Should I go on Envenity, Forteo, or wait?

lori098, I'm having such an easy time with Forteo that I think it's the best medication. You might look at Tymlos (your doctor didn't mention it?). It is thought to be slightly more effective than Forteo and less likely to cause hypercalcemia.
I'll be leery of Evenity until there is more evidence of safety with cardiac issues.
Many of us have been health conscious with exercise and diet, but we all lose estrogen. Loss of estrogen is thought to be the most common cause of osteoporosis in women.
Forteo and Tymlos are easy to stop. The medication leaves your body quickly usually within 24 hrs so you don't have a month plus of side effects as you might with Evenity. Some don't have side effects with either drug. Evenity is thought to put bone on the most quickly of any of the other medications.
Because you were on a medication that "didn't help," you might want to insist on bone markers CTX and P1NP to ascertain within months instead of years whether a medication is working for you.
There is a lot to consider. Taking a med before you fracture and strengthening your bones before surgery are compelling reasons to take the medications.
Best luck with your choice.

So happy for this forum! My doctor wants me to go on either Prolio or Bisphosphonates. Thanks @gently for mentioning Forteo - I'll look it up. Have a wonderful weekend!

I do know lots of people have taken Fosomax and had no problems with it whatsoever. I took it and improved my scores roughly 15%, but unfortunately I took a drug holiday ( per my Endo MD for 2.5 years and my scores went down to worse than they were before. Now Forteo is recommended by my endocrinologist, but the potential side effects look way worse than anything that ever would’ve happened with FOX so I’m deliberating.
Frustrating because I have been extremely health oriented and fit and get lots of calcium and D 3 magnesium K2 Selenium and the right kind of exercise. I’m extra motivated because my mom and I were both 5 foot four at age 50. I’m now 72 and I’ve only gone down about a quarter of an inch but by the time my mother was 72 she was down 3 inches and believe it or not she lost 8 inches overall with very severe osteoporosis and chondritis till she passed away which I think in the end was taking too many from taking too many medications. So I’m not a fan of meds unless there’s no other option.
Those were her only serious medical issues that said she didn’t break a bone till she was 85 then both broke both femurs two years in a row and was confined to a wheelchair

Lately been reading about phytates and trying to adjust my food timing so that foods containing them which seem to be about 75% of what I eat- are not too close to calcium consumption. So that’s something to watch out for potentially especially with Forteo if you read about the side effects - by the way has anyone had an experience with phytates and managing the timing of them?

Lately I’m thinking of going to a nutritionist before if I do go on Forteo because some of the side effects are related to the timing of when the shot is given and when calcium and other supplements are consumed. Very interesting stuff if you look it up.
Messing with your parathyroid isn’t nothing! Phytate experience anyone?
Good luck to you!

@robbieb After 6 months of Evenity my dexa scan showed bone loss instead of gain. They stopped it immediately when I had an aneurysm and TIA. I was put back on Prolia (a once every 6 month injection instead of monthly Xgeva injection) and ended up experiencing horrific knee and hip pain in the middle of the night while sleeping. Ironically, always on the side where the shot was given each time and the middle of the night pain went on for weeks/ months at a time. Not related to any activity or weight bearing. I never had an issue with Fosamax (ages ago) or with Xgeva. Best wishes on making an informed decision.

@gently Amazing it took 4 years for her doc to figure out it wasn't working. Scarey.

@nancytheyda , thanks for the heads-up! I have tweaked so many things in my lifestyle/exercise/nutrition in this 2 year OP journey (so far), phytates is just one more item, and this is the first I heard of it. A basic google search shows your are spot-on, so i will do more research. So glad you brought it up! I've had really excellent bone density improvements so far, but like others, I realize that this is a rest of my life battle to keep bone, so I continue to get educated by what others learn, like you. Thanks and good luck on your journey!

mariahcb, this whole business is scary, but
We define "working" with osteoporosis in a funny way. We define working as an increase in bone mineral density which we don't measure because you can't measure density without the dimension of depth. Dexa measures bone mineral content which for some reason we call bone mineral density.
If you are losing bone and you take a medication that stops you from losing bone it isn't working by definition because you aren't gaining bone mineral content. If you take a medication and fracture while on that medication, it isn't working. But if your bone is at the level of the last figure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabecula and you take an antiresorptive you are probably going to fracture.
You don't know where your bone mineral content would be after four years if you hadn't taken the medication.

More to your point, Mariah, is the importance of bone markers. We take these medications, often tolerating their side effects for years, only to find out that they've been detrimental to our health without benefit, when a serum draw would tell us withing months, but our doctors don't want to order CTX and P1NP?
Scary!

@boneoptimist Thanks so much for your response. Great username!
Thanks very much for your reply and-sharing what you have. That said, I am not clear about which drug you have been on that has caused your improvements so far and have there been any significant side effects?
Thanks for any additional info. Optimism is great! Success is even greater!

@gently You have a lovely username
Not sure I see it in the thread, but would you be comfortable sharing anything about your demographic age level of scores, level of fitness, use of supplements,specific other OP drugs you may have used and how they worked or didn’t work prior to going on Forteo. It sounds like you’re one of the few people here who is having zero side effects. Thanks for any additional information. It’s been prescribed to me, but I have some major concerns going on about a few of the side effects.

I am taking Tymlos and have had good p1np changes. I would choose Tymlos, as others here have stated. It builds stronger bone, with less side effects. Look at this as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch