Forteo vs. Tymlos: Which did you choose?

Hi @lilypaws, Yes Tymlos is newer. There are similar ingredients but they work in different ways. Tymlos, like Forteo before it, works by imitating a natural bone-building process in the body to increase the patient’s bone density.

Tymlos is lab-made copy of part of the human parathyroid hormone-related protein (or PTHrP), while Forteo is a partial copy of the parathyroid hormone. In our bodies, the PTHrP and the parathyroid hormone do many things, notably stimulating bone cells called osteoblasts to produce new bone tissue.

Be calm and at ease these days.
Chris

thanks, that would be great. very interested to hear the response. and you're right -- like you, i suspected that my doctor would have disapproved if i asked her first. how could she approve, after all? almost no doctor is going to say yes if you ask them point-blank if you can alter the dosage of your drug in a non-evidenced based way. now, in retrospect, however, my very small experiment of n = 1 🙂 seems at least to suggest that small body size + exaggerated side effects may indicate that a reduced dosage of tymlos can be effective. if for some reason, i had been unable to try a reduced dosage, i would have just stopped the drug.

@kdbones yes, great questions, i wonder all those things as well! i'm one of those who doesn't tolerate the bisphosphonates well so a possible second round of tymlos down the road would come in handy.

@laurapearl Very few doctors will listen to these things from their patients. I do actually have one (my orthopedist) who realizes that patients can sometimes know something beyond evidence-based trials. For that reason, I really appreciate him.
What you are saying about a smaller person needing a smaller dose makes sense to me.
JK

yes @contentandwell mine is like that also -- we are lucky! in fact, i've never had one of those doctors who don't listen. my only complaint about my rheumatologist is that she's older than i am, and i'm selfishly worried about when she might retire 🙂

Dear suze317 My endocrinologist chose me to do Tymlos. It's less expensive. I did have some side effects, but changed my injection time to night. I feel Tymlos is the best, but I don't know that much about the other one. I hope this helps, but I do like Tymlos.

@laurapearl They say age should be a consideration when choosing a new doctor but even so, I may choose a doctor as a new PCP who is planning to retire in four years. I figure I will get at least 4 years of having a really good PCP if I do.
I have had two doctors retire in their 50s! I was surprised and not thrilled of course. The first retired because she was married to an older man who retired from his job, and the second one - I just don't know why he just retired! He told me he would be retiring in two years but then I got notice that he had retired now, just a few months after he told me two years. Both doctors were gynecologists.
JK

@arlene7, Good afternoon. Welcome to Connect. I am very interested in your information about Evenity and your choice of Tymlos or Forteo because of insurance. I have chosen to answer you publicly because on Connect, sharing patient information and experiences is our modus operandi. Right now members share osteoporosis stories, questions, and experiences so that we can have current information of great value for our members which I hope includes you.

So please share your decision with us and the reasons for your choice. If you learn other things please update us.

I am sorry about your diagnosis of "severe" osteoporosis at that very young age of 62. It was obviously a big shock for me even at 76. I am 78 now and am just completing one year of Tymlos. You, @arlene7, have a lot of catching up to do......because like me you do not want to have any fractures. Do you have spinal fractures now?

I chose Tymlos after very bad side effects with bisphosphonates. The injection procedure is very simple. It quickly becomes second nature. You may want to talk to your doctor about a morning or evening injection. My preference is the morning because I would forget at night. How may we continue to be supportive? And I don't know about your lifestyle but am passing along this: Forteo has to be refrigerated 100% of the time. Tymlos is more stable and only needs refrigeration until it is opened. Are you a traveler?

May you be safe and protected.
Chris

Hi Chris,
Thank you so much for your reply. Currently, I am still pursuing the approval from my insurance company for Evenity, even after three denials. My fear of needles is overwhelming, considering that I would need to inject myself on a daily basis. Also Evenity is known to build bones especially in the spinal area, where I seem to have most of my bone loss. Therefore, my preference would be Evenity. It is so disappointing dealing with insurance companies, however I won’t give up!

My doctor has restricted my lifting to 15 pounds, no bike rides, or participation in other activities with risks of falling. As a very active person and a new grandmother it worries me to have these restrictions. I want to enjoy my grandchildren fully, and I now have to be so careful to avoid falls. Luckily, I have not had any fractures and have found myself being so cautious about everything I do. Trying my best to avoid any falls.

I was also diagnosed with idiopathic hypocalciuria, which I guess is why I have weak bones. Was prescribed a diuretic, but holding off on taking because it has sulfa and I was allergic to sulfa at a younger age. Want to visit an allergist first but with the corona virus I do not want to visits a doctor quite yet.

Hopefully I will hear back from my insurance company by the end of this week and can begin my journey.

As a side note, both my mother and grandmother had osteopenia but not severe.

Thanks again for your support.
-Arlene

Just a quick comment--i was diagnosed with severe osteoporosis at the age of 41. My doctor said that I was the right "type"- -White, Europeam ancestry, and my steroid asthma inhaler put me "over the edge." My bone density was worse than my mother's when I finally dragged her to the doctor in her early 80's. 4 years of treatment were not enough to keep her from breaking her hip. However, 20 years of treatment HAS been enough to push me into osteopenia, so I'm hopeful that i won't break a hip in my 80's