Struggling with making an osteoporosis treatment decision

@kathleenintexas did McCormick say to disregard those results entirely? I wonder if, even if there was some incorrect placement, if that rather large increase on the report would still indicate substantial gain, even if unknown exactly.

I had a 20% gain in spine and 9% gain in hip and have been told the technician measured a different "area of interest" than the previous scan. Nevertheless I was happy to see the trend.

I am in orlando and looking for osteoporosis specialist, who are you seeing? Have you found a closer place for REMS scan? How about a Functional Medicine Dr.

Most osteostrong locations have echo light scanning ability. I think it travels from location to location but I know there is an Osteostrong in Orlando. My doctor, after my latest dexa, just called the pharmacy and ordered fosomax for me even though I said I would take no medication. Good luck to you!

Do you have an endocrinologist or other health professional with solid training in Osteoporosis treatment? Someone who is up to date on the range of approaches, medications and meds sequencing. Might be a solid first step. I think of osteoporosis treatment as the long game. There is lots to learn and it can be confusing. Fosomax is often prescribed first but current thinking on treatment with medication says bone builder first...like tymlos, forteo or evenity. Of course I am not a doctor and dont know your medical history. There is lots of wisdom here.

Change drs at once. Evenity is also made by AMGEN who make Prolia. How convenient to have another of their drugs available. And these guys are working for AMGEN. Well done finding that out. We all in the same boat and feel depressed that we have been advised to take drugs that hasn't had long term data. I read that some women have had increased bone density with Prolia. What a joke as l believe those new 'bones' are mere camouflage jobs. I read thar it's like renovating a house, where you cover up the problem but it is still poorly maintained underneath. Same with Prolia bones. That's why you are lucky if you can get an Echolight scan that shows you the quality of the bones. Good luck to all of us.

I feel grateful that these drugs are available to those of us who want to go that route. During my bone journey I've taken fosomax. Forteo, evenity and now Prolia. The "worst" side effect was a bit of gird with fosomax. I didn't want to go the route of my sister in laws mother who was bed ridden and in agony from osteoporosis and no meds available. I recognize that some people have good results from other methods but those were not my path. Good luck to you.

These posts make me so glad I did Forteo. 2 years, nothing extra to navigate. Fosamax afterward.

@gravity3 I agree. I don’t want to have the spinal compressions my mother had in her 80s. I’m 70 and recent Reclast has stopped the yearly decline in bone density that I had. I was resistant to take anything - Fosamax was suggested 15 years ago, but when I hit osteoporosis I finally did something. My numbers are back up into osteopenia. I realize that a biphosphonate is not building bone, but I’m not losing more bone and that’s a plus. Only side effect that I felt was a couple of days of flu-like symptoms. These drugs we take are powerful and cause other effects that I cannot not see. But my mom was in constant pain, most she hid. She tried a variety of pain relievers, kyphoplasty, tens unit, trial implanted nerve blocker, and more. None of them worked. We all just try to do our best in balancing what we hope will be the better outcome.