Osteoporosis injections

[Healthworrier]

Am weighing up options for treatment for osteoporosis. All medications look pretty dire. As far as I can make out possibly the lesser of the evils is annual or three monthly injections zolandric acid or ibandrate. Has any one experience of these. I would only want to use them until I am off pred. Any advice gratefully received. I have 3.4 in wrist and currently on 9mg pred. Many thanks. 😊

[MhairiP]

There are lots of things to consider with these meds, aren't there?! Have you had a scan? When you say you "have 3.4 in wrist" - is that a T-score? and is it negative?

I (very reluctantly!) take alendronic acid - I wasn't offered injections but wouldn't have been keen on them anyway because if they didn't agree with me, I'd be stuck with their side-effects for months (mind you, you could say the same about AA!).

[Marijo1951]

You have to make your own decision, but for my part I've decided to have nothing to do with bisphosphonates. I reacted very badly to allendronic acid - it felt as if I'd swallowed nitric acid! I was offered risedronate sodium as an alternative and tried it once. I have to admit it didn't have the same terrible effects. However I'm very concerned about what I've read about these drugs so, rightly or wrongly, I've made my decision.

[Longtimer in reply to Marijo1951]

Me too......

[Marilyn1959]

I am having same dilemma. Rheumy wants me to have annual injection. He says side effects are less than with tablets. My concern though is it can cause osteocronosis of the jaw since I had an operation on my jaw as it was crumbling seven years ago. Plus your teeth need to be pristine. This means I would have to have my remaining teeth out.

I have asked for DX scan to compare t scores before I go ahead. It will be several months before I have it since I'd have to sort dental work first, but I am concerned re state of bones.

Let me know what you decide and how it goes for you.

[Hidden]

Hi

I’ve had Alendronic Acid but that was stopped while l was treated for Breast Cancer.

However, due to the type of BC l had, l was started on Zolendronic Acid Infusions two per year for three years.

It was totally unremarkable & l had no side effects from it at all. My latest Scan was Normal.

I know l took it for a different reason but there were no issues.

MrsN

[Healthworrier in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for your reply. 😊

[HeronNS]

I attended a bones workshop at my hospital when I was diagnosed with "low bone mass". One thing we learned was they did not count small bones like fingers and wrists when evaluating risks because those bones are small. In fact it's the femoral neck which is the key bone they use when evaluating fracture risk and need for medication. If your hip measurement is better than the wrist I think you could safely consider whether the recommendation for medication at this time is really necessary. You may well be able to improve your bone density through natural means - more and more people are successfully going this route.

I also follow the bones forum on this site and I have to say the horror stories regarding bone meds of all kinds are piling up. It's quite alarming.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Just occured to me - what test was used to measure your wrist? My dexascan results are for hip and spine. Wrist is sometimes done with a different test - one which is very unreliable. It really should be a proper dexascan.

[Healthworrier in reply to PMRpro]

Yes I have been thinking just that. Am seeing a consultant privately tomorrow and will see if I can get a scan done of hips before I commit to any treatment. My gp won't send me for one. Just hope it's not too costly.

[Janstr]

I decided not to have the injections as know two people who had some nasty side effects from them. So I opted for the weekly AA tablet which can be stopped if necesssary

[PMR2011]

I was on Prednisone for 8 years for both PMR then later GCA. I chose to not take meds. Kept active (7500 steps a day by Fitbit), calcium with magnesium, D3, K2. Attention to diet. T-scores dipped slightly when I was on higher doses of Pred (40mg) then rose again to baseline once I was below 10mg. I’m in osteopenia range. Which is normal for my age. I also found that focusing on bone health helped me feel more in control of my diseases which helped my overall outlook!

[pugrescue]

dx with GCA 6 wks ago, had the Alendronic Acid annual infusion last wk, and no side effects of any kind. Took 1/2 hr, see how the scan reads before the next one is due. Rheumy wanted it done stat as 20% of the pred related bone loss can happen in the first 3 months....wait time for dexx scan here is nearly 6 months.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to pugrescue]

I had my first dexascan about 3 months after I started pred - and my t-scores were better than -1.3. There are others on the forum whose bone density remained good for the entire time they were on pred - for some 5 years and for GCA. It is not inevitable.

[pugrescue in reply to PMRpro]

You are certainly the pro here, I am just a rookie. I think what happened with me, 67 yr old who had not even visited a dr. in more than 30 yrs...started horrific headaches, to the point that I was screaming all night, could not lay down for 2 months, couldn't open my jaw to eat, thought I would get over it on my own, and when finally saw a dr. CRP 110 and ESR 78.....learned about GCA in a hurry, and scared me senseless. So till I get on a bit more of an even keel, was willing to take advice, knowing me, that won't last too long LOL . Have read everything I can get my hands on, and appreciate any help and advice available.

[sennetta]

I would recommend that before you agree to any meds for osteoporosis that you read this book...

amazon.co.uk/Your-Bones-Pre...

[oiseau222]

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