Sigh..some hope.... - Osteoporosis Message Board

dorri · 10-05-2005, 09:35 PM

I had to visit a new gynecologist after mine retired. He seen that I was on actonel so I told him of the problems I was having with it. He told me some new drugs for osteoporosis will be approved soon, one in Jan and another in a years time. One is strontium and the other is zolendin??. I can't make out what he wrote down in the last one? He told me to continue taking actonel for now, and that I can be changed over when the new ones are approved.

Apparently the Forteo is available here, but not covered. It's expensive. Has anyone heard of these 2 new drugs? Right now, all we have in Canada (that are covered), are the bisphosphonates (actonel, fosamax) calcitonin and Evista and the Forteo which is not covered. He said not to give up hope, because there are new drugs coming, and more will come in the future.

Let me add that the doctor said not to go running out to your Health Food Store to pick up the strontium because it's not the same as the prescription one. LoL, I hadn't given it a thought until he mentioned it.

Aleta145 · 10-07-2005, 04:01 PM

Hi Dorri,

The second drug your to which your doctor was referring was probably zoledronate. Trade name is Zometa. It's not a new drug here (I'm in the USA)... they've been using it for years on cancer patients. What IS new is federal approval of it for treatment of osteoporosis. You can do a search on this board for Zometa. There are quite a few threads that talk about it.

A few things you need to know about it:

1) It is a biphosphonate like Fosamax and Actonel. It prohibits resorption of bone and does not actually create new bone.

2) It's not a pill or injection; it's administered intravenously for about 15 minutes every few months.

3) Some people have problems with it, like flu symptoms. Also osteonecrosis of the jaw is common enough that they recommend you NOT schedule any oral surgery when on Zometa treatment. Healing from a procedure as simple as a tooth extraction can be compromised.

4) It's very expensive...something like $800-up for one 4 mg dose.

I'm not sure what the process is for you in Canada. I had to get pre-approval from my insurance company. They approved it but I decided against it (for now) after all my research.

As for the strontium ranelate...I'm very excited about that one.

It not only slows bone loss but also builds new bone. Right now I don't think you can get it in Canada. It's sold in Europe under the name Protelos. You might be able to get strontium citrate, though I don't know whether it works as well as the strontium ranelate.

taape · 10-07-2005, 06:27 PM

Dorri,
Have you asked your doctor about taking Forteo? It's injectable but expensive and depends on how low your T Score is whether you would be approved by your insurance company. So far I don't have any side effects except marks from the injections which go away.

dorri · 10-07-2005, 06:38 PM

Thanks for the info. After going through so much trouble with the actonel, I think I'd rather forgo the bisphosphonate (zometa) regardless of how it is administered.
The doctor did say that strontium should be available here around Jan/06. He didn't say which strontium he was talking about? I read a brief article that they are now doing studies in Canada on the strontium ranelate, so hopefully it will be avaliable soon, and bring some hopeful treatment for those of us who are unable to tolerate bisphosphonates.

dorri · 10-07-2005, 06:54 PM

Taape, thanks, and yes, you can now get Forteo here. Problem is, our Provincial Pharmacare will not cover it. And our insurance only covers up to $600 of drug costs, some of which I've already used up on CD meds and actonel. Also, in most cases our insurance will not cover any drugs not covered by the Province. My husband's income will not be able to cover the cost. So I have to put Forteo on the shelf for now. Thanks anyways. I'm happy that you're doing well on it without the side effects.