Xgeva...Please tell me what it is like for you to be on Xgeva.

[Darryl]

Please tell me what it is like for you to be on Xgeva. Are the injections painful? Have you stopped taking the injections because of side effects from Xgeva? Whatever you can share from your experience with Xgeva will be helpful. Thanks in advance.

[Miccoman]

I've been on both Prolia and Xgeva since 2015. Do the shots hurt? If the nurse pushes the injection it feels like a burning cigarette pressing on your skin. If she goes slow there isn't any pain. I have found that when asked the nurse will go slowly.

Next you need to keep your calcium levels up and have a talk with your dentist.

Calcium chewies are good (pun intended) and if you like nuts buy raw almonds to munch on. If your cholesterol will handle it, cheese is always good but I can't have it any more. It is very important, and a constant challenge for me, to keep your calcium levels up or they cannot give you the injection.

The one side effect everyone worries about is osteonecrosis of the jaw. ANY oral surgery may cause the bone in your jaw to die. So you have to get your teeth cleaned and if you need a crown, there has to be a very good reason to do a root canal (NOT just because your dentist always does one -- $$$$).

I started on semi-annual Prolia for osteoporosis in 2014 then went to quarterly Xgeva for metastases in 2015 then, after several years, went to semi-annual Xgeva which my research oncologist says is unnecessary and should be Prolia but my local oncologist says he can't prescribe it unless one is a post-menopausal woman. Sigh. Previously, my urologist had no problems with Prolia, so YMMV. Unfortunately I just can't take the urologist any more, no matter how good he is, the combination of Fox News playing in the waiting room and his lack of an indoor voice combined with something weird about his exam room that makes me feel disoriented means I have moved on.

Hope that helps.