Advice please

Hi, I have seen a consultant, and am taking Alendronic Acid tablets once a week., as she suspects have temporal arteritis. I have mistakenly taken my tablet at teatime? Will I have any adverse effects?

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Just once should be OK I would think - not much you can do anyway is there When did you eat relative to it?

[jinasc]

Why are you taking AA?

There is nothing in your profile, ie when were you diagnosed, what pred started on and what dose now.

Or, have I read it correctly from your post, that you have not yet been diagnosed with either PMR or GCA.

[piglette]

If your consultant suspects temporal arteritis is she doing anything about it like offering you corticosteroids? Why are you taking Alendronic Acid? Have you had a Dexascan to check your bone density?

[Janstr]

Alendronic acid is used to treat osteoporosis & as pred can cause osteoporosis consultants often prescribe it without checking if you really need it. (You need a dexa scan to know this)AA IS most effective on an empty stomach, so taking it at night may mean it’s not as effective. As PMRpro says once should be ok

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Janstr]

As this poster is now Hidden, not sure your response will be seen by them.

[Exflex]

I’m on Risedronate which is similar to AA (+ corticosteroids for PMR, at 3.5mg). Just recently I had a mug of coffee with coffee whitener (god knows what they put in that stuff but it doesn’t half make coffee taste nice 😊). I was aware that Risedronate/AA should be taken on an empty stomach and before other meds, so I read the PIL to understand the effect of what I had done. This sums it up for me... ‘If you accidentally take a double dose of Risedronate/AA immediately drink a glass of milk’ - this presumably neutralises it; eating ‘stuff’ with calcium(?) could have the same effect. On another occasion I took Omeprazole before Risedronate and god that made me feel very strange in the stomach/intestinal department. In future I’ll stick with the recommendations.

[Bcol in reply to Exflex]

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