Went from a mild Osteopenia DEXA to Osteoporosis in two years

[Anonymous]

Did you do the 24 hour urine collection to measure calcium levels? That might give you more information about cause/course of treatment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a second opinion. Your Dr could just want you to take expensive RX drugs for the kickback they will get from prescribing.

You are unhinged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a second opinion. Your Dr could just want you to take expensive RX drugs for the kickback they will get from prescribing.

Doctors do not get kickbacks for prescribing medications. It is against the code of ethics.

Where’s my kickback???

[Anonymous]

Did you get your Dexa from the same machine as before? I’ve read that each machine is calibrated differently and can potentially give different results. You can try a REMs Echolight scan to compare to your Dexa. Although insurance wouldn’t cover it so you’d have to pay out of pocket.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for all the responses. I am 5’6 and weigh 125 pounds. My weight has been stable for years. I am interested in hearing people’s experiences with specific medications. My body tends to react poorly to trying new medications. For instance, I just had a tetanus shot a normal tetanus shot and I’ve been out of commission for over a week. I’m certainly not opposed to going on medications, but I would just like to hear from people who have been there with this situation. My primary care doctor indicates that there is no real specialist for osteoporosis. She actually encouraged me to just watch it for a year or so I’m not really comfortable doing that now that it’s full-blown osteoporosis. I also had a CTX blood test and the results for that weren’t good either. I am interested in the echo light scan. I can’t seem to find it locally. Any information is appreciated thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try jumping exercises and heavy weights. Even if you go on medication, they may help.

But get your doctor's approval and clearance for any of this before you do it. My mother has very mild osteoporosis (just over the mark from osteopenia) and her doctor told her no jumping -- she is hypermobile and doesn't have great balance, and despite lifting weights is not very strong.

So: she needs to work on balance and build some full body strength and stability, and THEN can work toward small bounces, then hops, and maybe then small jumps while holding on to a bar for stability. Every body is unique.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the responses. I am 5’6 and weigh 125 pounds. My weight has been stable for years. I am interested in hearing people’s experiences with specific medications. My body tends to react poorly to trying new medications. For instance, I just had a tetanus shot a normal tetanus shot and I’ve been out of commission for over a week. I’m certainly not opposed to going on medications, but I would just like to hear from people who have been there with this situation. My primary care doctor indicates that there is no real specialist for osteoporosis. She actually encouraged me to just watch it for a year or so I’m not really comfortable doing that now that it’s full-blown osteoporosis. I also had a CTX blood test and the results for that weren’t good either. I am interested in the echo light scan. I can’t seem to find it locally. Any information is appreciated thank you.

Endocrinologists are experts in metabolism. Osteoporosis is a disease of bone metabolism. Your PCP is not great but you also need to see an endocrinologist who does bone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the responses. I am 5’6 and weigh 125 pounds. My weight has been stable for years. I am interested in hearing people’s experiences with specific medications. My body tends to react poorly to trying new medications. For instance, I just had a tetanus shot a normal tetanus shot and I’ve been out of commission for over a week. I’m certainly not opposed to going on medications, but I would just like to hear from people who have been there with this situation. My primary care doctor indicates that there is no real specialist for osteoporosis. She actually encouraged me to just watch it for a year or so I’m not really comfortable doing that now that it’s full-blown osteoporosis. I also had a CTX blood test and the results for that weren’t good either. I am interested in the echo light scan. I can’t seem to find it locally. Any information is appreciated thank you.

I would get a new doctor.

I have osteoporosis at 51. I had osteopenia for years but my dexa in 2025 showed the progression into osteoporosis and the scans were shared between my primary care and my gyno (who is the one that ordered the annual dexa). Both offices were calling me, very concerned and wanted me to consider seeing a specialist and consider medication. You can see an endochronologist but I had a hard time getting a relatively recent appointment (I have seen the one at medstar but didn't love her, I have heard the one at GW is good). So I was eventually referred to Dr. Andrea Singer at Medstar who works in women's care with a primary emphasis on bone health. She had me do the 24 hr urine collection, blood work, and a spinal X-ray and after that we decided to try 2 years of Tymlos (I am the PP that takes it). I have been on it for a few months. It is a daily injectable you give in your stomach via a pen. It can cause a drop in blood pressure right after the injection, so sometimes I feel light headed for a few minutes afterwards, but otherwise I have had no other side effects. This is a bone building drug, vs bone loss prevention. Dr. Singer's position was that since I haven't finished going through menopause yet, you want to build up as much bone as possible before menopause kicks in (which she defined as when you haven't had a period for 12 consecutive months) where the average woman then may start losing 1-2% a year. Tymlos is only for 2 years. Then it would be possible to switch to something else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try jumping exercises and heavy weights. Even if you go on medication, they may help.

