Young woman diagnosed with osteoporosis

@axeddie many of us see endocrinologists.

@sophie03 I would not lift weights!

I went from severe osteoporosis to borderline in 18 months on Tymlos even though I didn't do full dose.

Aunts are not first degree relatives. It might also help to see if your aunts' cancers were genetic. I was told to only be concerned about first degree relatives (mother, sister) and even though both my grandmothers died of breast cancer, and my aunts and cousins had it, I was told my own cancer was not genetic. I was tested for a whole panel not just BRCA. That said, one out of 8 women get breast cancer and 65-80% are hormone-driven.

The estrogen defciency in the menopause and postmenopause causes increased bone resorption.

I'm not crazy about lifting weights, in fact, it seems too boring and repetitive and walking is fun and it doesn't cause fatigue, so I stick with it 🙂 But it seems like everywhere I read about the benefits of lifting for bone density... I guess I will just pass. Better safe than sorry.

I made an appointment with my endocrinologist for the end of August to review the choice of medication. I'm going to mention Tymlos and see what he says about it.

Sophie wrote:
'but I have a naturally small build and I'm underweight.'

Are you really underweight if you have a small build? Or are you labeled that way by a system set up to deal with the obesity epidemic and you do not fit the current model. I was labeled as malnourished by an automated system at a cancer center and now my weight is constantly flagged as being too low. My small frame is not taken into consideration.

I'm underweight by the BMI chart. But as I mentioned, I'm that way my whole life. I have always been the "skinniest one" even though I have never restricted my caloric intake. And I have a small frame on top of that - my wrist size is ridiculously small.

@sophie93, People have mentioned Dr. Keith McCormick several times here, and his super book, "Great Bones", which was published this year. If you have time, please also consider watching the videos where he discusses osteoporosis medications ( (links below). I learned so much from them and they better prepared me when I met with my PCP and endocrinologist.
1. Margie Bissinger interview: https://margiebissinger.com/186-osteoporosis-medications-pros-and-cons-dr-r-keith-mccormick/
2. OsteoBoston interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aon8nx_q0DA (As an FYI, estrogen discussed at 17:45-19:00 and 35:40-36:37, Women's Health Initiative study mentioned briefly starting at 16:28.)
Best wishes! And good for you to have found this forum!

Thank you for the links! I'm going to watch and listen the videos this evening, I'm sure they are going to be useful 🙂

I was thinking, is it possible that I had low bone density to start with? Given the fact that I am very thin all my life, and I have a really small wrist size as well...

For example, I had a bad leg fracture in my teenage years, and the fall wasn't so hard to cause such a damage, now when I'm thinking about that.

I'm just spilling my thoughts here, I don't know if that makes sense. Is it possible that I have never reached a normal ''peak'' bone density?

yes, absolutely. I don't think I did either as I was not athletic as a child and didn't have a great diet. That coupled with menopause created the perfect storm. I had a great amount of bone loss in menopause.