1. < Osteoporosis & Bone Health

Osteoporosis and Petite Women

Posted by njhornung @normahorn, May 16, 2023

The form I completed before going to an osteoporosis clinic asked if I weigh less than 127 pounds. That magic figure supposedly puts one at greater risk. The Endocrinologist I saw commented on how petite I am and asked if I have always been petite. While for a few years my weight was a little higher I am now back to around 100 lbs. Can't get back to my 21" waist, though.

Searching the literature, it seems that being petite is associated with higher T scores and not just post menopausal
Supposedly DEXA takes this into account when height and weight are entered into the software. However, one could be short and have heavy bones or be small boned. The old weight charts at doctor's offices used to take that into consideration. Does anyone have knowledge that DEXA truly adjusts for structure and the high scores are not an artifact of the technique? There is less bone for the xrays to penetrate which could be interpreted as the bone being less dense. Does density determine quality?

I am at the point of not pursuing treatment until I get a better handle on what my risk truly is. My only fractures were a clean break to an ankle when I slipped on ice and a finger playing touch football. Both were many years ago.

Any insight to offer?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Osteoporosis & Bone Health Support Group.

rjd | @rjd | Jan 10 6:25am
In reply to @hopefullibrarian "I drew up some instructions (with images) for creating anonymous email addresses with SimpleLogin. Just click..." + (show)
@hopefullibrarian

I drew up some instructions (with images) for creating anonymous email addresses with SimpleLogin. Just click on the link below to view them. I hope it's helpful.

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Thank you. Very impressed with your instruction effort and expect I will be able to follow and benefit greatly.

To all others, sorry it appears we may have 'hijacked' this osteo thread. But being able to better protect yourself from the nefarious underworld of the dark web is extremely important to overall mental health....which of course affects physical health, including but not limited to osteo.

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2 replies
hopefullibrarian | @hopefullibrarian | Jan 10 8:49am
In reply to @rjd "Thank you. Very impressed with your instruction effort and expect I will be able to follow..." + (show)
@rjd

Thank you. Very impressed with your instruction effort and expect I will be able to follow and benefit greatly.

To all others, sorry it appears we may have 'hijacked' this osteo thread. But being able to better protect yourself from the nefarious underworld of the dark web is extremely important to overall mental health....which of course affects physical health, including but not limited to osteo.

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Yes. Sorry about the hijacking. Since the instructions can be used when registering on OP related sites, we didn't go completely off topic. 😉

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rola | @rola | Jan 10 3:11pm
In reply to @rjd "Thank you. Very impressed with your instruction effort and expect I will be able to follow..." + (show)
@rjd

Thank you. Very impressed with your instruction effort and expect I will be able to follow and benefit greatly.

To all others, sorry it appears we may have 'hijacked' this osteo thread. But being able to better protect yourself from the nefarious underworld of the dark web is extremely important to overall mental health....which of course affects physical health, including but not limited to osteo.

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@hopefullibrarian
@rjd
I love that we discover so many helpful nuggets along the way. I thank you for this post, I'm slowly trying proton mail also and LOVE that they will be working on a phone alias too!!! 😉

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menetski4 | @menetski4 | Apr 22 8:35am

I would like to know my options before going on Reclast. Does anyone know if there is somewhere you can send your DEXA to get a Trabecular Bone Score? There are no radiology departments in my area that have this software.

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1 reply
hopefullibrarian | @hopefullibrarian | Apr 22 11:57am
In reply to @menetski4 "I would like to know my options before going on Reclast. Does anyone know if there..." + (show)
@menetski4

I would like to know my options before going on Reclast. Does anyone know if there is somewhere you can send your DEXA to get a Trabecular Bone Score? There are no radiology departments in my area that have this software.

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Hi menetski4,
To get a trabecular bone score (TBS), the DEXA machine used for your scan has to have a TBS add-on. Unfortunately, most facilities don't have it. It's not something that can be gleaned from a DEXA scan on its own. 🙁

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freckle1 | @freckle1 | Apr 23 4:42pm
In reply to @rola "This conversation has perfect timing for me. I recently had my 1yr follow-up due to my..." + (show)
@rola

This conversation has perfect timing for me. I recently had my 1yr follow-up due to my diagnosis of osteoporosis back in Dec of 22, at age 67.

So during this time, Dec 22-Jan 24, I've tried to do all things possible. My recent NTX shows I' m losing bone above normal. Personally, I don't think I'll ever be able to do enough to stop the process without RX , just hoping to slow it down a bit. I don't want to fracture, but I'm also thinking about the reliability of a simple DEXA to make this decision for me. My Dr strongly feels I need to take action, so I initiated the conversation of an anabolic first. She came around and agreed to prescribe in that order (after reciting the scary rat story😉) in which I was able to counter with the facts (humans vs rats, etc) all b/c of this site and follow-up research. That alone was an accomplishment and now changing facilities. I new I wanted a TBS along with a 1yr DEXA, another hurdle. I Just didn't have the strength to defend another point of changing facilities that offer both, so I didn't, it did come up to stay at the same. I do understand for comparison purposes the necessity. It's not easy convincing Dr's to break with the so calked, Standard of Care, yet it's all so important for my peace of mind. I am making my appt at Vero Beach Fl, 45 mins from home, thru the very same information, "Medimaps Group" that @hopefullibrarian spoke of. Will be calling her office to please add TBS to the script and will call the facility ahead as also mentioned above. Tysm!

I've spent the year trying to research what's best for me. I'll probably schedule with Dr McCormick, DC for reassurance before I do anything. I'm taking baby steps. Most importantly for me to say, is, this site with EVERYONE of you, EVERYDAY...encourages me to keep going, no matter how discouraged, fearful, broken, and alone I may feel at times. I'm also not as frightened with the medications, as I once was. A very heartfelt thank you to all!

p.s. I also fall into petite so we're still on topic.

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As I've mentioned, I am having good results with a physiotherapist using a variant of the Onero program. She started to focus on bone density because of her own mother, who is tiny. Both parents, now in early 70s, follow her program. Whenever I grizzle that my belly fat is proving annoyingly resistant to all this exercise, I get a lecture about not focusing on weight. My doctor says the same.

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