eve_hmmkr
11-09-2004, 04:37 PM
Recently, I was diagnosed with advanced osteoporosis, equivalent to that of an 80-90 year old woman. A devastating, traumatic experience (as served up for me by the doctors, technicans etc involved), considering that I live on the healthiest diet possible, do yoga every day, walk or run miles daily, bike upto 60 miles regularly during the summer and even lift some weight..
I only took FOSAMAX for 6 days, when a protrusion began to develop on my left EYE! I stopped immediately. The doctor at the clinic wasn't much of a help, so I started looking for answers on my own. Sure enough, there were several similar complaints on the web, even on this board...
Then I began searching relevant literature and bumped into a book that gave me all the answers to my worries... Just read Gillian Sanson's THE MYTH OF OSTEOPOROSIS (What Every Woman Should Know About Creating Bone Health) - 2003 Edition. You will never touch FOSAMAX, or other "medications" - in fact, you might do as I and stop looking for help and cure from doctors...
....
Reading all the mesages on this board, I realized that I must highlight some of the information in this book to help others decide to get a copy asap. It could greatly benefit most posters - and, stop them from worrying about their bone density! -if they too had a chance to read "The Myth of Osteoporosis". In this book the author provides positive steps women can take to create optimal bone health (via exercise and lifestyle changes)while correcting the many misconceptions surrounding osteoporosis, including:
* the myth that osteoporosis is THE (deadly) cause of fractures in the elderly,
* the myth that the diagnosis of osteoporosis as a measure of low bone density is accurate, valid and reliable,
* the myth that osteoporosis can be safely prevented and treated with drugs,
* the myth that taking drugs to increase bone density necessarily decreases the chances of fracture,
* the myth that high calcium and dairy intake prevents osteoporosis.
As P. Douglas D.D. says in the Preface, "By exposing the myths..., Gill Sanson has set women free from vorrying about bone loss. She has provided them with invaluable knowledge to maintain their health..."
I only took FOSAMAX for 6 days, when a protrusion began to develop on my left EYE! I stopped immediately. The doctor at the clinic wasn't much of a help, so I started looking for answers on my own. Sure enough, there were several similar complaints on the web, even on this board...
Then I began searching relevant literature and bumped into a book that gave me all the answers to my worries... Just read Gillian Sanson's THE MYTH OF OSTEOPOROSIS (What Every Woman Should Know About Creating Bone Health) - 2003 Edition. You will never touch FOSAMAX, or other "medications" - in fact, you might do as I and stop looking for help and cure from doctors...
....
Reading all the mesages on this board, I realized that I must highlight some of the information in this book to help others decide to get a copy asap. It could greatly benefit most posters - and, stop them from worrying about their bone density! -if they too had a chance to read "The Myth of Osteoporosis". In this book the author provides positive steps women can take to create optimal bone health (via exercise and lifestyle changes)while correcting the many misconceptions surrounding osteoporosis, including:
* the myth that osteoporosis is THE (deadly) cause of fractures in the elderly,
* the myth that the diagnosis of osteoporosis as a measure of low bone density is accurate, valid and reliable,
* the myth that osteoporosis can be safely prevented and treated with drugs,
* the myth that taking drugs to increase bone density necessarily decreases the chances of fracture,
* the myth that high calcium and dairy intake prevents osteoporosis.
As P. Douglas D.D. says in the Preface, "By exposing the myths..., Gill Sanson has set women free from vorrying about bone loss. She has provided them with invaluable knowledge to maintain their health..."
Sponsor
peregrine
11-10-2004, 07:39 AM
Recently, I was diagnosed with advanced osteoporosis, equivalent to that of an 80-90 year old woman. A devastating, traumatic experience (as served up for me by the doctors, technicans etc involved), considering that I live on the healthiest diet possible, do yoga every day, walk or run miles daily, bike upto 60 miles regularly during the summer and even lift some weight..
I only took FOSAMAX for 6 days, when a protrusion began to develop on my left EYE! I stopped immediately. The doctor at the clinic wasn't much of a help, so I started looking for answers on my own. Sure enough, there were several similar complaints on the web, even on this board...
Then I began searching relevant literature and bumped into a book that gave me all the answers to my worries... Just read Gillian Sanson's THE MYTH OF OSTEOPOROSIS (What Every Woman Should Know About Creating Bone Health) - 2003 Edition. You will never touch FOSAMAX, or other "medications" - in fact, you might do as I and stop looking for help and cure from doctors...
I agree with everything you have said above. I, too, had devastating results from the osteo drugs which disappeared immediately upon discontinuing.
Doctors dispense drugs. If that is your choice, fine, but there are other methods. Do your own research and then see if you want to continue taking the toxic drugs. There are many threads here that outline alternative methods of dealing w/osteo. I have been doing this for well over a year and have seen my dexa numbers improve.
I only took FOSAMAX for 6 days, when a protrusion began to develop on my left EYE! I stopped immediately. The doctor at the clinic wasn't much of a help, so I started looking for answers on my own. Sure enough, there were several similar complaints on the web, even on this board...
Then I began searching relevant literature and bumped into a book that gave me all the answers to my worries... Just read Gillian Sanson's THE MYTH OF OSTEOPOROSIS (What Every Woman Should Know About Creating Bone Health) - 2003 Edition. You will never touch FOSAMAX, or other "medications" - in fact, you might do as I and stop looking for help and cure from doctors...
I agree with everything you have said above. I, too, had devastating results from the osteo drugs which disappeared immediately upon discontinuing.
Doctors dispense drugs. If that is your choice, fine, but there are other methods. Do your own research and then see if you want to continue taking the toxic drugs. There are many threads here that outline alternative methods of dealing w/osteo. I have been doing this for well over a year and have seen my dexa numbers improve.
snowmelts
12-14-2004, 02:21 AM
You people scare me. Because you keep saying that I am harming myself because I'm trying to help myself by taking Fosamax. I've been taking it 9 or 10 months now.
I have had bad Dry Eye Syndrom for many many years before I had osteoporosis and this year the dry eyes's (or something) is driving me nuts so your talk about eyes has got my attention. But I cannot find unbiased of prove your theories
I have goggled and, so far, only find advertisements (biased info) saying Fosamax will actully harm me. Medline plus does list the unbiased info and it certainly lists warnings, just like there are warnings for any drug. It does not say what you are saying.
WHERE are you finding this dire info??????
Yes I looked at info given above about the book..someone wants to make money on the book of course. It is is not unbiased. The link to the so-called news release leads nowhere since the page has been removed. I could write a book but it would not mean I knew what I was saying unless I could prove it. WHERE is the proof?
Health Boards will allow info to be posted if that info is scientific news and unbiased with no advertiseing.
SO why can no one point the direction to that info? IF it turely exisits?
I have already actually lost 1 & 3/4 inches in height to this disease.
It scares me.
Mother used to walk 5 miles to work and 5 miles back.
Her back is bent from it now like an upsidedown U.
But I've taken calcium & vitamens forever and tried hard to prevent my back from becoming like mother's and I've failed.
Fosamax might be grabbing at straws but it's the only straw available.
If you could lead me to the actual unbiased news release saying this stuff has been proven bad for eyes then I'll gladly stop.
It's hard to stop simply because someone says they don't like medication.
A slice of tomato (or fish) will send me to a ER because of allergies, but that does not mean the rest of the population should not eat tomatos (or fish).
All I'm asking for is the path to help me find these dire unbiased news releases. I am a logical, sensible person and I will read them with a very open mind.
Please.
I have had bad Dry Eye Syndrom for many many years before I had osteoporosis and this year the dry eyes's (or something) is driving me nuts so your talk about eyes has got my attention. But I cannot find unbiased of prove your theories
I have goggled and, so far, only find advertisements (biased info) saying Fosamax will actully harm me. Medline plus does list the unbiased info and it certainly lists warnings, just like there are warnings for any drug. It does not say what you are saying.
WHERE are you finding this dire info??????
Yes I looked at info given above about the book..someone wants to make money on the book of course. It is is not unbiased. The link to the so-called news release leads nowhere since the page has been removed. I could write a book but it would not mean I knew what I was saying unless I could prove it. WHERE is the proof?
Health Boards will allow info to be posted if that info is scientific news and unbiased with no advertiseing.
SO why can no one point the direction to that info? IF it turely exisits?
I have already actually lost 1 & 3/4 inches in height to this disease.
It scares me.
Mother used to walk 5 miles to work and 5 miles back.
Her back is bent from it now like an upsidedown U.
But I've taken calcium & vitamens forever and tried hard to prevent my back from becoming like mother's and I've failed.
Fosamax might be grabbing at straws but it's the only straw available.
If you could lead me to the actual unbiased news release saying this stuff has been proven bad for eyes then I'll gladly stop.
It's hard to stop simply because someone says they don't like medication.
A slice of tomato (or fish) will send me to a ER because of allergies, but that does not mean the rest of the population should not eat tomatos (or fish).
All I'm asking for is the path to help me find these dire unbiased news releases. I am a logical, sensible person and I will read them with a very open mind.
Please.
peregrine
12-14-2004, 07:13 AM
You people scare me. Because you keep saying that I am harming myself because I'm trying to help myself by taking Fosamax. I've been taking it 9 or 10 months now.
I have had bad Dry Eye Syndrom for many many years before I had osteoporosis and this year the dry eyes's (or something) is driving me nuts so your talk about eyes has got my attention. But I cannot find unbiased of prove your theories
I have goggled and, so far, only find advertisements (biased info) saying Fosamax will actully harm me. Medline plus does list the unbiased info and it certainly lists warnings, just like there are warnings for any drug. It does not say what you are saying.
WHERE are you finding this dire info??????
Yes I looked at info given above about the book..someone wants to make money on the book of course. It is is not unbiased. The link to the so-called news release leads nowhere since the page has been removed. I could write a book but it would not mean I knew what I was saying unless I could prove it. WHERE is the proof?
Health Boards will allow info to be posted if that info is scientific news and unbiased with no advertiseing.
SO why can no one point the direction to that info? IF it turely exisits?
I have already actually lost 1 & 3/4 inches in height to this disease.
It scares me.
Mother used to walk 5 miles to work and 5 miles back.
Her back is bent from it now like an upsidedown U.
But I've taken calcium & vitamens forever and tried hard to prevent my back from becoming like mother's and I've failed.
Fosamax might be grabbing at straws but it's the only straw available.
If you could lead me to the actual unbiased news release saying this stuff has been proven bad for eyes then I'll gladly stop.
It's hard to stop simply because someone says they don't like medication.
A slice of tomato (or fish) will send me to a ER because of allergies, but that does not mean the rest of the population should not eat tomatos (or fish).
All I'm asking for is the path to help me find these dire unbiased news releases. I am a logical, sensible person and I will read them with a very open mind.
Please.
What makes you think that drug companies are any more factual in the information they put out than Naturopaths, for instance? Pharmaceuticals are a business, a big business! Do you think their main concern is healing your osteoporosis or making money? Look at their insert listing side effects. A great many side effects people have reported on this board are not even listed there. Unfortunately, this is party because they don't KNOW all the side effects and this is true with any drug. Often it is only in retrospect that drugs are taken off the market because of complications developed after the research was released. A recent point in case - Vioxx. If you are really interested in what fosamax actually does in the body I would suggest doing your own research. There is also a very informative thread on the Thyroid board by someone who already did this. This was maybe a year ago but could probably be found by doing a search on "fosamax". Regarding a book someone mentioned, you know, not everyone just wants to make money on a book. There is a lot of good information out there in books. But again I would ask, why do you put all your unquestioned faith in what doctors and western medicine have to say but dismiss everything else? If you truly believe, "hook, line and sinker", what doctors and drug companies tell you than where is the opening for further investigation? I think it important to do one's own research but also to listen to one's own body. It will give you all the information you need to make a decision as to what is and is not working for you. I wish you all the best with whatever road you decide to go down. I have nothing invested in whichever path you choose as that will be right for YOU. So I agree, what is right for one person may not be for another. These boards are a place for whatever information exists within its membership to be posted. Each of us must then decide for ourselves what we will or won't do with that information.
I have had bad Dry Eye Syndrom for many many years before I had osteoporosis and this year the dry eyes's (or something) is driving me nuts so your talk about eyes has got my attention. But I cannot find unbiased of prove your theories
I have goggled and, so far, only find advertisements (biased info) saying Fosamax will actully harm me. Medline plus does list the unbiased info and it certainly lists warnings, just like there are warnings for any drug. It does not say what you are saying.
WHERE are you finding this dire info??????
Yes I looked at info given above about the book..someone wants to make money on the book of course. It is is not unbiased. The link to the so-called news release leads nowhere since the page has been removed. I could write a book but it would not mean I knew what I was saying unless I could prove it. WHERE is the proof?
Health Boards will allow info to be posted if that info is scientific news and unbiased with no advertiseing.
SO why can no one point the direction to that info? IF it turely exisits?
I have already actually lost 1 & 3/4 inches in height to this disease.
It scares me.
Mother used to walk 5 miles to work and 5 miles back.
Her back is bent from it now like an upsidedown U.
But I've taken calcium & vitamens forever and tried hard to prevent my back from becoming like mother's and I've failed.
Fosamax might be grabbing at straws but it's the only straw available.
If you could lead me to the actual unbiased news release saying this stuff has been proven bad for eyes then I'll gladly stop.
It's hard to stop simply because someone says they don't like medication.
A slice of tomato (or fish) will send me to a ER because of allergies, but that does not mean the rest of the population should not eat tomatos (or fish).
All I'm asking for is the path to help me find these dire unbiased news releases. I am a logical, sensible person and I will read them with a very open mind.
Please.
