Bone building drugs for osteopenia

Radiation is definitely a bone hazard interrupting the DNA of rapidly dividing cells. Chemotherapy causes actively dividing cells to become senescent. Those senescent cells produce chemicals that induce bone death which further damage areas of bone. Aromatase inhibitors, like Anastrozole, lessen the bone protective estrogen.
But you can't skip the cancer treatment.
I didn't fracture. I had rectal cancer and the radiation path was directly through my femur head. After a (one time only) dexa T score of -5.6, I stopped researching (and hesitating). I suspect that the inspiring dexa measured an area of edema or fat infiltration post cancer treatment that resolved before it could fracture.
I was osteoporotic before cancer treatment because of age loss of estrogen.
I'm on my third year of Forteo.
I expected side effects. I have low blood pressure, so for my first week of injections I had the BP cuff handy. In the first seconds I'd lose 20 systolic points, but didn't feel anything--no dizziness, no loss of balance. Within seconds of the first reading the pressure begins to rise for me over the next two hours. For some it takes four hours. I was careful for a week or so.
But I do like morning tea on the roof.
Some people so have side effects. Forteo acts quickly to draw calcium from your bones, kidneys and digestive tract into your bloodstream. This in turn rapidly dilates your blood vessels. The increase in calcium can cause nausea. The widening blood vessels can cause headache and dizziness. You might try having something salty and something caffeinated to
constrict the blood vessels. It is good to be well hydrated to increase serum volume to counteract the increase in vessel volume. I started with a blue corn chip and then turned a green olive.
You might ask your endocrinologist to order bone markers before beginning and one or two months after starting treatment. I like the marker P1NP, but also CTX.
I can't write enough good things about this drug.

Hi Sue,
P1NP and CTX are fragments left in the blood by osteoblasts and osteoclasts, the cells that build and the cells that breakdown bone. Measuring those fragments tells how much bone is being cleared and how much is being replaced. They are commonly used to determine if a medication is working successfully for your bones. With teriparatide Forteo, you expect to see a large increase in the number P1NP after two or three months.

sue417, both are serum labs.
Some doctors don't (won't) order them. In the 1990s the assays were improved and regulated so that the tests are reliable. It seems prudent to use them to ascertain that the medications is working for the patient. It isn't clever to take a medication for a year and find that there is no improvement.
The operating room must have been interesting work.
Being the investigative type ensures that you will have much better health care.

Radiation is definitely a bone hazard interrupting the DNA of rapidly dividing cells. Chemotherapy causes actively dividing cells to become senescent. Those senescent cells produce chemicals that induce bone death which further damage areas of bone. Aromatase inhibitors, like Anastrozole, lessen the bone protective estrogen.
But you can't skip the cancer treatment.
I didn't fracture. I had rectal cancer and the radiation path was directly through my femur head. After a (one time only) dexa T score of -5.6, I stopped researching (and hesitating). I suspect that the inspiring dexa measured an area of edema or fat infiltration post cancer treatment that resolved before it could fracture.
I was osteoporotic before cancer treatment because of age loss of estrogen.
I'm on my third year of Forteo.
I expected side effects. I have low blood pressure, so for my first week of injections I had the BP cuff handy. In the first seconds I'd lose 20 systolic points, but didn't feel anything--no dizziness, no loss of balance. Within seconds of the first reading the pressure begins to rise for me over the next two hours. For some it takes four hours. I was careful for a week or so.
But I do like morning tea on the roof.
Some people so have side effects. Forteo acts quickly to draw calcium from your bones, kidneys and digestive tract into your bloodstream. This in turn rapidly dilates your blood vessels. The increase in calcium can cause nausea. The widening blood vessels can cause headache and dizziness. You might try having something salty and something caffeinated to
constrict the blood vessels. It is good to be well hydrated to increase serum volume to counteract the increase in vessel volume. I started with a blue corn chip and then turned a green olive.
You might ask your endocrinologist to order bone markers before beginning and one or two months after starting treatment. I like the marker P1NP, but also CTX.
I can't write enough good things about this drug.

Hi
I have.
High blood pressure and i'm on medication for it along with heart medication. I.
Did not know you could take forteo longer than 2 yrs. My endocrinologist said two years on the bone builder and then back to zodronic acid.
I never felt my age until radiation treatment.I am sixty seven. Now my left knee is acting up which I just had injected in january. So now I have to have a cortisone shot in june. Its a drag. What time of day do you do your injection?

sue417, I take the injection in the morning usually around 8am after walking and a couple of hours after calcium, D3 and K2. I use my thigh because I don't like bending my neck to look at my stomach.
I never decided which is better morning or night, belly or thigh.
I already think it would be better if you didn't take Evenity, but now with the knee information, I think Evenity is more likely to increase swelling in that poor knee. Not bad 4 to 5 months relief? with the cortisone.