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Q: I AM SARTING MY 4TH MONTH ON FORTEO. HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO SEE SIGNIFICANT BONE MASS INCREASE?
Hi Nursingadmin1, welcome and thanks for your question. I took Forteo for 2 years and saw drastic improvements in the first year. My Dr. ordered a bone marker test, and a dxa at 12 months after starting the Forteo, so that's how I found out. Some people won't see the same improvements, since we all react differently to these meds, but hopefully you'll see great improvements.
If you have a bone marker test you can deteremine if the Forteo is working but it won't give you a t-score. As soon as you can have a dxa, you'll find out what your scores are and if you've improved. If your insurance allows dxa's often then you could have it done or wait until they will pay for it to find out.
Here's an article on Bone Markers in case you want to have this test.
Good luck and if you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask.
SORRY TO SAY I SAW NO SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT AFTER 18 MONTHS OF DILIGENT INJECTING. MY ADVICE IS NOT TO WAIT THAT LONG TO GET YOUR FIRST BONE DENSITY.
MINE WENT FROM A -3.4 TO A -3.0. IT WASNT WORTH IT
Hi Judy, I'm so sorry you didn't see greater improvement on Forteo!! Most of us have to wait until our insurance will pay for another dxa, but if a patient can afford to pay out of pocket, then they should consider this. I had bone marker tests done 2 mos after starting Forteo, so that's how I knew it was working and the Dr continued those tests as often as my insurance would pay which was 3 times a year. My first dxa was at 12 mos after starting Forteo and as you know I did really well. Unfortunately, we don't all react to these meds the same way and I'm just heart broken that you didn't do better than you did. However, you still have an increase in score, though I realize it isn't what you expected.
For all those taking this and any other osteo med, please have a bone marker test done within 3 months of starting any treatment so you know what's happening (whether it's working) and hopefully you won't waist a lot of time and money.
I hope you can find something else that will raise your scores higher, hang in there, I'm sure there is something out there that will help.
This is completely inaccurate. First of all, Forteo works differently than any other osteo drug you've ever taken. It is the ONLY med that actually builds bone. It "jacks up" the osteoblasts (what lays down new bone) so quickly that it takes a bit for the remodeling system to mineralize the new bone. There are specific guidelines for a repeat DXA scan, however, most insurance companies aren't inclined to pay for them yearly and the best indication of a bone density increase would be 6 months after taking Forteo for 2 years (as it takes time to mineralize all the new bone). Additionally, there are numerous reports in renowned journals that indicate that bone mineral density (BMD) is far from the only indicator for fracture risk.
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Hi again, one thing I wanted to mention is I could have had improvements in less than 12 months, but my insurance wouldn't pay for the dxa until the 12 month post Forteo, so I didn't find out until then, but the improvement certainly could have taken place in less than 12 months.