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daily injection

Posted , 5 users are following.

annieh56
annieh56

I have been diagnosised with -3 -4 osteoperosis and have mutiple fractures in my spine. I am in constant pain and now I am been put on a daily injection called Forteo. I have been doing alot of interent research on this drug and there are indications on every sight that it can be linked with getting cancer. Can anyone who is or has been on this drug help me out in regards to the effect of this injection.

Anne

1 like, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • Anhaga
    Anhaga annieh56

    Posted

    There do seem to be studies linking some of the OP drugs to cancer, but I believe the incidence is extremely rare.  It's a question of balancing the risks versus the benefits.  As you have compression fractures and suffer pain, you have probably made the right decision to take the drug for a least a certain period of time.  You might be wise to do all the "natural" things to improve your bone health even while taking OP drugs as that will give your body the materials it needs to build healthy bone.  Have you seen an experienced physiotherapist who can give you good pointers on how to protect your spine and exercises to strengthen the supporting muscles?

    If supplements and appropriate careful exercise help you, you may well be able to discontinue the drug sooner rather than later.

    • annieh56
      annieh56 Anhaga

      Posted

      Thank you for replying to my post. I am very anxious on starting these injections due to alot of the stuff I have read on the internet regarding the side effects. No I havnt seen a physiotherapist but I did call one as my OP specialist said that it might be to my advantage to go to yoga classes on a one to one basis. I am having difficulty finding a one to one tutor. What due you meant if i take supplements and appropriate careful exercise? Will I not need the injection if I take supplements?

      Regrds

      Anne

    • Anhaga
      Anhaga annieh56

      Posted

      That is a decision only you can make.  If you had not had any fractures I'd have no hesitation saying you could manage without medication, as it has been proven that diet, supplements and appropriate exercise can improve bone density just like the meds but without any side effects.  But there may well be a place for the meds to help make the bones stronger if you have already had fractures.  I really do not know the answer to that.  It's a question of weighing the risks.  But I can tell you that I have improved my bone density, (despite being on prednisone), and so have several people I know, both personally and on another forum, although they weren't taking steroids as far as I know.  But none of those people had compression fractures in the spine.  There is someone posting on this forum with very bad DXA scan results who has chosen the natural route, but I don't think she has been doing it long enough to have had a followup scan to see if her regimen is working.  This is why I suggest you do the two-pronged approach, don't rely on the med to do it all!

      It was an easy choice for me to make as my t-score was -2. I improved it to -1.6 in one year and am no longer being told I should take OP meds.  I'm not good at math so I have no idea what that means percentagewise but it looks pretty good to me, and I continue with my regimen so I hope things continue to improve.  I will not be eligible for another scan until 2019 at the earliest, however.

      I believe it's important that people on bone meds have a good reading of Vitamin D and calcium in tests so that the medication is properly effective.  Also, although it probably won't be mentioned to you by any of the doctors, please make sure you have a source of Vitamin K2 (K1 easily got from diet, K2 almost certainly will need to be supplemented) and possibly a little extra magnesium, even in the form of an occasional epsom salts bath or footbath.  Those guide calcium into the bones where it belongs.

      Good Luck.

  • Juno-Irl-Dub
    Juno-Irl-Dub annieh56

    Posted

    Hi Annie, please don't be worried about cancer linked with Forteo. In the initial experimental studies with rats, there was indeed an increased incidence of bone cancer. However these rats were given up to 60 times the dose of the drug for all their lives whereas a human being takes it for a small fraction of theirs ie. 2 years. However as a result of these early studies, when the FDA licenced it's use for humans, it was with a  condition that the drug company started a 15 - year follow up study/ survey of any incidence of this cancer in patients using Forteo. 

    The survey (with hundreds of thousands of patients in the US so far) is now in it's 8th. year and has found NO increased incidence of bone cancer above what is found in a normal populaton. A similiar stuvey in Denmark has had the same result.

    Forteo is the only med. so far available that actually builds bone and also helps fractured bones heal. It is also claimed by patients (though the drug company does not claim this) that it also has helped them with the pain associated with fracture.

    I took Forteo for 2 years, had very light side-effects (some nausea, fleeting bone pain, dizziness) which reduced greatly after the first 3 months.  I had t -scores very similiar to yours. My scan after 1 year showed an 11% improvement in bone density. It is most successful with spinal OP as has little effect on hip bones. I am now taking Actonel for a few years.

    Good luck with your treatment.  J

    • annieh56
      annieh56 Juno-Irl-Dub

      Posted

      Thank you for replying to my post. I am very dubious of new drugs but the doctors have tried every drug possible on me and nothing has worked. I start the injections on the 27th March. The more reading I am doing on the internet the more I am been put off using the drug due to the side effects. I have already got COPD and alot of people have written that they have found themselves very short of breath whilst on the injection. As a patient urself did you fid this? It is my spin that has the -4 on my t score.

      Regards

      Anne

    • Juno-Irl-Dub
      Juno-Irl-Dub annieh56

      Posted

      Annie,  No I did not suffer from shortness of breath on Forteo and I do have mild asthma and oocasionally use an inhaler. 

      I'm not too clear what you meant in your last sentence .. . . 

      Finally, if you are reading up on Forteo and it's side- effects etc. do also include internationally accepted reliable sites like -  The Cleveland Clinic, The Mayo Clinic, Harvard Health and the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF), Canada.

      Take care,  J

    • Juno-Irl-Dub
      Juno-Irl-Dub kathleen65757

      Posted

      Hi to you Kathleen also,  I've only been an occasional contributer for the past few months as  family issues have arisen and have kept me preoccupied and worried and I felt I wouldn't be of much help to anyone ellse. My son (31) had a CNS 'episode' which has since cleared up but is still undergoing various tests and scans (MRI, Spinal Tap etc.) to find the cause. No conclusion yet but the best senario is that it is CIS or Clinically Isolated Syndrome (ie one CNS attack and he needs regular monitoring for a few years ).   So fingers crossed for a few weeks.. . . 

      The OP is doing ok, still on the Actonel with no big problems. To be honest I'm not really thinking about myself at all and don't care much. 

      You sound in good positive form Kathleen, as always. Keep it up.

      Thanks for your contact.

      J  x

       

    • kathleen65757
      kathleen65757 Juno-Irl-Dub

      Posted

      Sorry to hear about your son. Our kids and grandkids are our main source of joy or pain. 

      I have decided to celebrate what I have and can do rather than my disabilities and shortcomings because I am too old to allow what I cannot control affect my happiness.

      Hope your son will be fine and hope you pop in here from time to time.

  • mary42336
    mary42336 annieh56

    Posted

    I have osteoporosis of the spine and osteopenia in other areas I am also interested in what other think of the drug.
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