Good evening, @atoni2, and welcome to Connect. You have jumped into one of the most challenging and sometimes frightening areas of current medical practice ......osteoporosis. So....how did I justify jumping into the fray with all of the widening concerns about the expected results and the side effects that are inherent in most if not all medications. So...let me start with the why. I didn't worry about osteoporosis until I was 75 years old. My new PCP told me it was time to get a beginning DEXA scan and see what was happening.

It was at that moment when I remembered my mother's life being essentially over because she broke her hip in her early 80's, that I made the decision to start "something". My mother never walked again and withdrew from communication with her senior center friends. Her end of life was lonely and painful.

So I started on Boniva and was quickly thrown into side effects that included pain in my jaws to the point where I wanted to have all my teeth extracted. Because Boniva is a bisphosphonate, it was determined that I would have the same issues with any of the other medications except two rather new ones....Forteo and Tymlos. I chose Tymlos because it didn't have to be refrigerated and the manufacturer's medical team was willing to spend time explaining how it worked. After two years of holding my own and returning to osteopenia, it was time to stop building bone and start saving it from disappearing. Prolia is the only second step that is not a bisphosphonate so I had no other choices.

I have had two injections so far......without side effects and so I will continue for the safety from fractures that is expected. I know that we are all living longer these days and my choice is to have the best quality of life available to me.

May you be free, safe, and protected from inner and outer harm.
Chris