Which doctor is best to treat Osteoporosis?

I had wanted to see an endocrinologist and did see one but found that she and those others on my Humana list of referred doctors, did not specialize in osteoporosis. All handled thyroid and diabetes.

@berekann

Maybe your new PCP doesn't feel s/he has the expertise to manage it, or after 15 years, thinks it is time for a change (due to your own advancing age) and wants you to see an expert.

Or maybe s/he is a referral queen/king. My PCP sure is -- she feels it is her job to adroitly refer out to specialists.

@researchmaven yes indeed she likes to give me referrals! My previous PCP just six months ago said my medication was fine based on his reading of my bone density reports.

My PCP was just a "gatekeeper." She truthfully said she cannot interpret my bone markers, and she does not know all the side effects of osteoporosis drugs. After a long wait, my 1st appointment with a rheumatologist was a video appointment when the doctor, as soon as she heard about a vertebral compression fracture, recommended Evenity as the only treatment despite the three last DEXA scan results that were -1.9 in spine and -0.6 in hip. I have several risk factors: plaques in my coronary arteries, hypertension, recent dental implant removal, and a history of peptic ulcer ablation. I am not a good candidate for Evenity. I hope she will be more attentive to my medical history when I meet her at the office visit. My endocrinology appointment is at the end of June, which is 4 months after the vertebral fracture. Any osteoporosis treatment requires anyone a long-term, if not entire life comittment othersise you lose what you gained.

After two spinal compression fractures, my endocrinologist in Denver found out I wasn't a good candidate for some treatments by doing blood and urine tests. She put me on once yearly Reclast infusion treatment with DEXA scan every two years. I am 78 yrs old with bronchiectasis and heart arrhythmia.
I believe the best you can do for yourself is to find, through research, the highest rated endocrinologist in your area.
Best of luck and best
wishes for good health going forward.

Hello. From my experiences since discovering my osteoporosis, and learning what the treatments do, I feel that the endocrinologist would be the best type of doctor to be treating it, since the hormones are the main players in what goes on in the bones. I was a nurse for decades, but none of the areas in which I worked involved required an in-depth knowledge of parathyroid hormones and how they effect bone. Now that I am the patient, I have had to learn, and it is complicated stuff, indeed, and I think that endocrinology covers it best. Of course, there may be ortho or rheumatologists that are knowledgeable, and endo doctors that may not stay current, but the odds are in your favor, I think , with endocrine. I first had one that just didn't communicate well; now I have a true gem, and trust her implicitly. I hope you do, too!

@mamabear77
I started an endo dr years ago after thyroid surgery, he was great. Now in my late 70’s and living in a different state I just go to a general dr. I would like to find a endo doctor also.

@gmj7375 I would look first at the nearest teaching hospital. If that would be too far away, ask your primary care doctor, especially if he or she is an internal medicine physician, for some names or another starting point. This is a long-term condition, and that makes it so important to have good communication and understanding. I am 78, and my endo. is a godsend. Best of luck...don't give up!

My PCP referred me to a rheumatologist.

Do endocrinologists do infusions and injections in the office like rheumatologists do?

@mamabear77 Thank you .