Hi all. My mum has been prescribed Teriparatide and has been taking it for around 9 months as her T score was -3.5 but hard to read dexa due to hip replacement and 3 spinal fractures, but given due to spinal fractures. My belief now is that these were from a car accident she had rather than compression fractures like they believe.
Over the past 9 months, due to her more or less refusal to move more than going to the loo, her strength and ability to walk safely has declined completely and she has fallen many, many times since just before she started taking it and has thank fully not broken anything (sometimes falling onto tiled floors or onto her walker). She is with me again as after the last fall she cannot do stairs until her bruised coccyx heals a bit.
I have spoken with her (we are unsure if there are memory issues and are waiting for an MRI) and we will progress onto daily exercises (fall clinic) until Jan to improve her strength / balance once she has healed a bit.
Part of her issue is that she is constantly tired / exhausted and her days are often only around 6 hrs awake, so it’s really quite hard to fit enough food and exercise in. She is on no medication other than Teriparatide (no other side effects), I have read that confusion and fatigue may be side effects, has anyone experienced these? I am wondering if it could be this that is causing the fatigue and whether I could ask for a medication break to see. As her quality of life at the moment isn’t great due to constant exhaustion.
many thanks in advance
Written by
ChocolateFlowers
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Has your Mum talked to her doctor about how she's feeling since starting the teriparatide? Tiredness, low energy and depression (among many others) are mentioned on the patient information leaflet as common side effects, with tiredness/low energy in some cases being a sign of low blood calcium. Has her doctor been monitoring her blood calcium? The leaflet says to talk to your doctor if you get any of the side effects. Here's a link to the leaflet: medicines.org.uk/emc/files/...
Thank you. I think they monitor bloods yearly and she hasn’t been on it quite a year. We have an appointment tomorrow with some people that would be able to check so I will ask. I’m not sure if it is that, I just think it’s all at a similar time. She had mentioned repeatedly to her GP that she was tired all the time but so far nothing has been done. It is something else I will be mentioning tomorrow
Hello I completed a two year course of Teriparatide in the summer. I had a blood test before commencing treatment then blood tests every 6 months. After the second blood test I was told to stop taking the calcium supplement as it was causing too much calcium in my blood. I had been feeling very tired and tiredness is apparently one of the side effects of elevated blood calcium levels. I had another blood test after stopping the calcium supplement some weeks later which showed blood calcium was back within range. I have not taken calcium supplement since just D3. I’m surprised your mum has not had a blood test to check all her markers are in range.
I do hope she makes progress and you get the required support.
I'm a lot younger than your mum, have been on teriparatide for 15 months and feel increasingly tired, the tiredness accompanied by a dizziness/muggy-headedness which makes me link it to the drug. I was recently tested for anaemia, as that can also be a side-effect, but that result was negative. It is a very powerful drug and I wonder about a build-up over time, although it is presumably not in your system for long if uou have to inject every day??Do persist, as it's easy for medics to put things down to ageing, and all the best with your mother.
Thank you. I’ll wait to see the results from todays blood test then hound the doctor more
Ideally I’d like to see what she is like not using it, as that’s the only way to test and in some ways I’m not sure she needs it considering the severity of her many recent falls and nothing has broken (I can’t see that Teriparatide has prevented all these as she was falling as she started taking it) and I definitely do not want her to follow with demosub. Next stop rems scan I think
Another fact I've only just learnt (and not from my rheumatologist ) is that teriparatide apparently only works on the spine, so would make no difference to hip fractures anyway!
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Teriparatide - what to do next?
Has anyone been on Prolia since they were in their 50s or early 60s and stayed on it long term?