What makes you think that drug companies are any more factual in the information they put out than Naturopaths, for instance? Pharmaceuticals are a business, a big business! Do you think their main concern is healing your osteoporosis or making money? Look at their insert listing side effects. A great many side effects people have reported on this board are not even listed there. Unfortunately, this is party because they don't KNOW all the side effects and this is true with any drug. Often it is only in retrospect that drugs are taken off the market because of complications developed after the research was released. A recent point in case - Vioxx. If you are really interested in what fosamax actually does in the body I would suggest doing your own research. There is also a very informative thread on the Thyroid board by someone who already did this. This was maybe a year ago but could probably be found by doing a search on "fosamax". Regarding a book someone mentioned, you know, not everyone just wants to make money on a book. There is a lot of good information out there in books. But again I would ask, why do you put all your unquestioned faith in what doctors and western medicine have to say but dismiss everything else? If you truly believe, "hook, line and sinker", what doctors and drug companies tell you than where is the opening for further investigation? I think it important to do one's own research but also to listen to one's own body. It will give you all the information you need to make a decision as to what is and is not working for you. I wish you all the best with whatever road you decide to go down. I have nothing invested in whichever path you choose as that will be right for YOU. So I agree, what is right for one person may not be for another. These boards are a place for whatever information exists within its membership to be posted. Each of us must then decide for ourselves what we will or won't do with that information.
snowmelts
12-14-2004, 12:07 PM
Oh I don't dimiss it, not at all. I just can't find any real tangible proof.
Believe me I don't take pills just cuz the Dr says to.
I want very badly to beat this disease and don't know where else to turn.
I AM listening to my body.
Like I said it has robbed me of 1 & 3/4 inches in height already.
I've also developed a 10% scolosis, which might be a combination of my osteoarthritis and the osteoporosis..since either one can cause that curve. In either case it does cause achy-breaky back feelings.
I want this degeneration stopped.
I have no thyroid problem, I don't have RA. The threads I've read concern people with a combination of osteoporosis and another disease.
In the threads I see the problems, but no answers other than not taking the pills is posted. I do see advice such as take fish oil and hope a lot. But I am allergic to fish. That answer would cause more problems than I can handle.
If I don't take the pills then HOW do I stop this shrinking of my height?
How do I stop the curving of my spine that has already begun?
Believe me I don't take pills just cuz the Dr says to.
I want very badly to beat this disease and don't know where else to turn.
I AM listening to my body.
Like I said it has robbed me of 1 & 3/4 inches in height already.
I've also developed a 10% scolosis, which might be a combination of my osteoarthritis and the osteoporosis..since either one can cause that curve. In either case it does cause achy-breaky back feelings.
I want this degeneration stopped.
I have no thyroid problem, I don't have RA. The threads I've read concern people with a combination of osteoporosis and another disease.
In the threads I see the problems, but no answers other than not taking the pills is posted. I do see advice such as take fish oil and hope a lot. But I am allergic to fish. That answer would cause more problems than I can handle.
If I don't take the pills then HOW do I stop this shrinking of my height?
How do I stop the curving of my spine that has already begun?
ThinBones
12-14-2004, 01:51 PM
Snowmelts - I too am very very scared of this disease. I took care of my elderly Mom until she passed away. She had severe osteo. She lost 6" in height, broke her sternum, multiple compression fractures, etc. She took morphine every 4 hours for pain. Yes, I am scared as I am only 48 and my spine is already very affected. If Foxomax does not give you side effects and improves your dexa scores, I would not hesitate to take it. I took it for 3 years and stopped due to severe joint pain. It is so hard to know what to believe, I cannot take calicum as my intestines do not tolerate it. I may look into Forteo soon, the drug does scare me but bone loss scares me much more.... I have the book about the myths of osteo. and some of it I want to believe but I also think that not all drugs are dangerous but every drug can be dangerous to some people. Osteoporosis may be over diagnosed now but I am really not sure. I was told when I was around 20 that I had the bones of an 80 year old, so where would that leave me now??? My internist at that time told me not to worry as it was normal for me. Well, we now know that is not true. Good luck, and if you look long enough into any drug or any disease, it can scare the pants off you but nothing scares me more than ending up like my poor Mom who I miss dearly.
snowmelts
12-14-2004, 02:37 PM
Thinbones, I'm sorry about your Mom. Good to meet someone else who has seen it daily wreaking another person and understands what I mean. My Mom is so horribly bent and I am shrinking and bending.
I started Fosamax at aprox the end of last Jan or maybe sometime last Feb. had 4 months of the joint pain side effect and then that got Ok again. I also have bad OA as well as other disabilities not related to bones. (had those before the osteoporosis). But all in all I am much more limber and have less pain than I was at this same time last year.
It's this thing about the eyes that has me VERY interested in the thread. My eyes are of course very important to me. I have had the Dry Eye syndrom many years (before Fosamax), especially in the winter. It's driving me nuts lately.
I am going to see the Eye Dr in May. I WILL ask him about Fosamax effects. If my eyes feel extra crazy before that I will make a bee-line for his office.
I started Fosamax at aprox the end of last Jan or maybe sometime last Feb. had 4 months of the joint pain side effect and then that got Ok again. I also have bad OA as well as other disabilities not related to bones. (had those before the osteoporosis). But all in all I am much more limber and have less pain than I was at this same time last year.
It's this thing about the eyes that has me VERY interested in the thread. My eyes are of course very important to me. I have had the Dry Eye syndrom many years (before Fosamax), especially in the winter. It's driving me nuts lately.
I am going to see the Eye Dr in May. I WILL ask him about Fosamax effects. If my eyes feel extra crazy before that I will make a bee-line for his office.
plc
12-14-2004, 11:22 PM
I have stopped taking fosmax and actenol. The side effects from both these drugs was too much for me to take. I had eye problems,teeth problems aches and pains from joints that I never new. It took about one month for these problems to disappear. I told my doctor that before I started these medications I felt fine....She told that the medications just slows the process and hopefully will prevent fractures. I said hopefully, she said they are still consider new, all data not in yet....however from what she has read and been told by the company, she feels it should help...Well....that was not good enough for me...I did my own searching, check out the FDA web site,then look at the the foods that you eat. I made some changes in dietary take a high mineral vit. and I feel better then I have. I have aunts that have been on fosmax for 2yrs now...their test results have shown only a small improvement. However both are now taking many different medications to help with the side effects of this medication...
peregrine
12-15-2004, 05:34 AM
Oh I don't dimiss it, not at all. I just can't find any real tangible proof.
Believe me I don't take pills just cuz the Dr says to.
I want very badly to beat this disease and don't know where else to turn.
I AM listening to my body.
Like I said it has robbed me of 1 & 3/4 inches in height already.
I've also developed a 10% scolosis, which might be a combination of my osteoarthritis and the osteoporosis..since either one can cause that curve. In either case it does cause achy-breaky back feelings.
I want this degeneration stopped.
I have no thyroid problem, I don't have RA. The threads I've read concern people with a combination of osteoporosis and another disease.
In the threads I see the problems, but no answers other than not taking the pills is posted. I do see advice such as take fish oil and hope a lot. But I am allergic to fish. That answer would cause more problems than I can handle.
If I don't take the pills then HOW do I stop this shrinking of my height?
How do I stop the curving of my spine that has already begun?
The thread I refer to is strictly about Fosamax and has nothing to do with thyroidism or anything else. It is not only a very long thread but continues for a few days by this particular person. Sorry, I can't tell you exactly where to go. I, too, have shrunk but I have also decreased my Dexa scores by using just alternative methods. Question: Do you do regular weight bearing exercise?
Believe me I don't take pills just cuz the Dr says to.
I want very badly to beat this disease and don't know where else to turn.
I AM listening to my body.
Like I said it has robbed me of 1 & 3/4 inches in height already.
I've also developed a 10% scolosis, which might be a combination of my osteoarthritis and the osteoporosis..since either one can cause that curve. In either case it does cause achy-breaky back feelings.
I want this degeneration stopped.
I have no thyroid problem, I don't have RA. The threads I've read concern people with a combination of osteoporosis and another disease.
In the threads I see the problems, but no answers other than not taking the pills is posted. I do see advice such as take fish oil and hope a lot. But I am allergic to fish. That answer would cause more problems than I can handle.
If I don't take the pills then HOW do I stop this shrinking of my height?
How do I stop the curving of my spine that has already begun?
The thread I refer to is strictly about Fosamax and has nothing to do with thyroidism or anything else. It is not only a very long thread but continues for a few days by this particular person. Sorry, I can't tell you exactly where to go. I, too, have shrunk but I have also decreased my Dexa scores by using just alternative methods. Question: Do you do regular weight bearing exercise?
eve_hmmkr
12-15-2004, 03:06 PM
snowmelts -- you seem to be desperate for info, yet you reject outright (without reading) what Gillian Sanson has to say in her book (The Myths of Osteoporosis). Don't buy it - borrow it from your library just like I did. Give it a chance, you cannot loose. The book promotes weight bearing exercises (especially weight lifting!) and healthy diet for strengthening the bones, plus provides more and better researched information on osteo than any other source I have seen. Best wishes......Eve
snowmelts
12-15-2004, 09:08 PM
Tha food and excersice advice is good. I have a lot of food allergies but I try to keep it balanced. I am sure I eat too many brownies though! Everyone has a vice and at least mine involves chocolate!
I do take suppliments.
I don't do a "specific" regementated excercise program of any sort every day. I cannot drive in winter or on wet roads in any season (because of the PN) and there is NO season when I can afford joining and going to any form of excercise club.
Swimming is out too since I stop breathing in pools with clorene bleach.. and all public pools have that.
But I do some a little bit of excerciseing at home.
I have taken PT for the OA (osteoarthritis) in my lower spine and I continue those excercises at home.
I have picked up a few OA excercise books as well as beginning Yoga book especially for the back which has takes into account the need to watch BOTH OA and osteoporosis (since an excercise for one may be determental to the other)
-- oh yeah I read, even own, a lot of books about my physical problems that is why I say mostly the books are not truely unbiased. True that you can gain general knowledge on the medical subject but always keep in mind that every writer hopes to sell books you know -- I don't dismiss them at all but I also don't dismiss medication when it helps and I like to read unbiased proof, like medical studies..
I can't do a lot of leg things. I have sensory axonal pheripherial neuropathy (PN) and so the legs are not always happy useful limbs. I take a low doseage of Neurontin to mask pain from that for that, otherwise I would not be walking at all.
I have multiple seed corns embedded in both feet so walking a lot is out. Sometimes I'll walk around the apartment complex grounds and back. But not any really lenghty walk and of course I walk around when shopping.
I have bad OA is both knees so I cannot do impact excercises. Sometimes I DO use the excercise bike set at very low impact. I find I definately need to use the bike in the winter since I go outside less then and my knees do need the bending excercise or they get very stiff.
I have the small weights to lift (1, 2 & 3 lbs) but since I do the shopping for myself and my elderly mother I think I left enough weight in the way of grocery bags that I rarely use the weights. I am TRYING to remind myself not lift from my back but rather keep all the bag weight on my arms.
(arms muscles..not wrists! I have DeQuevain's tendonities in both wrists)
Mostly I play with holding the little weights up over my head while I watch TV when I think of useing them.
I do streching excerses but mostly I do those by doing simple housework like washing a window. I am sure housework counts. Of course the Yoga stuff is stretching too.
I use a knee contour pillow between the legs right above the knee when I sleep to help keep my skeletal system better lined up. Believe it or not this simple pillow has relieved a HUGE amount of morning back pain for me. I have OA all up my spine and the lower spine was painful 24/7 untill I discovered this pillow. I love this pillow!
My excerscises have been geared to help eleviate my OA pains ..but I am careful not to do the OA excercises that are determental to the osteoporosis problem. I know you should use your knees when bending instead of your back but my knees won't do that one!
Sorry I have multiple disabilites and so I kind of have to not do some recommended things for one problem because a diff problem prevents it. sometimes it's a case of "darned if you do and darned if you don't".
I do take suppliments.
I don't do a "specific" regementated excercise program of any sort every day. I cannot drive in winter or on wet roads in any season (because of the PN) and there is NO season when I can afford joining and going to any form of excercise club.
Swimming is out too since I stop breathing in pools with clorene bleach.. and all public pools have that.
But I do some a little bit of excerciseing at home.
I have taken PT for the OA (osteoarthritis) in my lower spine and I continue those excercises at home.
I have picked up a few OA excercise books as well as beginning Yoga book especially for the back which has takes into account the need to watch BOTH OA and osteoporosis (since an excercise for one may be determental to the other)
-- oh yeah I read, even own, a lot of books about my physical problems that is why I say mostly the books are not truely unbiased. True that you can gain general knowledge on the medical subject but always keep in mind that every writer hopes to sell books you know -- I don't dismiss them at all but I also don't dismiss medication when it helps and I like to read unbiased proof, like medical studies..
I can't do a lot of leg things. I have sensory axonal pheripherial neuropathy (PN) and so the legs are not always happy useful limbs. I take a low doseage of Neurontin to mask pain from that for that, otherwise I would not be walking at all.
I have multiple seed corns embedded in both feet so walking a lot is out. Sometimes I'll walk around the apartment complex grounds and back. But not any really lenghty walk and of course I walk around when shopping.
I have bad OA is both knees so I cannot do impact excercises. Sometimes I DO use the excercise bike set at very low impact. I find I definately need to use the bike in the winter since I go outside less then and my knees do need the bending excercise or they get very stiff.
I have the small weights to lift (1, 2 & 3 lbs) but since I do the shopping for myself and my elderly mother I think I left enough weight in the way of grocery bags that I rarely use the weights. I am TRYING to remind myself not lift from my back but rather keep all the bag weight on my arms.
(arms muscles..not wrists! I have DeQuevain's tendonities in both wrists)
Mostly I play with holding the little weights up over my head while I watch TV when I think of useing them.
I do streching excerses but mostly I do those by doing simple housework like washing a window. I am sure housework counts. Of course the Yoga stuff is stretching too.
