Alendronic Acid and side effects - useful reading

how did you get on with your new medication please? Did it help.

? Hello I have just been diagnosed with Osteoporosis at the age of 55. I think it may be related to early menopause. I was diagnosed after having  a broken hip beg of March and fractured femur in July. I had a DEXA scan which resulted in my diagnosis. I have been prescribed Alendronic Acid (2wks ago). Since then I have had aching bones which I can only describe as a sort of vibration/shaking and an awful anxiety feeling in my stomache. I feel fatigued, and generally lethargic. Is this how you were on this medication? 

Hi barbs2607, I see you had problems after just 1 tablet.please help, my husband ( a previously very fit, active, healthy 59yr old) took just 1 dose of 70mg alendronic acid and 15hrs later suddenly developed such severe back muscle pain and spasms that he collapsed screaming and crying in pain. Paramedic said he had seen 1 case of same reaction in 5 years.Completely incapacitated and bed bound for 3 days on tramadol and diazepam before able to begin mobilising with crutches.  Now day 6 feels so unwell he is in despair and feels that his life has been ruined by this drug! I have since found so many terrifying stories about the effects of this drug, how can the GP say it's unuusual/rare whilst agreeing that there can be no other cause for my husbands conditon

Is there anything he can do to remove this poison and it's effects from his system? 

Did you get over the effects? how long did it take?

Desperate

Hi Barbs2607

Well after reading your story, it iwas very similar to my own experience. I took one tablet last Sunday. The aftermath being, I have never felt so ill and strange with dreadful nausea and pains everywhere. Needless to say I will not be taking any more. My GP who prescribed them played down the side effects. After reading what they can be, I was amazed I was prescribed them in the first place. I have acid reflux, a hiatus hernia and gastritis in my stomach. This was recently highlighted by a recent gastrostopy. When I went back to the doctors, I told him I wasnt taking them, he didnt try to persuade me otherwise. I have decided to see a homeopathic doctor for the treatment of my osteoporosis. I still feel nauseous, I am wondering how long it will be before I feel myself again. How long did it take you to get the drug out of your system. I feel very annoyed.

Evening Sarah,

Having only taken one of the little beggars, then doing an in depth internet research must admit to going into panic mode! I then went into overdrive with fluids. Water/rooibos/green tea. After a couple of days I was back to normal with the usual gardening/walking. Thankfully I only have a thyroid problem (30 years since diagnosis with a partial thyroidectomy), yet am ever aware of the nonsense with calcium being leeched because of this.

So the Doc prescribes D3 and calcium carbonate (blackboard chalk I think would be better for blackboards!). No sorry, I want Calcium citrate.

Not possible. NICE, who evidently are not.

I also wanted magnesium (this sloughs the dead cells away); nope NICE do not recommend. My Polish pharmarcist tells me their government makes it mandatory in their diet! So for the last few years I have bought it

from my local independant health store.

Sorry to hear of your problems Sarah. I am ever thankful for the internet to assist us in making an informed choice on how to deal with various health issues.

kind regards, Barbs

 

I would be SO interested in what your homeopathic doctor thinks. Presently I'm trying the alkhaline diet way.

B x

Hello Barb

I realise this reply is a bit out of date, but I did wonder what your symptoms were. After taking one dose one of my legs collapsed with spasms like electric shocks running through it. Today, after 4 doses, my feet are numb. Did you have anything similar? Denise

Evening Denise,

No symptoms as I chose not to take the alendronic acid tablets prescribed by my G.P. here in the U.K. Still taking the magnesium and D3. I'm getting on with life, being positive, eating well (as normal) a daily glass of red wine and plenty of energy. Some days feeling "creaky", guess it's the wretched weather here! I'm aware that osteoporosis is not a disease but just a condition.

Kind regards, Barbs

Dear Barbs

So great to hear this. I will never take one of these evil pills again but do as you are doing and get on with my life. Nor am I ever going to read another forum and frighten myself half to death! Yesterday was the worst day ever but I have the whole family coming today for Christmas, so I'm looking forwards and up, osteoporosis nothwithstanding. Good luck to you Barbs. I'm in England too. Happy Christmas! Denise.

Morning Denise,

Onwards and upwards eh! Forums do have their place in assisting us to make informed choices to check elsewhere on a particular problem that "niggles" us! At the end of the day, we are guided by how we ourselves feel.

