If you don't know, osteoporosis is a disease that involves having a low bone mass and the deterioration of the bone tissue. This leads to your bones over time becoming super delicate and frail and your risk of a fracture increases significantly.
It is truly alarming to be diagnosed with osteoporosis at such a young age. This is a disease that typically strikes when you're in your 50s or older, not when you're in your teens. However, it does happen. And it happened to me because I was engaging in behavior that was affecting my bone mass at such as critical stage in the growing process. Not only was I not allowing my bones to grow properly by eating little and exercising frequently, but I was also partying and drinking a LOT. I was one of those teens who starting drinking at a very young age, and when I drank I had to drink a lot. Not only has drinking to this degree always affected me mentally, but it was doing terrible things to me physically.
What's also alarming is the amount of doctors who do not take this disease in teens seriously enough. After going for my initial bone density scan when I was 15, I found out that I had a mild form of osteoporosis in my spine and hip. As a result, it was essential that I started getting my eating disorder under control, increase my dairy intake and at the very least start taking calcium supplements. It was also recommended that I go and see a pediatrician to further delve into why I had this disease.
I am still bitter about this pediatrician appointment, and it's been 7 years. This doctor had never really heard of somebody my age having osteoporosis. Therefore, all he decided to do was take a scan of my wrist to see if calcium was actively leaching out of my bones. First of all, I did not have osteoporosis in my wrist. So why he did this, I do not know. After examining the scan, he told me that he did not think I had osteoporosis, and that I could slow down on taking calcium supplements, as it wasn't really necessary. He just thought I was still growing, and my bone density would start increasing.
After going through recovery for my eating disorder, I was scheduled for another bone density scan a couple years later. Not only had I completely stopped taking calcium supplements because I was told I didn't have osteoporosis, but I was still drinking quite a bit and never fully ceased my eating disorder behavior. After this appointment, I was told that this disease that was afflicting my bones had gotten significantly worse, and I had moderate to severe osteoporosis in my spine and moderate in my hip. I was FURIOUS. I knew that there was something off about this doctor and was glad I had followed my instinct to not schedule a follow up appointment with him.
Following this scan, I knew I had to make some serious changes. At this point I was 17 and at the risk of being crippled by the time I was in my 40s. My eating disorder behavior had to get fully under control, and I had to make the decision to stop drinking as much as I was. I was getting wasted every time I hung out with my friends on the weekend, and that had to stop. Alcohol does terrible things to your bones, especially when you have issues with them to begin with. I didn't stop drinking right away and I still have times where I let myself have a good time, but by the time I was 20 the amount I drank was split in half. Now, I only have more than a few drinks every few months.
I requested another bone density scan when I was 20, and received good news. My osteoporosis had gotten significantly better. You still have an opportunity in your early 20s to build back almost all of the bone density you lost, and as far as I know I am in a safe range. I can honestly say that knowing I had osteoporosis stopped me from continuing to engage in some seriously harmful behavior, and as terrible as it was, maybe underneath it all it was a good thing.
If you have had a serious eating disorder in your life, it is best to get tested for osteoporosis now. Most people have no symptoms until they fracture a bone. Hip and spinal fracturing can eventually lead to death, so even though it's not always fun to not be able to drink and party as much as I used to, it is 100% necessary.
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