I use a knee contour pillow between the legs right above the knee when I sleep to help keep my skeletal system better lined up. Believe it or not this simple pillow has relieved a HUGE amount of morning back pain for me. I have OA all up my spine and the lower spine was painful 24/7 untill I discovered this pillow. I love this pillow!
My excerscises have been geared to help eleviate my OA pains ..but I am careful not to do the OA excercises that are determental to the osteoporosis problem. I know you should use your knees when bending instead of your back but my knees won't do that one!
Sorry I have multiple disabilites and so I kind of have to not do some recommended things for one problem because a diff problem prevents it. sometimes it's a case of "darned if you do and darned if you don't".
jasmine1313
12-16-2004, 10:29 AM
I ordered the book "Myths of Osteoporosis" from Amazon after reading your earlier post, and skimmed over it last night. That was the best $17 I have spent in quite a while, and confirms for me that the big "Osteoporosis" scare is yet (with obvious exceptions for legitimate cases) another "invented disease" to benefit the Pharmaceutical companies.
I think it bears repeating that having low bone mineral density does NOT mean that your bones are structurally unsound or fragile. The fact that low BMD is being used as the criteria to diagnose Osteoporosis is just wrong, and should be based on bones that fracture after minimal trauma, as the book states had been done in the past (conveniently before the creation of drugs like Fosamax).
I think it bears repeating that having low bone mineral density does NOT mean that your bones are structurally unsound or fragile. The fact that low BMD is being used as the criteria to diagnose Osteoporosis is just wrong, and should be based on bones that fracture after minimal trauma, as the book states had been done in the past (conveniently before the creation of drugs like Fosamax).
peregrine
12-16-2004, 10:50 AM
I ordered the book "Myths of Osteoporosis" from Amazon after reading your earlier post, and skimmed over it last night. That was the best $17 I have spent in quite a while, and confirms for me that the big "Osteoporosis" scare is yet (with obvious exceptions for legitimate cases) another "invented disease" to benefit the Pharmaceutical companies.
Yes indeed! And it would help if more people started speaking out against these practices.
Yes indeed! And it would help if more people started speaking out against these practices.
Oldbones
12-31-2004, 05:15 AM
I, too, have shrunk but I have also decreased my Dexa scores by using just alternative methods.
Peregrine:
Would you mind sharing with us your before/after Dexa scores? I'm on Forteo due to multiple fractures within three months with no trauma whatsoever.
Oldbones
Peregrine:
Would you mind sharing with us your before/after Dexa scores? I'm on Forteo due to multiple fractures within three months with no trauma whatsoever.
Oldbones
peregrine
12-31-2004, 09:15 AM
Peregrine:
Would you mind sharing with us your before/after Dexa scores? I'm on Forteo due to multiple fractures within three months with no trauma whatsoever.
Oldbones
2002: spine -3.0 hip -2.0
2003: spine -2.7 hip -1.9
I am now due for another scan. Read The Myth of Osteoporosis to put this test in its proper perspective.
Would you mind sharing with us your before/after Dexa scores? I'm on Forteo due to multiple fractures within three months with no trauma whatsoever.
Oldbones
2002: spine -3.0 hip -2.0
2003: spine -2.7 hip -1.9
I am now due for another scan. Read The Myth of Osteoporosis to put this test in its proper perspective.
Jenetti
01-01-2005, 04:25 PM
I had to get off fosamax because of the severe spinal pain plus other areas that hurt really bad when i was on it. I did several tests myself, getting off of it for a about 8 weeks, then getting back on it for 8 weeks and so on. I noticed the horrendous spinal pain that made me scream OUTLOUD and curl up in bed in the fetal position. After trying this test several times, i talked to the doctor. SHe said, yes ive heard alot of problems with fosamax and you should stop taking it. I also have fibro but this pain, the spinal pain was the most horrible pain i have ever felt in my life.
My mom was also taken off fosamax two weeks ago, for the same reason. Pain in her body, plus dryness of the eyes that was really bothering her. The doc took her off foxamax completely. ALso while waiting in the waiting room, i heard two ladies discussing fosamax and how bad the pain she was in and how she had never had pain like that before she started the med. The doc told me other patients had been complaining to her about the med, about how much pain in the joints they were having because of it. Many of them tried the same exact experiment with it as i had. Off, then on with it. I will NEVER take it again.
Peace,
jen
My mom was also taken off fosamax two weeks ago, for the same reason. Pain in her body, plus dryness of the eyes that was really bothering her. The doc took her off foxamax completely. ALso while waiting in the waiting room, i heard two ladies discussing fosamax and how bad the pain she was in and how she had never had pain like that before she started the med. The doc told me other patients had been complaining to her about the med, about how much pain in the joints they were having because of it. Many of them tried the same exact experiment with it as i had. Off, then on with it. I will NEVER take it again.
Peace,
jen
snowmelts
01-01-2005, 11:36 PM
plus dryness of the eyes that was really bothering her. The doc took her off foxamax completely. jen
Now see, this is of interest to me. A factual first party experience.
Did she also get a "Tic" in the muscles of her eyelid and muscles around the eye?
I've had Dry eye syndrom since the mid 90's (it's a common problem a lot of woman get after menopause). My eye Dr told me to use Celluvisc at night and Visine Tears during the day. Both can be obtained over the counter.
Neurontin made my Dry eyes even worse for the last couple years. It is a known side effect.. UGH.. but still I can handle it at this level. I definately need the Neurontin.
Like I said I started the Fosamax just LAST winter. Now however I have begun to experience a "Tic" ( I guess you would call it). The muscles in the left eyelid and surrounding the left eye "jump" (not the eye, just the muscles around it)
Reading all this has made me wonder if it is possible the Fosamax is causeing that? I've been had the Tic more than a month now (and it drives me batty, even though it's not there all the time. My eyesight is not bothered but he movement of the "Tic" makes the eyeball itch.) I've basically decided the "Tic" has nothing to do with my Dry Eye Syndrom. I don't think it is part of my Pheriphial Neuropathy problem either, since that is in my limbs only. Of course I guess it could be a Neuropathy.
But I have taken the Fosamax all year and did not have this "Tic" untill recently??? Is the "Tic" unrelated to the Fosamax??? No one on these boards has mentioned any thing like this "tic" haveing a Fosamax connection.
The proof is in the pudding so I decided to do a test.
A little test won't hurt. Christmas Day I skipped my weekly Fosamax dose. Didn't take it today (New Year's Day) either. So far my "Tic" has not changed. I'll give it a couple weeks and see if skipping the Fosamax helps or not.
I am aware that if I do not restart taking it.. I'm going to have some serious future bone problems, since I am already shrinking and have a developed a 10% Scolosis. I really do not want the "S" curve spine and Hump back my elderly mother has. :( However, your posts above have convinced me to test to check to be sure this is not causeing my eyelid/muscle "tic"
Now see, this is of interest to me. A factual first party experience.
Did she also get a "Tic" in the muscles of her eyelid and muscles around the eye?
I've had Dry eye syndrom since the mid 90's (it's a common problem a lot of woman get after menopause). My eye Dr told me to use Celluvisc at night and Visine Tears during the day. Both can be obtained over the counter.
Neurontin made my Dry eyes even worse for the last couple years. It is a known side effect.. UGH.. but still I can handle it at this level. I definately need the Neurontin.
Like I said I started the Fosamax just LAST winter. Now however I have begun to experience a "Tic" ( I guess you would call it). The muscles in the left eyelid and surrounding the left eye "jump" (not the eye, just the muscles around it)
Reading all this has made me wonder if it is possible the Fosamax is causeing that? I've been had the Tic more than a month now (and it drives me batty, even though it's not there all the time. My eyesight is not bothered but he movement of the "Tic" makes the eyeball itch.) I've basically decided the "Tic" has nothing to do with my Dry Eye Syndrom. I don't think it is part of my Pheriphial Neuropathy problem either, since that is in my limbs only. Of course I guess it could be a Neuropathy.
But I have taken the Fosamax all year and did not have this "Tic" untill recently??? Is the "Tic" unrelated to the Fosamax??? No one on these boards has mentioned any thing like this "tic" haveing a Fosamax connection.
The proof is in the pudding so I decided to do a test.
A little test won't hurt. Christmas Day I skipped my weekly Fosamax dose. Didn't take it today (New Year's Day) either. So far my "Tic" has not changed. I'll give it a couple weeks and see if skipping the Fosamax helps or not.
I am aware that if I do not restart taking it.. I'm going to have some serious future bone problems, since I am already shrinking and have a developed a 10% Scolosis. I really do not want the "S" curve spine and Hump back my elderly mother has. :( However, your posts above have convinced me to test to check to be sure this is not causeing my eyelid/muscle "tic"
Jenetti
01-02-2005, 05:03 PM
I dont think my mom has experienced a tic in her eye, but she was always complaining of her eyes being so dry. The eye doc had told her she needed to use "real tear" drops for the rest of her life. Since coming off of fosomax she has seen a slight difference. IM sure that (or hoping) once it totally leaves her system her eyes will get better. Talk to your doc about it. Im sure she/he will tell you hes heard of these weird side effects from people taking fosomax, that they had to pull their patients off of them.
Jen
Jen
snowmelts
01-02-2005, 05:16 PM
Actually when she prescribed the Fosamax my Dr expalined there was gonna be 4 months of side effects but after 4 months that would be over. She was right..the original side effects I had stopped at 4 months. She was not concerned at all about the 4 month side effects. But the muscle tic is new.
Oldbones
01-04-2005, 05:36 AM
Actually when she prescribed the Fosamax my Dr expalined there was gonna be 4 months of side effects but after 4 months that would be over. She was right..the original side effects I had stopped at 4 months. She was not concerned at all about the 4 month side effects. But the muscle tic is new.
snowmelts.....
I'm not on Fosamax but I get the occasional eye tic. It drives me crazy for anywhere from a day to 2-3 weeks. Then it goes away and a few months later, it starts up again. I always blamed mine on stress or just a spastic muscle. I sometimes have the same thing in my thumb and it is almost as annoying as my eye(s). You should try doing an internet search for eye tic and see what you can find out (if you haven't already).
~Oldbones
snowmelts.....
I'm not on Fosamax but I get the occasional eye tic. It drives me crazy for anywhere from a day to 2-3 weeks. Then it goes away and a few months later, it starts up again. I always blamed mine on stress or just a spastic muscle. I sometimes have the same thing in my thumb and it is almost as annoying as my eye(s). You should try doing an internet search for eye tic and see what you can find out (if you haven't already).
~Oldbones
snowmelts
01-04-2005, 02:17 PM
Thanks for posting, Oldbones. I don't know anyone else who ever had this stupid "Tic". Certainly is disconcerting.
moms_four
01-17-2005, 09:47 PM
Peregine, what exactly is your regime? diet, exercise and multi's? I dont want to go on fosomax or actonel, I try to do natural as much as I can. Please share with us your secret.
Thanks, Marilou
Thanks, Marilou
snowmelts
01-17-2005, 11:13 PM
Well I had to go for a perscription renewal (not the fosamx but something else I take). Dr was not there. She left the Corporation so I have to choose a diff one. None were avalible and I really needed a perscription renewed so I had to see the Nurse Practitioner. I explained I had not taken the Foxamax since Christmas because I am worried about the eye tic being a side effect.
This professonal said flat out that there is NEVER any side effects from Fosamax..it is a very safe perscription! If I was worried about the eye lid tic I should see an eye Dr.
I was floored.
I had endured 4 months of horrible muscle and joint pain as a known side effect of Fosamax and here she says there is NEVER a side effect?
Her statement actually made me angry and I informed her the Dr even told me the side effect I had had for the first 4 months was known about and considered normal and would go away, which it did. She just said well I do have osteoporosis and I've shurnk another quarter inch since last January. She wanted to know if I understood how bad that can be?
YES. I do understand osteoporisis. I am also VERY unhappy to still be continuely shrinking even though I have taken the Fosamax religiously since the end of last January.
I feel very discouraged about this.
So she wrote me a perscription for actonel, saying I need to take that if I won't take Fosamax itself. Later at the drug store I discovered actonel has yellow dye, which I am allergic to. So I won't be taking that.
I do have fosamax on hand but still I am giving myself one full month to see if stopping helps my eye muscles. It is getting better. Actually yesterday I had no Tic episodes..none. So far today just once for a small amount of time around the inner corner of my eye.
I am very worried the shrinking and the Scolosis..of haveing my back turn into a horrid bent hump like my mothers with muscle spasms radiateing off of it. But I defiantly need my eye to straighten up and act right too.
I have no idea what is right to do.
I have a hip problem that is going to be x-rayed and then I'll get an appointment to see the real Dr. and I'll see what he or she says about the Fosamax, but it will be the same corporation of Dr's that perscribed it in the first place.
This professonal said flat out that there is NEVER any side effects from Fosamax..it is a very safe perscription! If I was worried about the eye lid tic I should see an eye Dr.
I was floored.
I had endured 4 months of horrible muscle and joint pain as a known side effect of Fosamax and here she says there is NEVER a side effect?
Her statement actually made me angry and I informed her the Dr even told me the side effect I had had for the first 4 months was known about and considered normal and would go away, which it did. She just said well I do have osteoporosis and I've shurnk another quarter inch since last January. She wanted to know if I understood how bad that can be?
YES. I do understand osteoporisis. I am also VERY unhappy to still be continuely shrinking even though I have taken the Fosamax religiously since the end of last January.
I feel very discouraged about this.
So she wrote me a perscription for actonel, saying I need to take that if I won't take Fosamax itself. Later at the drug store I discovered actonel has yellow dye, which I am allergic to. So I won't be taking that.
I do have fosamax on hand but still I am giving myself one full month to see if stopping helps my eye muscles. It is getting better. Actually yesterday I had no Tic episodes..none. So far today just once for a small amount of time around the inner corner of my eye.
I am very worried the shrinking and the Scolosis..of haveing my back turn into a horrid bent hump like my mothers with muscle spasms radiateing off of it. But I defiantly need my eye to straighten up and act right too.
