago had a pelvic fracture from osteoporosis. I did not fall or bump into anything. I just woke up with a pelvic fracture, has anyone experience this?

I don't think anyone would even consider calling Prolia an anabolic.