Fosavance

[Alinek]

Hi there I have started Fosavance about 3 weeks ago due to my limit in osteopenia to osteoporosis. So basically I have taken so far 2 pills by now. I'm starting to feel joints pain in my fingers and my knee. Should I consider stopping it?

[HeronNS]

That depends on a number of factors. First of all you should probably talk to the osteoporosis organization, I'm sure someone will be along soon to give you the link. But what exactly are your t-scores? If you have only just moved above 2.5, the rather randomly selected border between low bone mass (osteopenia) and osteoporosis, you would probably be very safe giving up the medication as long as you are able and willing to work fairly hard (until it becomes second nature) to eat a bone healthy diet, take a few supplements, and get as much appropriate exercise as you can manage. Studies have shown, and some of us on this and other forums have first hand experience, that this regimen can improve bone density. And the only side effect is improved general health!

[WaryMary in reply to HeronNS]

Interesting. What is 'bone healthy diet'? Nobody has actually suggested anything like this to me before.

[HeronNS in reply to WaryMary]

Hi Warymary. I guess basically a healthy diet, low in refined carbs especially sugar, and including a lot of the leafy greens with bioavailable calcium, like kale, broccoli, collards. Plain milk is often touted as a superfood but it isn't really, not for adults. We do better with milk in a fermented form, like yogurt, kefir, some cheeses. There are some micronutrients which are best obtained through diet, not supplements, and most of those will be available in a balanced diet. Vitamin K2 is usually an exception these days because of the way our food is produced, so along with Vitamin D3 and perhaps calcium it's something you should consider supplementing. Small amounts are available in fermented vegetables (in fact the source for the supplements is a fermented soy called natto) and apparently we can make small quantities in our gut, but not nearly enough. It's needed to balance the calcium and vitamin D we are taking, as it, along with magnesium, is the substance which guides calcium into the bones where it belongs, preventing it from settling into organs and on the walls of blood vessels where it causes harm. With extra calcium we also need to make sure we have adequate magnesium, to maintain the balance between those two elements.

[Hidden]

There are so many medications that try to keep you from losing bone matter quicker than your body is replacing it with new bone matter. So it is difficult to answer your question. Think this may be a need to contact your prescribing doctor.

Best wishes to you and I hope this is a momentary passing side effect.

[Kaarina]

Hi Alinek

Is this the medication you take once a week? Anyway, if it was me, I would stop taking the medication if I was starting to feel joint pain. The reason being that I suffer joint pain anyway so would not be prepared to add any more to the mix.

Call the helplines at NOS. You can have a chat with a nurse there. I have not used this service but heard it is excellent and a great help to those that have called in.

National Osteoporosis Society

0808 800 0035

Free osteoporosis helpline - closes at 5.00 pm today

Do let us know how you go on.

[seaholme]

I would suggest that you stop taking the medication if you are having joint pain, this happened to me and I soldiered on for six weeks, now have a once a month medication (bisphosphonate) which apart from having a bad headache and feeling bloated for a few days has not given me the neck/shoulder bone and muscle pain I had previously. Despite that, supplements, bone friendly diet and exercise are vital to managing this condition. Contacting the National OP Society is good advice. kind regards

[Kaarina in reply to seaholme]

I really do agree with you, seeholme, regarding stopping the medication if you are having the side effect of joint pain. It is a side effect one can do without and it can unfortunately linger for a while, or so I read from other members postings on OP forums.

[seaholme in reply to Kaarina]

thanks Kaarina, although I seem to have found a bisphosphonate that initially appears to be OK I still have reservations about taking it, the more you read it up the more doubtful you become, if my Dexa scan wasn't so high I would be going along the natural route but I'm hopeful that combining the two will prove successful, kind regards

[HeronNS in reply to seaholme]

It seems that one of the problems with the drug itself (not the side effects which have to be dealt with as a separate issue) is that people are on them too long. Increasingly it's thought that after perhaps two years the problems begin to overtake the benefits so probably they should only be used as last resort intervention to help while one gets the bone building diet and exercise up and running. I do appreciate that there are different issues for individuals and my global statement won't apply to everyone.

[brunobozo in reply to seaholme]

very wise to go the natural route i went of the forsavance tablets because of server bone and muscle debilitating pain

[Kathleen22]

Unless you have severe osteoporosis which sounds like you don’t the drugs path is wrought with problems. You can’t just come off them once you have been on them on them for a year or two. All that HeronNS says is true so go that way to avoid worse problems than having a bit of bone loss. If you are tiny then you won’t have 100% bone mass anyway. Unfortunately, there is no safe drug for osteoporosis yet.

[brunobozo]

i have been on this medication and i had server bone and muscle pain I had no option but to come off the medication it has taken a few years to loose the pain I would not take this medication again unless you are very bad and really need this medication I would advise the diet route