I have no idea what is right to do.
I have a hip problem that is going to be x-rayed and then I'll get an appointment to see the real Dr. and I'll see what he or she says about the Fosamax, but it will be the same corporation of Dr's that perscribed it in the first place.
peregrine
01-18-2005, 11:53 AM
Peregine, what exactly is your regime? diet, exercise and multi's? I dont want to go on fosomax or actonel, I try to do natural as much as I can. Please share with us your secret.
Thanks, Marilou
Mom's Four,
No secret, really. First, I make sure I get weight-bearing exercise at least 3 times a week (more if you are able). I have been eating low-carb for 10 years, way before the craze started. I just find I have more energy and feel better, also (although I'm slim) this keeps any added weight from developing on the mid section. As for Vitamins, here is what I take:
-Liquid Calcium (made by Innovative Natural. I think liquid much more absorbable). It includes magnesium and Vit. D but I take extra Magnesium in the form of a product called Natural Calm. I think we need more mag than cal (or at least equal). You will get loose stools if you take too much mag. which is a good way to monitor your tolerance.
-My multi also contains Vitamin D so I get enough (400IU) from both these sources
-I also take Vitamin K to aid absorption of calcium.
Read the book The Myth of Osteoporosis for the "skinny" on those Dexa scores.
Taking too much calcium is also not recommended as this can actually leech calcium out of the bones and make them weaker.
I take a few other vitamins but they are not relevant to Osteoporosis, per say, so won't list them.
Hope this helps but if not or you have other questions I'll try to respond.
Thanks, Marilou
Mom's Four,
No secret, really. First, I make sure I get weight-bearing exercise at least 3 times a week (more if you are able). I have been eating low-carb for 10 years, way before the craze started. I just find I have more energy and feel better, also (although I'm slim) this keeps any added weight from developing on the mid section. As for Vitamins, here is what I take:
-Liquid Calcium (made by Innovative Natural. I think liquid much more absorbable). It includes magnesium and Vit. D but I take extra Magnesium in the form of a product called Natural Calm. I think we need more mag than cal (or at least equal). You will get loose stools if you take too much mag. which is a good way to monitor your tolerance.
-My multi also contains Vitamin D so I get enough (400IU) from both these sources
-I also take Vitamin K to aid absorption of calcium.
Read the book The Myth of Osteoporosis for the "skinny" on those Dexa scores.
Taking too much calcium is also not recommended as this can actually leech calcium out of the bones and make them weaker.
I take a few other vitamins but they are not relevant to Osteoporosis, per say, so won't list them.
Hope this helps but if not or you have other questions I'll try to respond.
moms_four
01-19-2005, 12:23 AM
Thanks for replying. How are your scores compared to others here? I have been reading about the K vitamin and planned on adding it to my list. I have been taking magneseum for awhile along with calcium and multi's. How much liquid calcium do you take, I am taking in 1200 mgs of the tablet. I really thank you for your postings, you have helped me alot and calmed some of my fears. I went to the library tonight and got the book the Myth Of Osteoporsis and plan on reading it cover to cover. Thanks again Peregrine. Marilou :)
snowmelts
01-19-2005, 01:50 AM
Alfalfa tablets contain Vitamen K. Lots of veg's contain K.
Vita K is a natural blood thinner so you do have to keep in mind how much you take if you also take other things that act as natural blood thinners such as Vita E, Chondroitin, almonds and aspirn.
My neighbor had a blood clot and her after care included a perscription blood thinner. Her Dr told her to stop eating anything with Vita K while she took the perscription or else she would have TOO thin a blood and that could cause leakage threw her viens.
This is one reason you see bruses on old people so often..too many natural blood thinners.
You DO (all humans do) need natural blood thinners, I'm just suggesting to keep the total of all of them combined in mind.
Vita K is a natural blood thinner so you do have to keep in mind how much you take if you also take other things that act as natural blood thinners such as Vita E, Chondroitin, almonds and aspirn.
My neighbor had a blood clot and her after care included a perscription blood thinner. Her Dr told her to stop eating anything with Vita K while she took the perscription or else she would have TOO thin a blood and that could cause leakage threw her viens.
This is one reason you see bruses on old people so often..too many natural blood thinners.
You DO (all humans do) need natural blood thinners, I'm just suggesting to keep the total of all of them combined in mind.
peregrine
01-19-2005, 08:07 AM
Thanks for replying. How are your scores compared to others here? I have been reading about the K vitamin and planned on adding it to my list. I have been taking magneseum for awhile along with calcium and multi's. How much liquid calcium do you take, I am taking in 1200 mgs of the tablet. I really thank you for your postings, you have helped me alot and calmed some of my fears. I went to the library tonight and got the book the Myth Of Osteoporsis and plan on reading it cover to cover. Thanks again Peregrine. Marilou :)
Marilou,
I do not know how my scores compare to others. I am not even so concerned about them anymore (the Myth book gives some relevant information about this test). However, I will say that following my regime my scores decreased in a year. Regarding calcium intake, I used to take 2 tbl. a day (1 AM and 1 PM.) Now I take only 1 1/2 tbl. once a day. The important thing about calcium is whether it is being absorbed. If you think what you are taking is absorbable, then 1200 mgs. should be fine. I would also make sure you are getting enough Vit. D, especially in the winter when we have less sun exposure. You didn't mention weight-bearing exercise. I actually think this the most important thing we can do for our bones.
Glad to hear some of your fears have been calmed. It's important that we don't buy into all of the hype that exits "out there", most of it being promulgated by drug companies, then in turn, by doctors.
All the best!
Marilou,
I do not know how my scores compare to others. I am not even so concerned about them anymore (the Myth book gives some relevant information about this test). However, I will say that following my regime my scores decreased in a year. Regarding calcium intake, I used to take 2 tbl. a day (1 AM and 1 PM.) Now I take only 1 1/2 tbl. once a day. The important thing about calcium is whether it is being absorbed. If you think what you are taking is absorbable, then 1200 mgs. should be fine. I would also make sure you are getting enough Vit. D, especially in the winter when we have less sun exposure. You didn't mention weight-bearing exercise. I actually think this the most important thing we can do for our bones.
Glad to hear some of your fears have been calmed. It's important that we don't buy into all of the hype that exits "out there", most of it being promulgated by drug companies, then in turn, by doctors.
All the best!
moms_four
01-19-2005, 11:33 PM
Marilou,
I do not know how my scores compare to others. I am not even so concerned about them anymore (the Myth book gives some relevant information about this test). However, I will say that following my regime my scores decreased in a year. Regarding calcium intake, I used to take 2 tbl. a day (1 AM and 1 PM.) Now I take only 1 1/2 tbl. once a day. The important thing about calcium is whether it is being absorbed. If you think what you are taking is absorbable, then 1200 mgs. should be fine. I would also make sure you are getting enough Vit. D, especially in the winter when we have less sun exposure. You didn't mention weight-bearing exercise. I actually think this the most important thing we can do for our bones.
Glad to hear some of your fears have been calmed. It's important that we don't buy into all of the hype that exits "out there", most of it being promulgated by drug companies, then in turn, by doctors.
All the best!
I agree about the drug companies, I think they like to prey on the fears of women. Look at all the anti aging products out there. Also, I dont like not knowing the long term effects of actonel and fosomax, it could be worse than the disease itself. I am glad your scores decreased. I am going to stay on only vitamins and exercise and see what happens next year when I go back for my next test.
I am taking calcium citrate, which is supposed to be absorbed better than the carbonate. I also added weight bearing exercise to my routine, (boy am I out of shape! ouch! LOl.) As far as the K goes, I plan on including that in my daily vitamins, I get about 500 mgs of D a day, but I also live in Florida so I still get plenty of sunshine.
Thank you again for easing some of my fears, I am still scared about the future, but with women like you to share with has made it more bearable.
Take care, :)
Marilou
I do not know how my scores compare to others. I am not even so concerned about them anymore (the Myth book gives some relevant information about this test). However, I will say that following my regime my scores decreased in a year. Regarding calcium intake, I used to take 2 tbl. a day (1 AM and 1 PM.) Now I take only 1 1/2 tbl. once a day. The important thing about calcium is whether it is being absorbed. If you think what you are taking is absorbable, then 1200 mgs. should be fine. I would also make sure you are getting enough Vit. D, especially in the winter when we have less sun exposure. You didn't mention weight-bearing exercise. I actually think this the most important thing we can do for our bones.
Glad to hear some of your fears have been calmed. It's important that we don't buy into all of the hype that exits "out there", most of it being promulgated by drug companies, then in turn, by doctors.
All the best!
I agree about the drug companies, I think they like to prey on the fears of women. Look at all the anti aging products out there. Also, I dont like not knowing the long term effects of actonel and fosomax, it could be worse than the disease itself. I am glad your scores decreased. I am going to stay on only vitamins and exercise and see what happens next year when I go back for my next test.
I am taking calcium citrate, which is supposed to be absorbed better than the carbonate. I also added weight bearing exercise to my routine, (boy am I out of shape! ouch! LOl.) As far as the K goes, I plan on including that in my daily vitamins, I get about 500 mgs of D a day, but I also live in Florida so I still get plenty of sunshine.
Thank you again for easing some of my fears, I am still scared about the future, but with women like you to share with has made it more bearable.
Take care, :)
Marilou
dmarlowphc
01-21-2005, 02:42 AM
Snowmelts,
I can't take Fasomax, so the Dr. put me on a nasal spray called Miacalcin. You spray it in alternate nostrils, once a day. I just started the treatment. I am an over the road truck driver and fell back on my bottom and broke my tailbone and right arm. The Dr. had me take the bone density test and says I have osteoporosis as well as osteoarthritis. I have also lost 3 inches in height. I have been taking 1200 mg. of calcium and vit. D a day for 20 years, so the calcium by itself doesn't work completely. I am now taking 1200 mg. twice a day. So hang in there and ask your Dr. about the Miacalcin. Maybe, with Gods help, it will build your bone. Good luck.
I can't take Fasomax, so the Dr. put me on a nasal spray called Miacalcin. You spray it in alternate nostrils, once a day. I just started the treatment. I am an over the road truck driver and fell back on my bottom and broke my tailbone and right arm. The Dr. had me take the bone density test and says I have osteoporosis as well as osteoarthritis. I have also lost 3 inches in height. I have been taking 1200 mg. of calcium and vit. D a day for 20 years, so the calcium by itself doesn't work completely. I am now taking 1200 mg. twice a day. So hang in there and ask your Dr. about the Miacalcin. Maybe, with Gods help, it will build your bone. Good luck.
snowmelts
01-21-2005, 07:55 PM
Snowmelts,
I can't take Fasomax, so the Dr. put me on a nasal spray called Miacalcin. You spray it in alternate nostrils, once a day. I just started the treatment. I am an over the road truck driver and fell back on my bottom and broke my tailbone and right arm. The Dr. had me take the bone density test and says I have osteoporosis as well as osteoarthritis. I have also lost 3 inches in height. I have been taking 1200 mg. of calcium and vit. D a day for 20 years, so the calcium by itself doesn't work completely. I am now taking 1200 mg. twice a day. So hang in there and ask your Dr. about the Miacalcin. Maybe, with Gods help, it will build your bone. Good luck.
THANK YOU. I wrote down the name of the med you mentioned and I'm seeing the Dr on the 31 st so I will defiantely inquire about this one!!! Thank you very much for mentioning it. I did not know it existed.
Yes I too have both osteoporosis as well as osteoarthritis. So far, thankfully, no known broken bones! It's the unknown sneaky spinal cracks that bend the back that I worry about getting..you know.
I can't take Fasomax, so the Dr. put me on a nasal spray called Miacalcin. You spray it in alternate nostrils, once a day. I just started the treatment. I am an over the road truck driver and fell back on my bottom and broke my tailbone and right arm. The Dr. had me take the bone density test and says I have osteoporosis as well as osteoarthritis. I have also lost 3 inches in height. I have been taking 1200 mg. of calcium and vit. D a day for 20 years, so the calcium by itself doesn't work completely. I am now taking 1200 mg. twice a day. So hang in there and ask your Dr. about the Miacalcin. Maybe, with Gods help, it will build your bone. Good luck.
THANK YOU. I wrote down the name of the med you mentioned and I'm seeing the Dr on the 31 st so I will defiantely inquire about this one!!! Thank you very much for mentioning it. I did not know it existed.
Yes I too have both osteoporosis as well as osteoarthritis. So far, thankfully, no known broken bones! It's the unknown sneaky spinal cracks that bend the back that I worry about getting..you know.
snowmelts
01-21-2005, 08:05 PM
Oh..I looked it up .. I don't think Miacalcin is not gonna be the answer after all.. it's the brand name for Calcitonin, which is made from a fish protien. I'm very very allergic to fish.
linlinn
01-23-2005, 08:50 PM
I too took care of my Dad. He was always my best friend. One morning he was walking to the breakfast table, and he just crumbled. His neck broke and his hips. He lived 3 years after that. He just suffered something awful. His mind was fine, but osteo killed him. Now here I am in the same boat---but I'm raising my grandchildren--2 & 6 and my husband has recently been diagnosised with alzheimer.
Some of you might ask about IV ardeia---it is a 4 hr. treatment every 3 months. It really helped my pain, and stablized me. I got no new bone mass--so I have now started Forteo. I am now really scared, but I have to keep going. I just pray for 16 more years---the baby will be 18. The drs. told me the only hope was forteo. In the beginning it made me sick even my teeth hurt. I now take it at night and am doing better. I know many people that did get new bone mass on aredia---so ask.
I hope the makes sense--the baby is in my lap wanting to do his cd.
Goodluck!!!!!!
