Osteoporosis - 44yo male - injections?

Posted , 2 users are following.

Hi everyone,

just came back from the doctor yesterday with a suprising osteoporosis diagnosis.

Earlier this year in march i had a fall from my push bike and fractured my t4 & t5 left ribs. I was riding down a cement path whilst standing on my bike, tried to slide around a corner and ended up going over my handlebars, then landing on the cement with my elbow between the cement and my ribs. At that point the doctor thought the fracture was normal considering the impact.

Then in june I landed on the side of a bed frame and hurt my right side ribs, the xray showed no fracture (though the doctor said there was still possiblity that the xray did not see it), emergency doctor said it was likely a rib sprain but said I should probably consider getting a bone density test in the near future.

My doctor was hesitant to allow the test, but did it anyway after seeing how keen i was.

My doctor gave me the test result yesterday, said I have osteoporosis and I can fix it by taking a simple injection every six months. He has also ordered blood tests to find out if there is an underlying cause for the low bone density.

my test results were:

...

ap spine l2tol4 - t score: -2.0, z score: -2.6

left femur neck - t score: -0.9, z score: -1.0

left femur total - t score: -1.2, z score: -1.4

ap spine (l2-l4) and femur (total) are in the osteopenic range

The test result says z score is preferred for men under 50

...

I contacted my sister last night and she said I should get tested for coeliac asap as she is coeliac and it can lead to osteoporosis if untreated. So, I'll get the doctor to test for that also.

For the past 20 years i've had back problems, slipped disks, etc. my physio and doctor thought it was all because of a fall I had from a horse at age 14. I also had a mri several years ago and the doctor noted compression in a spine bone, but also thought it was probably from the horse fall at 14. The back problems seemed less in the last several years though.

I read up about the injections and i think the injections the doctor is talking about are prolia. Reading the side effects absolutely scared the crap out of me.

I'm an active father with four kids at home and one on the way.

Looking for any advice possible, like to avoid the injections if possible.

Thank you in advance for any advice, really appreciate any help.

0 likes, 1 reply

1 Reply

  • Posted

    Whatever you do, don't accept any osteoporosis medication, especially not prolia! With numbers like that you have only one reading in the OP range, the rest are not. -2.5 is the line. It is possible to reverse osteopenia and even osteoporosis through exercise and appropriate nutrition and a few supplements. I advise you get some Vitamin K2 (not K1) right away and start taking that. Presumably you already have advice about calcium and D.

    Your doctor needs to run tests to rule out "Secondary Causes of Osteoporosis". I can't post links here, but you can google it. The Canadian osteoporosis site has quite a good section on that. For one example, problems with the parathyroid glands (nothing to do with thyroid) can cause too much calcium to be withdrawn from bones and until that issue is sorted no medication or other treatment will help.

    If you google HealthUnlocked my osteoporosis journey you will find my account with a lot more information. You will also find a couple of active osteoporosis communities in that forum.

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.