I am 76 and they have been pushing osteoporosis medication on me since 2008 and I have always resisted because of the horror stories I continue to hear about the side effects and that you have to stop after 3-5 years and take another kind and if you stop altogether you will actually get fracture falls caused by stopping the medication. HOWEVER, here are my latest scores and if I could better understand what the Z scores mean, I could decide (my appointment with the doctor is Oct 2nd) if my condition is really all that bad and therefore warrant medication. The second set of numbers are T scores; the last set is Z scores. My question: I know the definition of Z scores but are these specific Z scores terrible? The last one is my wrist.
REPORT: BMD (gm/cm sq.) T-Score Z-Score
L Spine (L1-4): 0.991 -1.6 0.1
Right Femoral Neck: 0.665 -2.7 -0.7
Right Total Femoral: 0.664 -2.7 -0.9
Left Femoral Neck: 0.650 -2.8 -0.8
Left Total Femoral: 0.658 -2.8 -1.0
Femoral Neck Mean: 0.657 -2.7 -0.8
Total Femoral Mean: 0.661 -2.8 -0.9
Left radius one third site 0.457 -3.6 -1.2
Thanks to anyone who can help me know if these scores warrant medication! I fear that the doctors are keen to push the medication on us regardless . . .