LinLinn
Some of you might ask about IV ardeia---it is a 4 hr. treatment every 3 months. It really helped my pain, and stablized me. I got no new bone mass--so I have now started Forteo. I am now really scared, but I have to keep going. I just pray for 16 more years---the baby will be 18. The drs. told me the only hope was forteo. In the beginning it made me sick even my teeth hurt. I now take it at night and am doing better. I know many people that did get new bone mass on aredia---so ask.
I hope the makes sense--the baby is in my lap wanting to do his cd.
Goodluck!!!!!!
LinLinn
snowmelts
01-24-2005, 12:50 AM
:eek: linlinn, THAT is so scary!! ~sigh~ I wish you so much health!! I really hope they find an answer.. I mean an answer that doesn't kill us as a side effect.
I am quite worried about my bones. Worried about side effects too.. However I know natural methods alone are not enough.
It's darned if we do and darned if we don't.
:dizzy:
I am quite worried about my bones. Worried about side effects too.. However I know natural methods alone are not enough.
It's darned if we do and darned if we don't.
:dizzy:
linlinn
01-24-2005, 04:04 PM
Thank you. I know we all have our own problems--but there are days I am just overwhelmed. We spent everything and more getting these children out of a meth house. My medicine is outrageous. My husband tries to get his at the VA, but can't get all. Well the baby is going to cut me off the computer---so by for now--and thanls again. I will pray for a miracle for all of us.
LinLinn
LinLinn
Aleta145
02-03-2005, 03:34 PM
Alfalfa tablets contain Vitamen K. Lots of veg's contain K.
Vita K is a natural blood thinner so you do have to keep in mind how much you take if you also take other things that act as natural blood thinners such as Vita E, Chondroitin, almonds and aspirn.
I just bought some chocolate calcium chews the other day (not Viactiv but Long's generic brand which was $2 cheaper) and they had vitamins D and K in them.
Now, if they could only figure out a way to add magnesium, folic acid, B6 and B12 and zinc (and have it still taste like chocolate :D ) then they would have the perfect vitamin for osteoporosis!
Vita K is a natural blood thinner so you do have to keep in mind how much you take if you also take other things that act as natural blood thinners such as Vita E, Chondroitin, almonds and aspirn.
I just bought some chocolate calcium chews the other day (not Viactiv but Long's generic brand which was $2 cheaper) and they had vitamins D and K in them.
Now, if they could only figure out a way to add magnesium, folic acid, B6 and B12 and zinc (and have it still taste like chocolate :D ) then they would have the perfect vitamin for osteoporosis!
Aleta145
02-03-2005, 04:05 PM
I ordered the book "Myths of Osteoporosis" from Amazon after reading your earlier post, and skimmed over it last night. That was the best $17 I have spent in quite a while, and confirms for me that the big "Osteoporosis" scare is yet (with obvious exceptions for legitimate cases) another "invented disease" to benefit the Pharmaceutical companies.
I think it bears repeating that having low bone mineral density does NOT mean that your bones are structurally unsound or fragile. The fact that low BMD is being used as the criteria to diagnose Osteoporosis is just wrong, and should be based on bones that fracture after minimal trauma, as the book states had been done in the past (conveniently before the creation of drugs like Fosamax).
Jasmine, I have also just finished reading The Myth of Osteoporosis and I agree that it bears repeating that low BMD = future fractures is just WRONG.
Snowmelts, I totally understand your suspicion about any book that goes against mainstream thinking, but if you read it, you'll see that the author gives references for every assertion she makes and you can go read the research and come to your own conclusions. She spent long hours in medical libraries looking up every bit of info she could find on osteoporosis because her whole family was diagnosed with it, from her parents on down to her children. If she sells a few books after all that time and effort, I say bully for her. She has done a service for those of us who don't have the time or resources to do what she did.
I don't know anything about your tic, but hope it has improved since going off the Fosomax. My husband has been complaining for years about his dry eyes. He's been on Fosomax for about 5 years now and I don't remember him having a problem with dry eyes before that.
I think it bears repeating that having low bone mineral density does NOT mean that your bones are structurally unsound or fragile. The fact that low BMD is being used as the criteria to diagnose Osteoporosis is just wrong, and should be based on bones that fracture after minimal trauma, as the book states had been done in the past (conveniently before the creation of drugs like Fosamax).
Jasmine, I have also just finished reading The Myth of Osteoporosis and I agree that it bears repeating that low BMD = future fractures is just WRONG.
Snowmelts, I totally understand your suspicion about any book that goes against mainstream thinking, but if you read it, you'll see that the author gives references for every assertion she makes and you can go read the research and come to your own conclusions. She spent long hours in medical libraries looking up every bit of info she could find on osteoporosis because her whole family was diagnosed with it, from her parents on down to her children. If she sells a few books after all that time and effort, I say bully for her. She has done a service for those of us who don't have the time or resources to do what she did.
I don't know anything about your tic, but hope it has improved since going off the Fosomax. My husband has been complaining for years about his dry eyes. He's been on Fosomax for about 5 years now and I don't remember him having a problem with dry eyes before that.
Oldbones
02-03-2005, 05:43 PM
Aleta: Within the last few years, women's health has been a focus of the medical industry. This was done primarily because women felt that not enough attention was paid to women's health problems. Then newer and improved equipment (such as DEXA) is developed to test women for potential bone problems before a fracture happens. In some cases, hip fractures are fatal........especially with the elderly. My mother just suffered a hip fracture and will never be able to take care of herself again. It's a sad situation. She had never had a bone density test.
Should we women NOT have a DEXA scan if they mean nothing? Can you imagine how many malpractice suits a doctor would face if a DEXA scan was done and he didn't advice the patient that there are drugs that could help? If a DEXA scan is not reliable, should he just not suggest that a person have one done? Or should he not inform the patient that a DEXA scan is available but leave it up to the patient to decide if she/he wants it done and wait until the patient asks the doctor for a scan.......then advise that there are meds available that will help. I don't buy into the Myth that a woman should suffer a fracture to be diagnosed with osteoporosis.
Every person is different but if you have a BMD that shows osteoporosis, you never know who will suffer a fracture until it happens. So what do you do.......? Try to prevent a fracture or wait until it happens? After it happens (as it did to me), your life changes and nothing is ever the same. If I had a DEXA scan before my fractures, I would have been very upset with my doctor if he had not told me there were some meds out there that might help.
This is just my opinion. I know everyone is in charge of their own health but to ignore the results of a DEXA scan is not a good idea IMHO. As my health is at the point, due to 2 fractured feet, a global fracture of the hip and possible vertebral fractures, I have to say try to take care of the bone problems before things get worse. I'm 55 and I would so much love to be able to do the things I could a little over a year ago. I feel like my usefulness has been taken away from me.
I hope that I don't offend anyone who believes firmly in the "Myths of Osteoporosis". It's just that her (the author's) opinion and her library and other research is not for all of us.
Hoping for better bone health for everyone!
~Oldbones
Should we women NOT have a DEXA scan if they mean nothing? Can you imagine how many malpractice suits a doctor would face if a DEXA scan was done and he didn't advice the patient that there are drugs that could help? If a DEXA scan is not reliable, should he just not suggest that a person have one done? Or should he not inform the patient that a DEXA scan is available but leave it up to the patient to decide if she/he wants it done and wait until the patient asks the doctor for a scan.......then advise that there are meds available that will help. I don't buy into the Myth that a woman should suffer a fracture to be diagnosed with osteoporosis.
Every person is different but if you have a BMD that shows osteoporosis, you never know who will suffer a fracture until it happens. So what do you do.......? Try to prevent a fracture or wait until it happens? After it happens (as it did to me), your life changes and nothing is ever the same. If I had a DEXA scan before my fractures, I would have been very upset with my doctor if he had not told me there were some meds out there that might help.
This is just my opinion. I know everyone is in charge of their own health but to ignore the results of a DEXA scan is not a good idea IMHO. As my health is at the point, due to 2 fractured feet, a global fracture of the hip and possible vertebral fractures, I have to say try to take care of the bone problems before things get worse. I'm 55 and I would so much love to be able to do the things I could a little over a year ago. I feel like my usefulness has been taken away from me.
I hope that I don't offend anyone who believes firmly in the "Myths of Osteoporosis". It's just that her (the author's) opinion and her library and other research is not for all of us.
Hoping for better bone health for everyone!
~Oldbones
snowmelts
02-03-2005, 10:32 PM
Well have seen the Dr again. Lost another quarter inch in height since last January..Anyway long story short..
the Dr agreeded to prescribe Evista to attempt to help my osteoporosis since I tole her I was leary of the Fosamax. I will start the Evista this weekend. Yes, I looked it up.. worst problem it can cause is blood clots.. everything can have a "possible" situation it seems. So I picked up some Alfalfa cuz it has K which is a natural blood thinner.. I'll take it to help prevent and blood getting too thick from Evista I guess. (I don't have a better idea)
We are taking X-rays again of my back cuz I am having some unhappy situations which the Dr thinks are emenateing from there.. (I'll bet the Scolosis is worst too). We've Xrayed the hip cuz that area has a lot of pain but the hip is FINE in the Xray so we are going to do an MRI of the hip.
My height and my back are proof enough for me to tell me I have the osteoporosis that the scan says I have,. I also dread the day I look in the mirrow and see my mothers horribly bent back on me! So this weekend I'll try the Evista.
Even with a perscription (like Fosamax or Evista) you must take lots of calcium, D and magnesium and do the excercises just like you guys who don't take the perscriptions.
BTW.. about broken bones. My elderly mother is 77 and the only broken bone she ever had was in her foot when she stubbed it extremely drasically acouple decades ago.
YET.. her back is a complete upside down U.. a true hump. Her spine below it is actually an "S" curve. It's quite visibe to the naked eye. OH yeah those osteoporosis caused little hairline cracks (that you never feel) sure mount up. Now the spine being all out of shape pulls at the muscles and causes horrid pain.. she takes pills (Ultram) to combat that pain. This is what I'm trying to avoid, not a broken arm. Sadly the "S" curse in my back has already started. It was 10% bent convexly to the left last January.. and todays Xray is gonna say if it's worse or not.
I do hope the Evista helps and does not give me worse side effects.
Anyone have troubles with Evista?
Anyone have a good result with Evista?
the Dr agreeded to prescribe Evista to attempt to help my osteoporosis since I tole her I was leary of the Fosamax. I will start the Evista this weekend. Yes, I looked it up.. worst problem it can cause is blood clots.. everything can have a "possible" situation it seems. So I picked up some Alfalfa cuz it has K which is a natural blood thinner.. I'll take it to help prevent and blood getting too thick from Evista I guess. (I don't have a better idea)
We are taking X-rays again of my back cuz I am having some unhappy situations which the Dr thinks are emenateing from there.. (I'll bet the Scolosis is worst too). We've Xrayed the hip cuz that area has a lot of pain but the hip is FINE in the Xray so we are going to do an MRI of the hip.
My height and my back are proof enough for me to tell me I have the osteoporosis that the scan says I have,. I also dread the day I look in the mirrow and see my mothers horribly bent back on me! So this weekend I'll try the Evista.
Even with a perscription (like Fosamax or Evista) you must take lots of calcium, D and magnesium and do the excercises just like you guys who don't take the perscriptions.
BTW.. about broken bones. My elderly mother is 77 and the only broken bone she ever had was in her foot when she stubbed it extremely drasically acouple decades ago.
YET.. her back is a complete upside down U.. a true hump. Her spine below it is actually an "S" curve. It's quite visibe to the naked eye. OH yeah those osteoporosis caused little hairline cracks (that you never feel) sure mount up. Now the spine being all out of shape pulls at the muscles and causes horrid pain.. she takes pills (Ultram) to combat that pain. This is what I'm trying to avoid, not a broken arm. Sadly the "S" curse in my back has already started. It was 10% bent convexly to the left last January.. and todays Xray is gonna say if it's worse or not.
I do hope the Evista helps and does not give me worse side effects.
Anyone have troubles with Evista?
Anyone have a good result with Evista?
Oldbones
02-04-2005, 04:13 AM
Anyone have troubles with Evista?
Anyone have a good result with Evista?Snowmelts......You are soooo right. Seems like every drug has some sort of side effect. Nothing is ever entirely safe. I really....really hope the Evista helps you. Hopefully you can find something that will stop the vertebrae fractures so that you won't have the oh so painful curved spine that your mother has. I'm also sorry that you have shrunk another quarter inch. :( I have never taken Evista and know very little about it but I do have a friend who is taking it after having gastric bypass surgery.
I've mentioned before that my great aunt had a horribly curved spine. My mother's has been curved for years and she has had back pain as long as I can remember. She has only had the one major fracture and that was her hip. This happened three months ago. However, all these years, she apparently was developing the hairline cracks in her spine which was causing the dowagers hump in her back to grow worse. When she has her hair done, she can't even lean back to have her hair washed because of the curve in her spine. I'm just like you......I don't want to be that way and I'm doing all I can to prevent it......just as you are.
I sure hope your MRI goes well. That's how they found my hip fracture. I kept telling the doctors that it hurt really bad. The doctors couldn't believe that I had a hip fracture at age 54 with no trauma. The MRI made a believer out of them. (BTW, my first regular x-ray of my hip didn't show a fracture).
Oldbones :yawn:
Anyone have a good result with Evista?Snowmelts......You are soooo right. Seems like every drug has some sort of side effect. Nothing is ever entirely safe. I really....really hope the Evista helps you. Hopefully you can find something that will stop the vertebrae fractures so that you won't have the oh so painful curved spine that your mother has. I'm also sorry that you have shrunk another quarter inch. :( I have never taken Evista and know very little about it but I do have a friend who is taking it after having gastric bypass surgery.
I've mentioned before that my great aunt had a horribly curved spine. My mother's has been curved for years and she has had back pain as long as I can remember. She has only had the one major fracture and that was her hip. This happened three months ago. However, all these years, she apparently was developing the hairline cracks in her spine which was causing the dowagers hump in her back to grow worse. When she has her hair done, she can't even lean back to have her hair washed because of the curve in her spine. I'm just like you......I don't want to be that way and I'm doing all I can to prevent it......just as you are.
