Should my husband take Alendronic Acid

[Darcra]

Hi, my husband is being advised to go on Alendronic Acid because he has brittle bones and two fractures in his spine. He has stage 4 prostate cancer and also broke his femur last Christmas 2021, his femur has not healed. They are advising him to go on AA because of the breaks and he has brittle bones. We are very worried about the side effects, can anyone advise please.

[Pte82]

Darcra, my mother had similar osteoporosis and broke her right femur when she tried to stand. She was following her doctors order to use calcium and D. I researched for a possible answer although her doctor said she's 83 and can't put bone on. I didn't accept that and learned magnesium is needed to balance calcium and activate vitamin D. In addition bovine bone from New Zeland offered bone building benefits. Looked into boron, silica and calcium hydroxyapatite and started what I hoped was a recovery. I found juggling all these supplements difficult for her and looked for a single product integrating them. I found a New England company called Pioneer Nutritional that had a calcium magnesium product that included the supplements I was giving her. A bone biopsy about a year later showed she was building bone so the doctor was wrong. She lived to age 93 and had no further breaks or fractures. Darcra, in addition to those bone builders research Delta Tpcotrienol for it's ability to build bone. Both boron and Delta Tocotrienol are used for prostate cancer and are effective for spinal fractures. Dr Jorge Felchas MD of North Carolina has a youtube video about boron and mentions how it stops loss of height. Search on"nothing boring about boron" for an overview. Always consult with your health care provider before using any supplement.

[Darcra in reply to Pte82]

Thank you so much for your reply and for all your helpful advice, we will certainly look into all you’ve suggested. It is a mine field isn’t it, my husband is on so many other tablets including chemo tablets for his cancer, which fingers crossed is being held in check. Once again thank you, so kind of you to take the time x

[HeronNS]

Has he been checked for any other conditions which might be causing his bone deterioration? As he has a serious condition they may not be looking beyond that. It's important to rule all other secondary causes out so that any treatment (whether medication, or natural supplements, which I personally favour but I do not have a life-threatening disease) will work.

osteoporosis.ca/medical-con...

[CDreamer]

Hi Darcra and sorry to hear about your husband.

Just wanted to say that I recently started AA and I was also very scared about side effects. I have other conditions and a lot of meds upset me so I was super worried about AA. I have osteoporosis, broke wrist last spring which healed very well but was diagnosed by DEXA. I looked at the supplement route but needed a lot of research and one of the main ingredients is magnesium, which most of us are deficient, and the one ingredient significant in most of the supplements. Magnesium in even tiny, wheeny amounts causes almost paralyses for me so that’s not an option for me.

I’m now into my 4 th month of AA and don’t mess around with the instructions of how to take it ie: take on an empty stomach, with a full glass of water, sitting or standing. I’ve had no problems and I take a bunch of meds which cause gastric problems. It’s inconvenient but I’ve not had side affects. I have a group of friends who also have not had problems, in fact they persuaded me.

I am active and am very interested in nutrition, I couldn’t take a Calcium supplement for other reasons but I ensure I take home made bone broth and VitD with K2, I am very into fermented foods and make my own kefir and sometimes Kumboocha, sauerkraut and sour dough bread and along with a high ratio of plant based foods, my gut health is now the best it’s ever been, as is my husbands’.

My take on AA now is it’s not just about taking the meds - is how & when and what else you do that matters ie: nutrition, sleep, exercise and general quality of life which is important. Please consider what is important now to him. What does he think/want? How come it’s down to you to ask the question? If not AA what?

If there are side affects from AA - you can stop them. There are always risks with meds but also supplements and you both need to look at what both the potential benefits and the risks are and decide

Hope some of that helps.

[Darcra in reply to CDreamer]

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain everything to us, it is mind blowing isn’t it. My husband is also on so many tablets plus chemo tablets for his cancer.We will ask some more questions I’d the consultants but thanks for your help and keep well. X

[Pte82 in reply to CDreamer]

CDreamer, have you researched geranylgeraniol when using alendronic acid?

[CDreamer in reply to Pte82]

No I haven’t- will now you mention it. Thanks👍

[MollyStark]

Hi Darcra, it's not uncommon for cancer patients to be prescribed an osteoporosis treatment, often due to either the cancer treatment causing bone loss or the cancer itself. I would ask for clarification from your husband's consultant, with regard to the cause of the bone thinning/fracture.

[Darcra in reply to MollyStark]

Thank you for your help MollyStark will do x

[Mavary]

Hi. If he has any signs of tummy trouble like heartburn I would ask if he could be given an alternative. I suffer with heartburn and just one of them made me violently sick. My Husband was on them and they didn’t affect him as they don’t many.

[Darcra in reply to Mavary]

Thanks so much Mavary, keep well x

[Hidden]

Please feel free to ring the specialist nurses on the helpline. 0808 800 0035. They also use these bisphosphonates to stop or slow down bone cancers too. Or ring a cancer prostate phone line, to get a full picture of what the drug may be being used for.