← Return to Hesitant to begin drug treatment for my osteoporosis

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Profile picture for shhsgirl @shhsgirl

I’m new to this forum, and very glad to have found it. I’m 73 and pretty active, or at least my children say so. I was diagnosed with osteoporosis in 2016, out of the blue. My internist put me on raloxifene for 5 years, which my current endocrinologist says was not what he would have recommended. Whatever—water under the bridge. Since then, my husband and I completed the Roper High Sierra route, and last summer I backpacked to various high altitude places. My spine, rather scoliosed (I scuttle along sideways, like a crab), is at T-1.1, and my left femoral neck is at -3.7. Endocrinologist wants me to consider Evenity. I’m scared of it, given the .8/100 risk of heart attack or stroke. I haven’t had either, yet, and want to keep it that way. I am also considering a once yearly oral bisphosphonate, or the daily Forteo. I like Windyshore’s approach to calibrating her daily dose, and that the med leaves the body quickly. I have taken some falls in the past year, but, luckily, I guess, no fractures. My daughter in law, a family practice doc, says go ahead and take the Evenity. My daughter, an E.D. nurse at a children’s hospital, says go to a functional medicine doc for another opinion. I garden, I hike, I take care of my grandchildren, and feel reasonably okay for my age (a little backache here and there). I feel that I could recover from a fractured hip, if it were replaced promptly (I had a hip replacement in 2017 that seemed pretty easy, compared to the cervical fusion in 2013.) Why can’t they just replace my hip? Why, instead, do I have to go on a med that may destroy my life? My doc won’t answer this question when I pose it.

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Replies to "I’m new to this forum, and very glad to have found it. I’m 73 and pretty..."

You'd rather fracture your hip at age 73 than take medication??

Have you done much research on the osteoporosis drugs yet......not just the list of possible side effects listed by the manufacturer? It is also very important to research providers who prescribe. Do they have the training, expertise and experience to prescribe the right drug for you and the understanding that correct drug sequencing is vital .

Current medical training pushes the pharmaceuticals. It’s quick and easy because physicians are not afforded the time to dig deeper into what the core problem really is. Osteoporosis is a systemic bone disease. More complex than Amgen wants you to believe. We are on our own here. Keep searching for a physician who will work with you and that you are comfortable making the decision of which meds if any that you will take. After eighteen months I finally found a specialty medical group that is helping me optimize my hormones first, since I could not tolerate the osteoporosis meds currently on market.