I sure hope your MRI goes well. That's how they found my hip fracture. I kept telling the doctors that it hurt really bad. The doctors couldn't believe that I had a hip fracture at age 54 with no trauma. The MRI made a believer out of them. (BTW, my first regular x-ray of my hip didn't show a fracture).
Oldbones :yawn:
Aleta145
02-04-2005, 04:04 PM
Every person is different but if you have a BMD that shows osteoporosis, you never know who will suffer a fracture until it happens. So what do you do.......? Try to prevent a fracture or wait until it happens? After it happens (as it did to me), your life changes and nothing is ever the same. If I had a DEXA scan before my fractures, I would have been very upset with my doctor if he had not told me there were some meds out there that might help.
You have a very good point there, Oldbones. However, that's not the message that Ms. Sanson is trying to convey in her book. (That's the problem with debating the merits of a book you haven't read.) She doesn't advocate not getting a DEXA scan. She advocates using it as just one of many indicators on which to base a diagnosis and treatment, and to use Z scores instead of T scores. (I'm not going to get into the problems with the DEXA machines themselves. Do a Google search using Miller pitfalls bone as the search words and read the associated abstract.) The problem is that so many well women are being scared into taking drugs based solely on that one thing, low BMD, when they may not need it at all.
The research to support this is out there. If you read the results of the huge Fracture Intervention Trial, you will see that while all of the women receiving Fosamax did gain BMD, it did not have a significant effect on preventing fractures in women who had low BMD without previous fractures. The numbers of new fractures occuring during the study in those women were already very low, something like 3% of 4000+ women if I remember correctly. The group taking Fosomax dropped to 2%. To put it in perspective using Numbers Needed to Treat, 60 women without fractures or other risk factors other than low BMD would have to take Fosamax for 3 years in order to prevent ONE compression fracture, with the other 59 women being treated with an expensive drug whose long-term side effects are unkown at this time.
Since I don't know your story, I can't speak to the likelihood that you might have been diagnosed early, before your fractures. Apparently, the more risk factors you have, the higher your likelihood to have future ostoporosis-related fractures. I don't remember all of the risk factors, but a few are: age, corticosteroid use, hyperparathyroidism, smoking, other health problems, lack of exercise, early menopause, moderate-to-heavy coffee consumption, small frame/slim physique, and others. There were some 16 in all, I just don't remember them all.
It is my understanding that the research is not aiming to underdiagnose those like yourself who would've obviously benefited from early intervention. It only indicates that the disease may be being overdiagnosed and that many well women are now on medication they may not need and that could potentially harm them. I am hoping that I fall into that category, but I can't know for sure unless I ask for some other reinforcement of the diagnosis, such as a spinal X-ray, urinary calcium, testing for HPT etc. Until that time I have postponed treatment with any kind of biphosphonate including the Zometa which I now have grave reservations about.
Meanwhile, I'll continue taking Evista (I'm in my 4th month of taking it) because I am a breast cancer survivor and my oncologist has me on it temporarily until I become post-menopausal. So far I haven't had any adverse effects, but then I didn't have side-effects from Tamoxifen either and a lot of women have trouble with that.
You have a very good point there, Oldbones. However, that's not the message that Ms. Sanson is trying to convey in her book. (That's the problem with debating the merits of a book you haven't read.) She doesn't advocate not getting a DEXA scan. She advocates using it as just one of many indicators on which to base a diagnosis and treatment, and to use Z scores instead of T scores. (I'm not going to get into the problems with the DEXA machines themselves. Do a Google search using Miller pitfalls bone as the search words and read the associated abstract.) The problem is that so many well women are being scared into taking drugs based solely on that one thing, low BMD, when they may not need it at all.
The research to support this is out there. If you read the results of the huge Fracture Intervention Trial, you will see that while all of the women receiving Fosamax did gain BMD, it did not have a significant effect on preventing fractures in women who had low BMD without previous fractures. The numbers of new fractures occuring during the study in those women were already very low, something like 3% of 4000+ women if I remember correctly. The group taking Fosomax dropped to 2%. To put it in perspective using Numbers Needed to Treat, 60 women without fractures or other risk factors other than low BMD would have to take Fosamax for 3 years in order to prevent ONE compression fracture, with the other 59 women being treated with an expensive drug whose long-term side effects are unkown at this time.
Since I don't know your story, I can't speak to the likelihood that you might have been diagnosed early, before your fractures. Apparently, the more risk factors you have, the higher your likelihood to have future ostoporosis-related fractures. I don't remember all of the risk factors, but a few are: age, corticosteroid use, hyperparathyroidism, smoking, other health problems, lack of exercise, early menopause, moderate-to-heavy coffee consumption, small frame/slim physique, and others. There were some 16 in all, I just don't remember them all.
It is my understanding that the research is not aiming to underdiagnose those like yourself who would've obviously benefited from early intervention. It only indicates that the disease may be being overdiagnosed and that many well women are now on medication they may not need and that could potentially harm them. I am hoping that I fall into that category, but I can't know for sure unless I ask for some other reinforcement of the diagnosis, such as a spinal X-ray, urinary calcium, testing for HPT etc. Until that time I have postponed treatment with any kind of biphosphonate including the Zometa which I now have grave reservations about.
Meanwhile, I'll continue taking Evista (I'm in my 4th month of taking it) because I am a breast cancer survivor and my oncologist has me on it temporarily until I become post-menopausal. So far I haven't had any adverse effects, but then I didn't have side-effects from Tamoxifen either and a lot of women have trouble with that.
snowmelts
02-04-2005, 06:30 PM
Snowmelts..
I sure hope your MRI goes well. That's how they found my hip fracture. I kept telling the doctors that it hurt really bad. The doctors couldn't believe that I had a hip fracture at age 54 with no trauma. The MRI made a believer out of them. (BTW, my first regular x-ray of my hip didn't show a fracture).
Oldbones :yawn:
REALLY? oh my. Well, the pics will tell the story if we get the right pics I guess. I hope they find my problem and I also hope it's fixable cuz I am really tired of the problem already!
I sure hope your MRI goes well. That's how they found my hip fracture. I kept telling the doctors that it hurt really bad. The doctors couldn't believe that I had a hip fracture at age 54 with no trauma. The MRI made a believer out of them. (BTW, my first regular x-ray of my hip didn't show a fracture).
Oldbones :yawn:
REALLY? oh my. Well, the pics will tell the story if we get the right pics I guess. I hope they find my problem and I also hope it's fixable cuz I am really tired of the problem already!
snowmelts
02-10-2005, 03:17 PM
Well drat. The Evista made me very sick very fast. Can't take any more of that one.
suggi
02-15-2005, 04:28 PM
iI was replying to Snowmelts when I hit the wrong key and it was gone so forgive me if I am repeating myself. Sorry Evista made you sick. I have been on Evista for over a year and while I never had any side effects my bones just keep going down per BD test and URNTX urine test. I am allergic to most drugs and get side effects from the others so I am reluctant to give up the Evista. I have gone to 3 endos. The first said I was going to be dust, the 2nd wants me to get Zometa allergy testing and the 3rd gave me samples of liquid Fosamax. I have bad gastritis, esophagitis and acid reflux that is not controlled by 60 mg of Prevacid and 300 mg of zantac and I am afraid to take the Fosamax. She said if I can't take that she will give me IV Pamidronate every 3 months. Well, that is just as bad as the Zometa or worse. I have osteoarthritis of the jaw joint and my oncologist (I had a mastectomy for DCIS) said Zometa will probably give you osteonecrosis of the jaw then if there is already a problem. Also, the risk of kidney failure. At least Zometa is only once a year. Can you imagine every 3 months. I wouldn't stant a chance. I am going to see my gastro doc Friday re Fosamax. I really want to go back to HRT as I was on steroids for Crohn's disease from July 2001 to March 2002 while on HRT and my bone density never moved. My gynacologist (and it seems no one) will give me the HRT because of the breast cancer. Said it could come back more aggresive/invasive if I go on it again. Well, I could get it back anyway and the way I look at it, I'd rather chance that and stabilize my bones until they come up with something else I can take rather than die of osteo. Can't take Forteo because I had radiation to the thymus gland 2x as a kid. Any one out there with any suggestions????? Thanks. :eek:
snowmelts
02-15-2005, 07:15 PM
WOW. That sounds like you are stuck between a rock and hard place alright.
My MRI is back.. hip is sound as dollar! No OA, no cracks, no fractures.. nice solid hip. ;) BUT The Bursa are very thickened, irrittated and inflamed. Greater Trochanteric Bursitis is a diagnosis that actually made me happy!!!
My PCP is gonna send me to an orthopedic center to see the Doc there because of course I really need rid of this hip pain but we know the bursitis is really caused by the (OA) Degenerative Disk Disease and Scolosis in my spine pulling the muscles on my hip. So she's handing me and my bone aches and pains over to them. I'll see them next week.
We had a long talk about the osteoporosis pills. I told her since my bone scan does show the osteoporosis but it is "borderline" amount (well I'll admit losing 2" in height is a sobering reality borderline or not)..I'd like to wait till fall or even next winter and rescan (It's been one year now since my first scan that was -2.4 in my spine where it is worst) to see how fast its progressing before I commit myself to another med. In the meantime I will try to take excellant care of my spine, and later we'll discuss pill options again. Who knows by then there maybe better options will be available.
I also have an appointment in mid March to see an eye specialist about the eye tic.. see if he thinks its from Fosamax.. the tic is still there but it is much better. My eyes are a bit less dry too (they will remain dry because of other problems but they are less dry feeling). This Dr is really the one that help me decide if I want Fosamax back or not. For me, risking my eyes is NOT an option.
The discussions on these boards about Fosamax and eyes is really the one thing that worried me about the Fosamax.. otherwise I'd still be taking it, side effects and all. But nothing can be allowed to mess up my eyes. The tic was a worrisome problem but I had not connected it to Fosamax till I read these threads. I can't hear, so my eyes have to gather all the communication from the world. I MUST be certain the Fosamax is not is bothering this eye before I consider stating it again.
That sounds like a logical plan? Right?
My MRI is back.. hip is sound as dollar! No OA, no cracks, no fractures.. nice solid hip. ;) BUT The Bursa are very thickened, irrittated and inflamed. Greater Trochanteric Bursitis is a diagnosis that actually made me happy!!!
My PCP is gonna send me to an orthopedic center to see the Doc there because of course I really need rid of this hip pain but we know the bursitis is really caused by the (OA) Degenerative Disk Disease and Scolosis in my spine pulling the muscles on my hip. So she's handing me and my bone aches and pains over to them. I'll see them next week.
We had a long talk about the osteoporosis pills. I told her since my bone scan does show the osteoporosis but it is "borderline" amount (well I'll admit losing 2" in height is a sobering reality borderline or not)..I'd like to wait till fall or even next winter and rescan (It's been one year now since my first scan that was -2.4 in my spine where it is worst) to see how fast its progressing before I commit myself to another med. In the meantime I will try to take excellant care of my spine, and later we'll discuss pill options again. Who knows by then there maybe better options will be available.
I also have an appointment in mid March to see an eye specialist about the eye tic.. see if he thinks its from Fosamax.. the tic is still there but it is much better. My eyes are a bit less dry too (they will remain dry because of other problems but they are less dry feeling). This Dr is really the one that help me decide if I want Fosamax back or not. For me, risking my eyes is NOT an option.
The discussions on these boards about Fosamax and eyes is really the one thing that worried me about the Fosamax.. otherwise I'd still be taking it, side effects and all. But nothing can be allowed to mess up my eyes. The tic was a worrisome problem but I had not connected it to Fosamax till I read these threads. I can't hear, so my eyes have to gather all the communication from the world. I MUST be certain the Fosamax is not is bothering this eye before I consider stating it again.
That sounds like a logical plan? Right?
Linni
02-15-2005, 09:58 PM
I am new to this board, this is the first time I've posted, altho I have read every single posting on osteoporosis. I'd been on Fosamax for 2 1/2 years- I went off it in the fall when a bone density test revealed that my bones were WORSE than 2.5 years ago. I was shocked- well, I was shocked when I was first diagnosed. I'm large boned, never smoked, I lift weights, run and very physically active and have always watched my diet. So, I went on Fosamax. I had no digestion problems with the drug, but in the last year I have had SEVERE muscle pains in my legs. I can walk, and sit, but standing for any length of time is very painful - like standing in a grocery line, etc. Could this be the Fosamax? Before I went on Fosamax I used to run, I've had to stop that and now I just walk. I still have these pains, but I also hear that Fosamax has a half-life. I'm 54 and haven't had a period in a year, and have elected not to go on HRT, altho now I'm wondering if Fosamax is worse! Has anyone had these leg pains? My doctor wants to put me on Evista. I'm so unsure about all of this. It's very depressing. I would like to do this on diet & exercise alone. My hips are -2.91 and my spine is -1.94
Linni
Linni
snowmelts
02-15-2005, 10:31 PM
Welcome to heathboards, Linni
Sadly I can't advise you because as you can see I'm confussed myself.
I do think it's a shame we can't trust drugs to not kill us while helping us. You would think the "bad" ones would never get approval..but that doesn't seem to be the way of it.
Sadly I can't advise you because as you can see I'm confussed myself.
I do think it's a shame we can't trust drugs to not kill us while helping us. You would think the "bad" ones would never get approval..but that doesn't seem to be the way of it.
Linni
02-15-2005, 11:53 PM
Thanks for the welcome! Since this has happened to me, I've been reading, and researching osteoporosis. I bought and read The Myth of Osteoporosis, and have done major web searching on the subject (which is how I found this very informative board). I guess I want to know whether anyone else has had severe leg pains with this drug, and is it better to go through all the side effects of a drug and have it work - maybe a little - or to go off it? My doctor says had I not taken the drug, my numbers might have been worse, 'might have' being the operative words.
dmarlowphc
02-17-2005, 08:13 PM
THANK YOU. I wrote down the name of the med you mentioned and I'm seeing the Dr on the 31 st so I will defiantely inquire about this one!!! Thank you very much for mentioning it. I did not know it existed.
