I think you are wise to consult another endo. I personally couldn't deal with someone with his dismissive GOD attitude. I have an appointment with a new rheum next month. In her bio she talks about how she encourages patients to bring in any info and questions they have from their own research, support groups, etc. I hope she lives up to that.

I too was just told to take Fosamax when first diagnosed with just a one-page cursory "explainer" about osteoporosis and no info about possible side effects. I somehow came up with the idea that I could be on it for 5 years then have a drug holiday which I hoped/expected to be long, maybe even permanent. Ha! Even though your diagnosis isn't "life-threatening" as your endo put it, it's still upsetting and disheartening when you realize this is something you're going to have to manage for the rest of your life. Especially when there are potentially serious side effects with all the drugs.

In my case, I was on Fosamax for 3.5 years (with no side effects whatsoever) before I had another DEXA. I had no gains in BMD at all. It was still considered a "win" because I at least stayed stable, but the new PCPrecommended I see a specialist for a bone-building drug, and I went on Forteo, with some gain in BMD but not as much as I had hoped. So now I'd like to try Evenity because I still have severe osteoporosis and am considered a high fracture risk.

It sounds like your osteoporosis is mild (do you have your T-scores?). Since you had trouble with Fosamax, you might also with Actonel or Reclast, which also are bisphosphonates, with Reclast being the strongest. Also, if you do need to take an anabolic, bone-building drug in the future, the effect will be blunted if you've taken a bisphosphonate first (which is why I think I didn't have as much gain from Forteo as I had hoped). Evista might be a good choice for you.

I think you'll find this article helpful. https://medshadow.org/conditions-treatments/osteopenia-osteoporosis/osteoporosis-treatment-screening-medications/