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Evenity follow up with Alendronate results so far
I am about 7 months into Alendronate weekly to lock in gains from Evenity completed October 2023
Evenity helped me attain a:
14% LS increase -3.1 to -2.5.
8.1% Femoral neck -3.3 to -3.0
5.4% Total femur -3.0 to -2.7
10/24/23 CTX was 531 having just finished Evenity. I did not have a P1NP and I never had a baseline CTX before starting Evenity. ☹️
2/23/24 after ~4 months on Alendronate CTX was 273 and P1NP was 23.
5/23/24 CTX was 254 after about 7 months of Alendronate and P1NP was 26.
Also keeping up with all the recommended exercise. Will have a DXA in October and repeat CTX and PINP.
The biggest surprise has been my ability to tolerate alendronate. I was sure I could not because I’ve had bouts of serious heartburn but practically zero since starting alendronate.
I think the bone markers are showing that Alendronate is working. I don’t know how long I need to be on it and hoping for guidance if anyone else is traveling this same road. Keeping up with recommended calcium and Vitamins D and K and all healthy lifestyle recommendations. And most importantly no fractures!
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Had you been on a bisphosphonate prior to evenity?
no never. Evenity was my first med. I had just gotten DXA results in late August 2022 and as I was contemplating what to do I badly fractured my wrist on a hiking vacation in MT from a hard fall ( just
lost balance when I turned to check on hubby and fell striking wrist in a rock). It wasn’t pretty. Since I had
previous fractures (other wrist and ribs from other sports related falls) in previous years, Evenity was chosen by several docs for me. Plus this site which has been invaluable to me helped me make this hard decision . I have posted my story under my profile.
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5 ReactionsI have followed same path as you have with Evenity and alendronate. My doctor has never done the CTX or P1NP. How important are those? I’m thinking of asking for them. Have been on bisphosphonate about a year. Have you had any muscle or joint pain from alendronate? Or from the Evenity? Just curious if you are willing to share that info. Thank you!
I think the bone markers are just another piece of the puzzle. I wanted some sense that The alendronate was working without waiting for another entire year. I do have some days after alendronate that I ache a bit more but nothing terribly significant. How long did your doc say you needed to stay on alendronate? I’m hoping for 18 month…..
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1 ReactionI'm thinking this path after my last Evenity shot too. I am also concerned about it being strong enough to hold gains. After looking at your markers do you feel it's working? Frustrating that we have to figure this out ourselves.
well so far not only did the alendronate hold my initial evenity gains, I continued to improve Spine to -1.8 and hip -2.8. Hip is improving but much slower. I do keep up with exercise and supplements etc. My CTX is now 361. I never had a baseline but the highest was 531 after 1 year of evenity. It dropped to 253 6 months later and then 266 another 6 months later. 1 year after evenity and after full year of alendronate it was 293 and most recent is 361. I am hoping with this years dxa in October I can talk my doc into getting off alendronate. I may consult with Dr KeithMcCormick (Great Bones author) though.
my overall increase in spine was 22.9 percent and hip 9% and no falls and no fractures. I’m also lucky in that I tolerated both evenity and alendronate very well. Hope this helps someone. we are all learning from each other.
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2 ReactionsThat is so GREAT to hear! So very happy for you. I can't wait to move forward hoping to maintain and holiday eventually. This is very helpful to me, listing all that information, tysm. ❤️