Yes I too have both osteoporosis as well as osteoarthritis. So far, thankfully, no known broken bones! It's the unknown sneaky spinal cracks that bend the back that I worry about getting..you know.
Snowmelts, I'm a truck driver and have just come home for a couple days. Hope the dr. could help you and the miacalcin will work for you. I fell again a couple weeks ago up in Maryland on the snow and ice. Re-hurt my wrist, but don't think it's broke. Didn't have it xrayed. Can't afford to be off work any more. At least emotionally. The spinal fractures are bad. I have lost 3 inches in height in the last 10 years and my back hurts all the time. The dr. has put me on new meds for my arthritis and the muscle spasms that go along with the back pain. Don't know how much longer I will be able to hold out to work. I'm single and 51 years old and I don't have much choice. I just keep praying the LORD will give me strength to keep going. My arthritis was diagnosed when I was 19, and I have had constant back pain for at least 30 years. They used to tell me it was fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. Of course now I know differently, but it's a little late. Even though I have taken calcium and vitamin d for years, I wasn't getting enough to do any good. Now I am taking 2400 mgs a day, plus the miacalcin. Sure hope it works. I had a patient one time, when I was still in nursing, that had osteoporosis so bad, we could not even pick her up or turn her over in bed with out breaking her bones. She didn't live long after she came to the nursing home. She died from a secondary infection in a ulcer on her rectum that she had when she came to our home. A very sweet lady, but it has given me nightmares ever since over how fragile her bones were. I hope they can get yours under control before it gets this bad. It gets so depressing sometimes. There is never any relief! I am not near as bad as that lady was and she always had a smile on her face. Some days, all I can do is cry. I have never told anyone this. I don't know why I'm telling you, except, maybe someone will read this and make sure they get to a dr. and get checked out. The drs. know so much more about all of this now, than they use to. Take care and just ask God to keep you strong. He has me for many years!!! :wave:
Yes I too have both osteoporosis as well as osteoarthritis. So far, thankfully, no known broken bones! It's the unknown sneaky spinal cracks that bend the back that I worry about getting..you know.
Snowmelts, I'm a truck driver and have just come home for a couple days. Hope the dr. could help you and the miacalcin will work for you. I fell again a couple weeks ago up in Maryland on the snow and ice. Re-hurt my wrist, but don't think it's broke. Didn't have it xrayed. Can't afford to be off work any more. At least emotionally. The spinal fractures are bad. I have lost 3 inches in height in the last 10 years and my back hurts all the time. The dr. has put me on new meds for my arthritis and the muscle spasms that go along with the back pain. Don't know how much longer I will be able to hold out to work. I'm single and 51 years old and I don't have much choice. I just keep praying the LORD will give me strength to keep going. My arthritis was diagnosed when I was 19, and I have had constant back pain for at least 30 years. They used to tell me it was fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. Of course now I know differently, but it's a little late. Even though I have taken calcium and vitamin d for years, I wasn't getting enough to do any good. Now I am taking 2400 mgs a day, plus the miacalcin. Sure hope it works. I had a patient one time, when I was still in nursing, that had osteoporosis so bad, we could not even pick her up or turn her over in bed with out breaking her bones. She didn't live long after she came to the nursing home. She died from a secondary infection in a ulcer on her rectum that she had when she came to our home. A very sweet lady, but it has given me nightmares ever since over how fragile her bones were. I hope they can get yours under control before it gets this bad. It gets so depressing sometimes. There is never any relief! I am not near as bad as that lady was and she always had a smile on her face. Some days, all I can do is cry. I have never told anyone this. I don't know why I'm telling you, except, maybe someone will read this and make sure they get to a dr. and get checked out. The drs. know so much more about all of this now, than they use to. Take care and just ask God to keep you strong. He has me for many years!!! :wave:
lindajo
02-24-2005, 07:45 PM
Hello, everyone! I decided to register so I could tell you my experiences with Fosamax.
First, my aunt told me a couple of years ago that her doctor had put her on the "drug" for osteoporosis. It wasn't too long before she began complaining to me that she had joint pain and that food no longer tasted good, that she almost gagged when she tried to eat. She was also suffering eye troubles. Two years after beginning treatment, she began falling down with what the doc called seizures for want of a better term. She would become completely disoriented after these "episodes". I began to wonder if Fosamax could be responsible, since she had none of these problems prior to taking it. So, I came home and began researching the drug.
I discovered that Fosamax is the same poison acid that takes the soap scum off your bathtub. The reason one cannot lie down after taking it for at least 30 minutes, is that if reflux occurs, it will burn your esophagus and throat. It also burns the stomach, intestines and liver, so that you can get ulcers. Fosamax does not build living bone. All it does is kill the osteoclasts that remove old dead bone. Because of this, the osteoblasts cannot build in new, living bone like they should. So your bone scans show increased density, but it is layers of dead bone that have not been removed. This causes the bones to be weaker than they were to begin with.
A dear friend of mine at my church began having the same symptoms as my aunt. She ended up in the hospital because she was falling down with these same "seizures", had the joint pain, and eye trouble as well as stomach hurt. I asked her if she were taking Fosamax. The answer was "yes!" She stopped taking it and has had no further "seizures". She had started walking with a cane because her joints had gotten so bad, but now she can walk without just fine. My sister and I have discovered 8 people in our churches and neighborhoods who have the same symptoms and are all taking Fosamax. This is no coincidence. Even my doctor says we are on to something here.
Unfortunately for my aunt, her daughter says she must obey doctor's orders and keep taking the "drug". They've taken away her car and her townhouse, put her into assisted living. She is down to 77 pounds now with her clothes on. It is killing her - I fully expect her to die from it. No amount of reasoning will change the mind of her doctor. She claims if I were right, the company or the FDA would have come up with these side effects. Trouble is, no doctors are connecting these symptoms with Fosamax, just like they didn't with Vioxx, which is made by the same company and was not properly tested long-range. So, please do not take this drug. It is devastating. There are other drug companies that are making Fosamax under different names, so beware of those, too. Have any of you suffered seizure-like or ministroke-like episodes on this drug? My prayer is that the word will get out before millions are hurt or killed by it. Lindajo
First, my aunt told me a couple of years ago that her doctor had put her on the "drug" for osteoporosis. It wasn't too long before she began complaining to me that she had joint pain and that food no longer tasted good, that she almost gagged when she tried to eat. She was also suffering eye troubles. Two years after beginning treatment, she began falling down with what the doc called seizures for want of a better term. She would become completely disoriented after these "episodes". I began to wonder if Fosamax could be responsible, since she had none of these problems prior to taking it. So, I came home and began researching the drug.
I discovered that Fosamax is the same poison acid that takes the soap scum off your bathtub. The reason one cannot lie down after taking it for at least 30 minutes, is that if reflux occurs, it will burn your esophagus and throat. It also burns the stomach, intestines and liver, so that you can get ulcers. Fosamax does not build living bone. All it does is kill the osteoclasts that remove old dead bone. Because of this, the osteoblasts cannot build in new, living bone like they should. So your bone scans show increased density, but it is layers of dead bone that have not been removed. This causes the bones to be weaker than they were to begin with.
A dear friend of mine at my church began having the same symptoms as my aunt. She ended up in the hospital because she was falling down with these same "seizures", had the joint pain, and eye trouble as well as stomach hurt. I asked her if she were taking Fosamax. The answer was "yes!" She stopped taking it and has had no further "seizures". She had started walking with a cane because her joints had gotten so bad, but now she can walk without just fine. My sister and I have discovered 8 people in our churches and neighborhoods who have the same symptoms and are all taking Fosamax. This is no coincidence. Even my doctor says we are on to something here.
Unfortunately for my aunt, her daughter says she must obey doctor's orders and keep taking the "drug". They've taken away her car and her townhouse, put her into assisted living. She is down to 77 pounds now with her clothes on. It is killing her - I fully expect her to die from it. No amount of reasoning will change the mind of her doctor. She claims if I were right, the company or the FDA would have come up with these side effects. Trouble is, no doctors are connecting these symptoms with Fosamax, just like they didn't with Vioxx, which is made by the same company and was not properly tested long-range. So, please do not take this drug. It is devastating. There are other drug companies that are making Fosamax under different names, so beware of those, too. Have any of you suffered seizure-like or ministroke-like episodes on this drug? My prayer is that the word will get out before millions are hurt or killed by it. Lindajo
Marimac
02-24-2005, 08:05 PM
I was prescribed fosomax and have decided not to take it too. I don't think that osteoporosis is as big a problem as it is made out to be. I do believe that osteoarthritis is a major pain and problem and that the research should be going towards that rather than osteoporosis. I have no special training in the subject but I do know quack medicine when I hear about it. Osteoporosis is one of those snake oil diagnoses, that no one even can agree what the standards are so it is a relative diagnosis. It is like saying my fingers are deformed if they are not as long as yours or something.... I do know people suffer from pain, but I think the pain is caused by something other than osteoporosis.
Barbarag
05-15-2005, 07:53 PM
Hello,
I'm new to this Board. I am looking for people who have taken Fosamax who have suffered from loss of dental bone as a result. Last week the periodontist opened up my dental implant and found significant bone loss, which he filled with synthetic bone. I had discontinued Fosamax because of concern about also using antibiotics. When I asked if I could resume Fosamax, he told me about evidence that it caused osteonecrosis of the jaw. Sure enough, I have found mention of this on the web. The lay person's best explanation is from a USA Today article in March -
[URL=http://www.med.miami.edu/communications/som_news/index.asp?id=430]
Barbara
I'm new to this Board. I am looking for people who have taken Fosamax who have suffered from loss of dental bone as a result. Last week the periodontist opened up my dental implant and found significant bone loss, which he filled with synthetic bone. I had discontinued Fosamax because of concern about also using antibiotics. When I asked if I could resume Fosamax, he told me about evidence that it caused osteonecrosis of the jaw. Sure enough, I have found mention of this on the web. The lay person's best explanation is from a USA Today article in March -
[URL=http://www.med.miami.edu/communications/som_news/index.asp?id=430]
Barbara
snowmelts
05-15-2005, 08:20 PM
It's been awhile since my first post in this thread.. so I'll update about the eye tic.. I DID stay off the Fosamx all this time and have decided not to re-start it.. my dry eyes are simply too dry already..
The Opthmalogist said the tic my eyelid 's own attempt to massage my eye because I have such drastic Dry Eye Syndrom. He said yes Fosamax does definately dry the eye and so does the Neurontin I take. Staying off Fosamx is my only option here because the Neurontion is a necessity for me. It began for me during menopause and these meds just make it so much worse..
His advice was to massage my closed eyelids and directly around the eye area VERY gently with a baby wash or shampoo was that was the "no tears" kind. Just a little on my finger tips to make them slide. Basically the no tears kind so my eyes don't get irritated by accident during the massage. The massage will encourage the blood vessels to help retain more moisture in that area.
He also said when you are in the tub or showering place a wet steamy rather warm wash cloth loosely over your eyes for maybe 5 minutes.. this also helps the Dry Eye Syndrom. Sort of give the eyeballs a warm steam bath. Feels good too.
These concepts are working GREAT, my Tic is barely ticking now!!
It's a huge improvement over last winter's Eye lid Tic problem.
I still also use the drops for dry eyes cuz I'll have some Dry Eye Syndrom even without meds making it worse..
Anyway I'm still shrinking.. my cloths fit very badly but I'm not restarting the Fosamx.. I've got to have my eyes behave.
The Opthmalogist said the tic my eyelid 's own attempt to massage my eye because I have such drastic Dry Eye Syndrom. He said yes Fosamax does definately dry the eye and so does the Neurontin I take. Staying off Fosamx is my only option here because the Neurontion is a necessity for me. It began for me during menopause and these meds just make it so much worse..
His advice was to massage my closed eyelids and directly around the eye area VERY gently with a baby wash or shampoo was that was the "no tears" kind. Just a little on my finger tips to make them slide. Basically the no tears kind so my eyes don't get irritated by accident during the massage. The massage will encourage the blood vessels to help retain more moisture in that area.
He also said when you are in the tub or showering place a wet steamy rather warm wash cloth loosely over your eyes for maybe 5 minutes.. this also helps the Dry Eye Syndrom. Sort of give the eyeballs a warm steam bath. Feels good too.
These concepts are working GREAT, my Tic is barely ticking now!!
It's a huge improvement over last winter's Eye lid Tic problem.
I still also use the drops for dry eyes cuz I'll have some Dry Eye Syndrom even without meds making it worse..
Anyway I'm still shrinking.. my cloths fit very badly but I'm not restarting the Fosamx.. I've got to have my eyes behave.
taape
05-15-2005, 10:14 PM
Barbara,
I do have loss of bone on my teeth also. What is the synthetic bone called that your dentist used? I know that I've had the white colored fillings before but is the synthetic bone something different? I don't use Fosamax but I still have the problem and I use Flouride Dental rinse everyday.
Snowmelts,
Thanks for the update. I also have dry eyes from taking antihistamines and was getting ready to see the doctor because my eye was twitching alot and I didn't know why. Having dry eyes makes sense. I have eye drops which I guess I need to use more often. What do you mean your shrinking--are you loosing weight or do you mean bone loss. I hope your eye treatments continue to work for you.
I do have loss of bone on my teeth also. What is the synthetic bone called that your dentist used? I know that I've had the white colored fillings before but is the synthetic bone something different? I don't use Fosamax but I still have the problem and I use Flouride Dental rinse everyday.
