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Osteoporosis and being very underweight.
I know that it is common for women with osteoporosis to be underweight, a relationship not fully understood. But I am 4'11" and weigh 82 pounds.
I am wondering whther there are shared experiences of people underweight. Is the "normal" dosage of medications a problem?
In my case I plan to begin taking Forteo. It seems the dosage could be adjusted. But I do not know if there is a need.
I do not see any references to weight when I read studies about level of success and failure and side effects. I wonder if it is even a factor they record.
I would appreciate connecting with others who are underweight and hear your experiences with dosage, side effects, implementation such as injections.
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With your low weight, you might want to consider Tymlos rather than Forteo as you can adjust the dosage with Tymlos. I outweigh you by 18 pounds and the one-size-fits-all medications scare me.
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Hug
2 ReactionsThere are a few literature I read about forteo regarding dose-efficacy response. 20mcg (the dose that’s currently used for treatment) and 40mcg were compared in most studies. 40mcg didn’t appear to result in significant greater response. One literature by Japanese researcher pointed out that they used subjects weighing from 87-180 lb, the variation in weight didn’t appear to affecting end results. A detailed pharmacokinetic report showed weight and injection site affected rate of absorption significantly. There was about 26% reduction of absorption in heavier than lighter subjects. Absorption rate is about 20% slower in thigh vs abdomen injection. The good thing is teriiaratide stays in blood only a few hours so you can stop the med if you can’t tolerate it. My guesstimation is that a light weighted person might experience greater side effects, if any, but can try thigh as injection site. The anticipated bone building results should not vary.
I’m not sure a comparable dose between forteo and tymlos. Hope others can chime in. One can try tymlos at lower dose to start, to reduce side effects, that’s an advantage of tymlos. Id assume eventually you’d have to gradually increase to the desired dose to get maximum anabolic effect.
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Hug
4 ReactionsBtw, forteo dose can’t be adjusted.
Thank you both. I did not know about that difference between those two treatments.
All the information you sent will help me make decisions.
I am impressed by the amount of research you are familiar with.
I just watched a new YouTube video interview of Dr. Keith McCormick with Margie Bissinger. It was released yesterday as a follow-on from the interview he did on osteo meds during the recent Bone Health 2.0 Summit. I'm pretty sure that in this interview he said that the Forteo dose is 20mcg, and that the adjustable Tymlos pen is 20-80 mcg, and he favors Forteo over Tymlos, because it's been around longer, and the low dosage has been proven to be effective. A sort of "less is more" take on the subject regardless of patient size.
Here's the link to the video if anyone is interested:
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2 ReactionsThank you. I was beginning to look into Tymlos because of its adjustability but it looks like the lowest option is equal to Forteo's standard dose.