I’ve seen three doctors for my osteoporosis, all rheumatologists.
The first two were in an osteoporosis clinic in a tertiary hospital/teaching center. This was not in a major metro area, so I didn’t have much choice in doctors. When I moved to a different city, I was referred to a rheumatologist. I’m very happy with her, partly because she’s my age and has osteoporosis herself.
I got a lot of info from the forums at the National Osteoporosis Foundation. My one caveat is that there are a lot of frail posters there who have advanced osteoporosis, who have had fractures. I find the advice is sometimes too cautious – people are afraid to twist, run, jump.
It is important to look for the causes. Once you hook up with a specialist, you’ll be given a bunch of tests – they’ll draw more than a dozen vials of blood, have you do a 24-hour urine test, etc. My GP was convinced that I had hyperparathyroidism, so I had even more blood tests and saw another specialist. But that wasn’t the cause for me.
I took Boniva for about a year, and was fine until I started having incredibly bad heartburn so stopped taking it. My numbers did improve slightly, but I don’t want to take it again. My current rheumatologist doesn’t want me taking any drugs now. There is a five-year limit on taking any osteoporosis drugs (or two years with the one MoWC takes), and she would rather I take the drugs when I’m older. Just because you have osteoporosis does not mean that your bones are going to be breaking all the time. Two of my doctors told me that I probably have always had a low bone density, so comparing my scores to “normal” is meaningless. I’ve had some pretty bad falls in my life, including at least two since I was diagnosed, and didn’t have any fractures. Blankmind – if my doctor treated me the way your doctor did, I wouldn’t be too happy, especially knowing what I know about this condition.
I lift weights, run and walk a lot, take calcium and vitamin D supplements. I work hard to get calcium in my diet (for example, Trader Joe’s has a calcium-fortified oatmeal). It’s really important to spread out your calcium intake, because your body can’t absorb a lot at once. The National Osteoporosis Forums were really helpful in guiding me toward the best type of supplements to take.