Snowmelts,
Thanks for the update. I also have dry eyes from taking antihistamines and was getting ready to see the doctor because my eye was twitching alot and I didn't know why. Having dry eyes makes sense. I have eye drops which I guess I need to use more often. What do you mean your shrinking--are you loosing weight or do you mean bone loss. I hope your eye treatments continue to work for you.
snowmelts
05-16-2005, 12:41 AM
:D The word shrinking is what my son said.
He said "Mom you are shrinking"
and that is what promted me to have the bone scan about a year and half ago.
Yes, per the scan, I have defiante osteoporosis in my spine.
Per my height, measured by my DR, as of last January I have shrunk 2 inches.
My height is too short now for my "avg" slacks length to fit right but not short enough for "short" to fit right. Nothing fits :o
Nope I'm not loseing weight.. it's all just sort of redistributeing. :o
He said "Mom you are shrinking"
and that is what promted me to have the bone scan about a year and half ago.
Yes, per the scan, I have defiante osteoporosis in my spine.
Per my height, measured by my DR, as of last January I have shrunk 2 inches.
My height is too short now for my "avg" slacks length to fit right but not short enough for "short" to fit right. Nothing fits :o
Nope I'm not loseing weight.. it's all just sort of redistributeing. :o
Barbarag
05-30-2005, 03:09 PM
Taape,
I don't know the name of the synthetic bone my periodontist used, and think it would only apply to actual gaps in bone, not general bone loss (which I also have). He strongly advised me to avoid dental rinses with alcohol. My hygienist and doctor told me that Fosamax would not build bones in my mouth. A few years ago I had braces to correct my bite, which was causing loose teeth.
I don't know the name of the synthetic bone my periodontist used, and think it would only apply to actual gaps in bone, not general bone loss (which I also have). He strongly advised me to avoid dental rinses with alcohol. My hygienist and doctor told me that Fosamax would not build bones in my mouth. A few years ago I had braces to correct my bite, which was causing loose teeth.
taape
05-31-2005, 02:51 AM
Barbarag,
What are the actual gaps in bone you are referring to? How is that different than boss loss that can be seen in the teeth with or without xray?
What are the actual gaps in bone you are referring to? How is that different than boss loss that can be seen in the teeth with or without xray?
Barbarag
05-31-2005, 10:43 AM
I had a dental implant where my front tooth was in 1999. In 2003 I started Fosamax. Recently I had the sensation of movement in the tooth, and the dentist found an infection. Antibiotics and a laser treatment by the periodontist did not clear it up; when he opened it up, he found bone loss around the implant. After he removed infected bone he replaced it with about 1/4 tsp of synthetic bone. An associate of his had a patient on Fosamax who had lost so much bone around her 2 implants she was referred to an oral surgeon. He says there is no way to prove I lost this bone because of Fosamax, but it is completely unlike the bone loss in the rest of my mouth, which was caused by loose teeth, in my opinion.
sandrajones
06-07-2005, 08:42 PM
Looks like there is a link to severe jaw problems with people taking not only Fosamax, but also Zometa and aredia. You can find several research articles
by searching in Google, ***, or ***** for "zometa side effects" or "aredia side effects" or "fosamax side effects"
From what I can tell it is pretty severe.
by searching in Google, ***, or ***** for "zometa side effects" or "aredia side effects" or "fosamax side effects"
From what I can tell it is pretty severe.
healthy478
07-31-2005, 12:33 AM
Does anyone know if Fosamax can increase your muscle enzymes? My mothers has been taking Fosamax for about 2 years and is experiencing joint pain. I don't remember the exact name of the test she took, but her enzyme level is quite high.
Barbarag
07-31-2005, 03:47 PM
If you Google this topic you'll find many forum posts by others suffering joint pain as well. BTW, a friend's orthopedic surgeon told her recently that alendronates should and will be off the market due to serious side effects. I have posted here before about losing bone around my dental implant; my periodontist told me last week that the evidence of dental bone loss is now widespread and undeniable.
Barbara
Barbara
plc
07-31-2005, 09:52 PM
My dentist told me to stop taking alendronate, after 3 months of taking them I had horrible side effects( stomach, heart papaltions,and dental) My doctor told me my body had to get use to it, and that my side effects would pass. My medical test came back ok. Well one nite I woke up, stomach problems went to get a glass of milk,as I was drinking it few of my teeth began to hurt. Thought this was strange. Morning comes could not drink coffee pain was worst, eating was a problem also. call the dentist, saw me could not find a thing wrong, however when he sprayed water on the sensitive teeth I almost came off the chair...He ask me about new meds, I told him he said stop taking it for one month I bet this will disappear. He then told me he has seen this before, if it is the medicine stop it and contact your doctor, the problem stayed for one week, lost 3 lbs(not a bad thing)however when I was due to take another pill I didn't within 24 hrs the pain lessen, wk later gone along with all my other side effects. I threw my pills away......
BarbJ
08-05-2005, 10:23 PM
I just got back from the Drs., and got the results from my bone scan, said that there were beginings of Osteoporsis or how ever we spell it...in my left hip, and also that the bones in my lower back were detererating, hmmm I have had some back problems, but figured they were due to the hard back labor 20 years ago...I use to have major muscle spasms if I turn a certain way... so the Dr prescribed fosomax... and now after reading all these posts, Im deciding to not take it... to much risk...I noticed the package says you have to sit still for about 30 minutes, and dont eat or drink anything except clear water, what the heck for? sheesh...so I've decided to just take more calcium... Im scared, my gramma had the disease, Im very short, and smalled boned...what else should I do, I have high cholesterol I mean real high, I'm on lipator 40 mg... everytime I go back to the doctor theres always something new that comes up... I'm 53 and I feel 100 now...Im on a fixed income, and its hard to eat right... I also have 3 sons living with me. someone please tell me what else to do. Im not taking those pills!
plc
08-05-2005, 11:28 PM
I'm 52,tired fosmax and actenol, side effects were above and beyond. I stop taking them it took 1 month to feel my self again. Then in Jan I fell off my front stairs, actually clear all stairs and hit the walk way. I broke my right wrist. My doctor told me to drink 2 glasses aday of milk with ovalitine in it. You can find this at the supermarket. Well I did along with taking my calcium. ovaltine contains calcium in also.After 3weeks when they re x-ray my wrisit he could not believe the change. He told me that my bone was healing great infact ahead of sch. He ask me if I was taking the ovaltine. I told him I was. Since that fall I have been using it everyday. try that along with your calcium.
taape
08-05-2005, 11:41 PM
The suggestions from PLC sound good. You can take a calcium supplement and eat dairy products at intervals throughout the day. I couldn't stomach the Fosamax and stopped after three weeks. My T score was bad enough that I was started on Forteo and I don't have side effects. What were your T Score. I wonder what the doctor meant about your back deteriorating?
BarbJ
08-06-2005, 08:02 AM
I have no idea, I go to the county clinic, and I have to always speak up to get my test results, she didnt give me anymore info about it, so next apointment, I will ask for copys of my report, unfortunatly when you go to a public clinic, they treat you like your ignorant...I've had to request my results from my mamogram, cholesterol tests...ect. due to HIPPA you can no longer get results over the phone. Now that I have this Fosamax prescription that im not taking, I don't know what to do with the meds. Its going to gather dust along with the other meds I dont want to take, one good thing, at least I didn't have to pay alot of money for them...I was wondering, does this disease affect your teeth? what is safest amount of calcium you can take? Do I eat more dairy? I also have high cholesterol, so I'm limited on dairy, I've reduced to taking 2% milk, ect. Thanks.
taape
08-06-2005, 02:50 PM
BarbJ,
Yes, lack of calcium or ability to absorb calcium effects teeth not osteoporosis per se. I was having a ton of trouble with my teeth before I was diagnosed and didn't even know why. I was brushing my teeth regularly, getting several exams per year, flouride treatments, and still was having a ton of cavaties and cracked teeth. Although the Forteo isn't being prescribed for my teeth it keeps the calcium level in the system high enough for bone to grow. As a precaution I've been using a Flouride rinse (kind recommended for kids) everyday instead of just getting Flouride treatments at the dentist. There's also a Flouride prescription tooth paste you can get to use. I hope I'm not over doing it with flouride but so far in the last year I haven't had any cavaties, and no more teeth pulled.
Yes, lack of calcium or ability to absorb calcium effects teeth not osteoporosis per se. I was having a ton of trouble with my teeth before I was diagnosed and didn't even know why. I was brushing my teeth regularly, getting several exams per year, flouride treatments, and still was having a ton of cavaties and cracked teeth. Although the Forteo isn't being prescribed for my teeth it keeps the calcium level in the system high enough for bone to grow. As a precaution I've been using a Flouride rinse (kind recommended for kids) everyday instead of just getting Flouride treatments at the dentist. There's also a Flouride prescription tooth paste you can get to use. I hope I'm not over doing it with flouride but so far in the last year I haven't had any cavaties, and no more teeth pulled.
BarbJ
08-07-2005, 10:27 AM
Thanks, last night I had a mild attack of depression, thinking about all this medical stuff going on with me now. I broke down and cried, It is so overwhelming, first dealing with all of it, and the decisions about taking or not taking the drugs, what to eat, what I can't eat, thinking about what I have eaten in the past that has harmed my body now. They didn't give me the numbers like ya'll have, just told me my hip has it, and I have bone loss in my back, guess I better make an appointment for a consultation. If I don't ask, they wont tell me anything.I'm 4'9 and weigh 123, I guess it was bound to happen... I don't smoke and I rarely drink, I don't drink soda's... I'm at a loss.
taape
08-07-2005, 03:06 PM
BarbJ,
Medical stuff gets me overwhelmed sometimes too. If you live in the US there are laws that give you the right to have copies of medical reports and information about your own medical condition. Getting a consultation is a good idea too because you should have all the information about your condition so you can make an informed decision about how to treat your condition. I just took one thing at a time after being diagnosed. I changed my diet to add foods higher in calcium, then got the calcium supplements, and then took the Fosamax and found out that I couldn't tolerate it, then found another doctor and got started on Forteo. I hope things don't look so bleak this morning for you.
Medical stuff gets me overwhelmed sometimes too. If you live in the US there are laws that give you the right to have copies of medical reports and information about your own medical condition. Getting a consultation is a good idea too because you should have all the information about your condition so you can make an informed decision about how to treat your condition. I just took one thing at a time after being diagnosed. I changed my diet to add foods higher in calcium, then got the calcium supplements, and then took the Fosamax and found out that I couldn't tolerate it, then found another doctor and got started on Forteo. I hope things don't look so bleak this morning for you.
playagirl
08-19-2005, 05:24 PM
I was just diagnosed with osteopinia of the spine and osteo of the hip. I have an appointment with my gyn of Tuesday. I don't know what my scores are yet.
I am shocked and scared, I also am active and live a healthy lifestyle, gym, weights, juicing.
I went to a holistic doctor and he put me on boron picolinate and cal-ma plus and told me to call him when I find out what meds the gyn is putting me on.
I don't even want to mention this to my gyn knowing he probably won't agree with the holistic doctor, forget about the boron.
What natural course are you ladies trying instead of the meds?
Can you tell me can osteo/osteopinia be reversed with the meds or do the meds stop it where it is?
Do these meds have to be taken forever? I just can't stand the thought of being on medication.
Anne
I am shocked and scared, I also am active and live a healthy lifestyle, gym, weights, juicing.
I went to a holistic doctor and he put me on boron picolinate and cal-ma plus and told me to call him when I find out what meds the gyn is putting me on.
I don't even want to mention this to my gyn knowing he probably won't agree with the holistic doctor, forget about the boron.
What natural course are you ladies trying instead of the meds?
Can you tell me can osteo/osteopinia be reversed with the meds or do the meds stop it where it is?
Do these meds have to be taken forever? I just can't stand the thought of being on medication.
Anne
plc
08-19-2005, 06:24 PM
I hope you are one of the lucky ones that can take the medication. I have two aunts can take it with no problems, others well lets say they can't. I'm one of the ones who just could not stand the side effects. I have increase my calcium and started taking ovalitine with milk two times a day. along with exercise etc. My scores have not change. My doctor is not happy with me for stopping the medication, however if I had stayed on it she would of been treating me for whole new set of medical problems.
taape
08-19-2005, 08:20 PM
Playagirl,
I was scared and shocked when I found out that I had it. The meds are supposed to be able to stop the loss of bone density and increase bone density. I know one person who is just about back to normal bone density after 4 years on Actonel. I guess it depends on your course of treatment, which meds, etc., I think I'm going to have to have treatment indefinitely but not sure. Let us know what your gyn recommends.
I was scared and shocked when I found out that I had it. The meds are supposed to be able to stop the loss of bone density and increase bone density. I know one person who is just about back to normal bone density after 4 years on Actonel. I guess it depends on your course of treatment, which meds, etc., I think I'm going to have to have treatment indefinitely but not sure. Let us know what your gyn recommends.
CaliSD
08-31-2005, 02:26 PM
>>>Do these meds have to be taken forever? I just can't stand the thought of being on medication<<<
i worry about the same thing... doctor wants me on Fosamax.
If i take it for years, and then stop, what will happen? My bones may be used to it and go down hill even faster than without the drug.
(Same as wonder drug Lipitor... Clinton stopped taking it and soon needed triple bypass....many people have problems when they stop taking meds)
Aren't we better off without even strating on Fosamax????
i worry about the same thing... doctor wants me on Fosamax.
If i take it for years, and then stop, what will happen? My bones may be used to it and go down hill even faster than without the drug.
(Same as wonder drug Lipitor... Clinton stopped taking it and soon needed triple bypass....many people have problems when they stop taking meds)
Aren't we better off without even strating on Fosamax????
plc
09-02-2005, 06:57 AM
Some people can take these drugs,I can not. I know my aunt has been on fosmax for 5 years now and has had some improvement. However due to fosmax side effects she is on three different meds to help those. Everyone body is different, some respond well to the meds were others do not. It also depends where you are in regards to menopause. greatest bone as you enter menopause then it slows down.