But get your doctor's approval and clearance for any of this before you do it. My mother has very mild osteoporosis (just over the mark from osteopenia) and her doctor told her no jumping -- she is hypermobile and doesn't have great balance, and despite lifting weights is not very strong.

So: she needs to work on balance and build some full body strength and stability, and THEN can work toward small bounces, then hops, and maybe then small jumps while holding on to a bar for stability. Every body is unique.

It is really irresponsible to suggest to anyone that jumping up and down will alleviate osteoporosis (it's like saying aromatherapy cures cancer). Please stop with this nonsense.

[Anonymous]

There are parathyroid conditions that can cause the body to strip out calcium. You should see an endocrinologist.

[Anonymous]

Osteopenia here at 51 so watching closely. My mom had to treat hers (she also slid quickly into perosis) and after 2 years of daily shots her doctor told her, in her mid-70's, that she's got the bones of a 30 year-old. Assuming I'll be following in her footsteps (was already on HRT, lifting heavy and taking calcium and vitamin D)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Osteopenia here at 51 so watching closely. My mom had to treat hers (she also slid quickly into perosis) and after 2 years of daily shots her doctor told her, in her mid-70's, that she's got the bones of a 30 year-old. Assuming I'll be following in her footsteps (was already on HRT, lifting heavy and taking calcium and vitamin D)

what did she treat with?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the responses. I am 5’6 and weigh 125 pounds. My weight has been stable for years. I am interested in hearing people’s experiences with specific medications. My body tends to react poorly to trying new medications. For instance, I just had a tetanus shot a normal tetanus shot and I’ve been out of commission for over a week. I’m certainly not opposed to going on medications, but I would just like to hear from people who have been there with this situation. My primary care doctor indicates that there is no real specialist for osteoporosis. She actually encouraged me to just watch it for a year or so I’m not really comfortable doing that now that it’s full-blown osteoporosis. I also had a CTX blood test and the results for that weren’t good either. I am interested in the echo light scan. I can’t seem to find it locally. Any information is appreciated thank you.

OP, your doctor is giving you good advice. You need to take this slowly and thoroughly investigate treatment options before starting. At your age, you're in this for the long haul and these drugs can have a long term impact on your body.

Did you get your FRAX score? This is most important as it shows the likelihood of you having an osteoporadic fracture in the next 10 years. This can be helpful in making a decision on watchful waiting, which is what many people do.

If your DEXA didn't provide a FRAX score, you can google it to learn how to calculate yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try jumping exercises and heavy weights. Even if you go on medication, they may help.

But get your doctor's approval and clearance for any of this before you do it. My mother has very mild osteoporosis (just over the mark from osteopenia) and her doctor told her no jumping -- she is hypermobile and doesn't have great balance, and despite lifting weights is not very strong.

So: she needs to work on balance and build some full body strength and stability, and THEN can work toward small bounces, then hops, and maybe then small jumps while holding on to a bar for stability. Every body is unique.

It is really irresponsible to suggest to anyone that jumping up and down will alleviate osteoporosis (it's like saying aromatherapy cures cancer). Please stop with this nonsense.

Except that many studies show that high impact jumping exercises does have some positive impact in stimulating bone growth. It's not fake science. Look it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try jumping exercises and heavy weights. Even if you go on medication, they may help.

But get your doctor's approval and clearance for any of this before you do it. My mother has very mild osteoporosis (just over the mark from osteopenia) and her doctor told her no jumping -- she is hypermobile and doesn't have great balance, and despite lifting weights is not very strong.

So: she needs to work on balance and build some full body strength and stability, and THEN can work toward small bounces, then hops, and maybe then small jumps while holding on to a bar for stability. Every body is unique.

It is really irresponsible to suggest to anyone that jumping up and down will alleviate osteoporosis (it's like saying aromatherapy cures cancer). Please stop with this nonsense.

You need closed chain kinectic exercises to build bone.

Why? Jumping is in the scientific literature and is not too much different from the lifting of weights in the LIFTMOR study.

Do more research, PP.