Hello. Im 43 yrs old. I will start with I have a lot of medical issues and have always been a healthy being from physical labor to foods I ate to exercise. 5'10 120lbs most my life. Had a job doing highway maintenance and a coworker dropped a jackhammer on my head in 99'. Went into landscaping in 2010 and in 2011 woke one morning with what i thought to be a neck cramp sleeping wrong. Nope; herniated disc. Did a cervical fusion at 5/6 february of 2012 and said all looked great healing on xray. Continued to complain of severe pain and weakness. Surgeon kept ignoring it saying its perm nerve damage due to waiting surgery to long. Took a road trip to Florida from Nebraska and back. Both my husband and I having CDL's did the run both ways pretty quick. Big mistake for me. A week later spent 10 days in the hospital with a pulmonary embolism in each lung. Hematologist put me on warfarin indefinately with low dose aspirin for a MTHFR clotting factor. That was the following Sept of 2012. Still continued repeat followups with complaints of pain and weakness. Went to family doc in May 2013 exhausted, fatigued, bones hurt like the flu constantly. My Vit D was at a 7 and min should be 32. Now diagnosed with Vit D deficiency. 5k mg a day plus caltrate D. December 26th 2014 we were hit by a drunk driver. Went to same neurosurgery facility but requested a diff surgeon. After CT scan it showed no bone growth from prior surgery and herniated disc now at 6/7. She was ticked at prior surgeon to not do a CT to check for sure. She did surgery again even with a fatality rate at 70% due to the MTHFR and coming off warfarin and taking lovenox shots in stomach. Cant do ANY lovenox day prior to surgery because causes actual clot in the spine when surgery performed there making risk even higher of fatality. Well she did great. Came out and said the drunk that hit us made me realize pain more so because apparently since no bone grew the screws came loose in the titanium plate and my neck was highly unstable. She didnt use cadaver bone on this one. Ground my hip bone. Actually was the worst pain ever. A year later follow up xray showed bone healing. Vit D at 31 so fam doc ended vit d supplement just continue caltrate d. Another 3 months later still complaining of pain in neck n feels like will collapse forward and choking hard to swallow. Did CT and showed zero bone growth yet AGAIN! WHAT THE HECK?!?! She was asking what im taking. Asked why i stopped Vit D. Was ticked again. Now she sent me to an Endocrinologist. Suspects osteoporosis now. Been on 5k mg Vit D and caltrate 5 months now. Trying to keep bone density up to try surgery one last time. Well went to then again today and now ordered bone density test and says he wishes me to continue Vit D and Caltrate D and now wants to do the Forteo for 2 years then onto the Prolia after that. I will leave reply of this bone density test numbers and after use of each medication to see where exactly if any benefits helped or any side effects. Fingers crossed I live through the next surgery to report about end results but wont be for a while yet. Its necessary to keep my neck from collapsing and severing my spinal chord. Just so everyone is clear why i have to do surgery. Optomistic right? Lol.

Littlebit, did you have a heel or finger scan? My endo says those are essentially worthless, my ob/gyn had put in the finger type equipment for measuring bone density and she was just 'shakin her head, mystified as to why. I wouldn't put much into results you were given if you had other than a Dexa scan. Then a second 12-18 months later so they can compare and see if you are one who just has less dense bones (as you may if Caucasian, small framed, female) or if you are actually losing. Don't panic yet ;) My own doctor not only wanted to begin with the 2 to compare, she wanted them done by the same tech and the same equipment for most accurate comparisons, she doesn't medicate casually.

I was diagnosed two years ago. I had menopause at 39, after chemo, and probably missed out on a good twenty years of estrogen. I have been taking Prolia shots. It's twice a year, no big deal, no side effects for me, and my last bone density scan showed an improvement in the hip and spine, as well as a stable wrist. I can't tolerate calcium or vitamin D supplements. They give me digestive issues, so I am just winging it. My next-door neighbor had those monthly shots for a year (can't recall the name of the drug) and had no issues. But she had her arm just snap one day, with no warning. I think that's why she had to do that. She is on Prolia now. The Prolia is quite expensive, but Medicare covers it. I have to go to a hematologist for the shot, but it's like getting a flu shot, except that it doesn't hurt afterwards at all. I asked the orthopedist who gave me my new hip about the femur fractures, and he said that he had seen it only once in 40 years of practice. Good luck!

Two years ago it was discovered I have osteopenia . Once a month for the 1st year I had Evenity injections. Now its a different name and 2wice a year. DEXA test showed my bones are thicker. Also I took over the counter calcium tabs daily. Doc wants me to double the dosage. I refused to toss half a bottle of calcium so have been taking 2 tabs per evening. I just ran out and will be given RX in Oct when I see Doc again. I'm not real motivated. My legs hurt most days like I have been bike riding too much. Cardiologist says thats a side effect of a med I'm taking but didn't know what one. My dental charts note that I am on bone thickening meds just in case.