Actonel

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Hi everyone. To introduce myself I will just say I have so many bone issues. I have been diagnosed with severe osteoarthritis and break very easily. Two months ago broke a shoulder just by placing my hand on the ground. Then had a fall and broke my lumber no. 3. I am as a result in a wheelchair and will have an op this coming Thursday. The rhuemy gave me Actonel that I have been taking once a month for the last six months. Doctors.....professionals have told me several times that this med in five years will have made my bones brittle, so pretty breakable. I have sought out a naturopath doc that I' known for years. He has told me to stp this med now and has give le supplements with a diet. What do you all think of thisActonel??? I can't get over the fact that do scan give us this knowing full well the outcome in five years to come.

Pam

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7 Replies

  • Posted

    Are you sure you have the right diagnosis?  OA is an inflamatory illness - people don't usually break bones that easily with OA, your difficulties seem already to be Osteoarthritis.

    I have severe OA (5 years), but I wouldn't take Actonel.  I try the natural way and the occasional cocodamol when I can't cope.  The pain killers don't get rid of the arthritis but they dull the pain so that I can make it through whatever I am doing.

    • Posted

      Definitely not just OA causing the problems, as you say may be osteoporosis or brittle bone syndrome.  OA is inflammation or loss of cartilage in joints, not the bones themselves becoming brittle or fragile.  If you have fragile bones why would anyone prescribe a medication that exacerbates that?  A few more questions needs answering by your doctor/consultant I think
    • Posted

      Hi Loxie.  I think you meant this post to go to youpicat, didn't you?

      Anyway, how are you doing? What things are still troubling you?  We've been "at it" a long time now, haven't we.  A lot of the 'club members' have disappeared now (hopefully cured)!?!  Lot's joining the club though.😀

    • Posted

      Hi Constance, I clicked reply to you as I was adding to your comment about it being osteoporosis rather than just OA but yes it was for youpicat to see.

      I'm still looking at the grass from above (rather than under it lol).  A bit housebound as getting out and doing anything is just so hard.  Gets frustrating at times but never say never eh.  Watched an interesting TV show last night about medical issues and how to improve them.  One about the body being under stress and over producing cortisol - which I've always thought may be part of my health issues.  Last time I mentioned it to the GP I got a non committal shrug and she just wondered how I knew about the adrenal glands......hopeless.  I am trying to find ways of getting some exercise which doesnt involve using my upper body (due to the ruptured tendons and spine OA) - have got my cycle repaired and will try to get out on that once or twice a week - even if only around 'the block' just to get out of the house.  I'm gradually changing my diet and adding in foods which have anti inflammatory properties or are good for microbiomes, hopefully that will help both the pain and the insulin levels.  How to stop myself getting stressed and frustrated is my next challenge, oh well onwards and upwards.

    • Posted

      I think your last sentence says it all!  Most sufferers (I mean in ALL chronic illnesses) get stressed and frustrated but the doctors don't treat those things.  "Take this pill, perhaps that will help" - in other words "no idea how to deal with this" or "most people's pain is in their head" (till they suffer themselves)!

    • Posted

      So very true constance.  I was watching a documentary on tv the other night about a lady who, subsequent to a car accident, had spent 14 years suffering from horrendous and truly unbearingly painful muscle spasms.  Mostly her GP's had just thrown anti depressants or tranquilisers at her and she was on a cocktail of seriously high doses of things likes diazepam, morphine, etc etc., but no real acknowledgement of her having an  underlying cause.  There is a syndrome called Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS) for which there are treatments available but doctors consistently refused to accept she had it and she was only offered the most basic of tests.  The programme followed her when she went to Oxford for most advanced testing and whilst there she had a severe onset of spasms, almost life threatening in their intensity.  The medical staff were fairly obviously of the view that if she just calmed down it would stop - when she spoke to the camera she tried to explain she had absolutely no control over these attacks and the pain was off the scale, causing her body and particularly heart, to suffer intense stress. It was heart warming to see that at last she was seeing the right consultants and getting access to tests she should have but the overriding impression was that the majority of doctors dealing with her were of the opinion it was psychosomatic - ie all in her head.  Before the onset of her problems, she had been energetic, healthy, lively and a very positive person.  Why is it that anything the medical profession dont understand (yet) is always either ignored or blamed on the patient being neurotic??  I dont understand lots of things in life but that doesnt mean they dont exist!

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