Have a lovely Christmas with your family and a Happy Healthy 2017.

regards, Barbs

 

Hi barbs2607, 

Like you, at sixty I was slim, fit and walked my dogs several miles every day. I'm now 68, but was probably around 58 when I was diagnosed with osteopaenia, which several years later became osteoporosis. I was prescribed CalciD and alendronic acid from the beginning but after reading a lot on the subject, decided NEVER to take it! I have Crohn's Disease as well, and think I have quite enough inflammatory bowel problems without exacerbating the problem. My dentist also advised me not to take it! Strangely , I've had a couple of really bad falls but nothing has broken! At that time I was getting dreadful backaches and when I finally persuaded my doctor to refer me to a rheumatologist it transpired I had degenerative disc disorder. After another couple of years I was told they wouldn't operate on my back as my hips were both in a bad state and needed replacing. Cue another long wait until last June I had the first hip replaced, having been told they'd do the second after six months. I saw the consultant in October and was told the hip was so bad it had to be done very soon. Still waiting despite several enquiries because the hospitals are taking emergencies only! 

After the hip replacement the hospital told my doctor to put me on alendronic acid, but I told him my objections and he conceded that if my osteoporosis score were slightly worse, he'd insist, but as I felt as I did, I could leave it. Another doctor from the practice is now insisting I take it, which I'm really unhappy about. Has it now come to the point when we HAVE to do as we're told? 

So, couple of questions if anyone knows, a) is there any way anyone could tell whether or not one WAS taking it? b) is there any otther treatment besides calcium, magnesium, etc, for osteoporosis? This alendronic acid seems to be quite an old treatment, surely new things must be coming on the market! c) as ammunition when you mentioned that these tablets contain the same compounds as 'industrial cleaners', what are they?

d) does ANYONE have anything GOOD to say about these tabs, because if they do, I can't find it!

There are newer treatments, at least some of which are even more toxic to the body than AA.  I was diagnosed with osteopenia and told, because I take prednisone for polymyalgia, that I should take AA.  I refused, and started a strict regimen of daily walking, learning tai chi and Nordic walking, using a weighted walking vest, as well as carrying on with exercises for my back, and some yoga I'd done for many years.  I also made sure I was getting enough of the right nutrition, including adding a Vitamin K2 supplement (not K1 which we get from our leafy greens).  K2 makes sure calcium goes into the bones where it belongs.  A subsequent DXA scan a year later showed that my t-score improved from -2 to -1.6 and they no longer recomment medication!  This in spite of the fact that for over half that year my pred dose was still at a level high enough to have an effect on the bones.  So yes you can manage without the medication and my personal feeling is even people who opt for the meds should also do everything they can to strengthen their bones naturally.  AA and its ilk do not strengthen the bones.  They may make them more "dense" but they can also become quite brittle as new bone is laid over an old matrix.  I'd steer clear of anything which interfered with normal bone remodelling.

Of course you can refuse any medication the doctors try to push on you.  It's your body, you are an adult and free to choose what to do.  If you google combination of micronutrients for bone you will find a study which showed that micronutrients can contribute to improving bone health.  

Thank you for the reply. Yes, that is exactly what I and my dentist are worried abour, the fact that AA effectively stops new bone being laid down. I believe I already have some K1 so will look into K2. I'm on azathioprine at the moment and have been for around four years, an immune suppressant which I also do not like taking as that exacerbates osteoporosis. Problem is, I can't really exercise while waiting for the second hip replacement, however I do find it odd that I did have a couple of bad falls, (tripping over big dogs), and nothing broke. I once read somewhere there are actually several different types of primary osteoporosis. Lord, how did our gt gt grandparents manage without all these preventative measures? Again, thank you!

You may find there are things you can do to stress your muscles, which will help your bones, while you wait for the hip replacement.  Apparently strengthening the muscles has a small effect on bone health as stron muscles pull harder on the bones, or something like that.... There is someone posting on here who does some kind of pool exercises which, unlike swimming, help strengthen bones.

Re the teeth - my teeth became super sensitive whem I was on my highest dose of prednisone (never more than 15 mg) and I also felt like my teeth were moving.  I asked about this but was told it was just something which happened with age.    Then as my dose reduced and I carried on with my bone-building regimen I found my teeth becoming less sensitive - still using same kind of toothpaste - and I don't feel like they are getting more crooked anymore.  

Excellent. I'll try to find the post about pool exercise. Very helpful, thanks! 😀

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/how-is-everyone-going-with-their-osteoporosis--491779

Got it! Thanks!