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Originally Posted by meca Hi again,
A question. Did any of you have to get off Actonel/Fosamax for sveral months before starting Forteo? I understand that Forteo works best as a first choice in treatment, but I'm afraid my bone mass will spiral down in those 3 months and I don't think I want to go lower than my -4.6!!!. Any thoughts??? |
I did not go off of Fosomax before starting Forteo but I did not have any improvement the first six months I took Forteo. The second six months, I improved from -3.1 to -2.9. The problem is that you can only take Forteo for two years so it would be best not to take it if the Fosomax or Actonel hinders the effectiveness. I think the reason they want you to wait is that the Actonel stays in your system for a long time. I think this might mean that you will not begin losing bone mass the day you stop Actonel. My doctor told me about one of her patients who was on Forteo without any improvement. She had her patient stop taking it and put her back on Actonel and her bone density improved. They just don't know enough about how this all works so it may be trial and error for us at this point.
My doctor said that there is some research going on to give 3 months on Forteo and 3 months on Actonel. This would prolong the time on Forteo to 4 years rather than two. In that case, it does not seem that the Actonel is hindering the Forteo. I think this is too new for doctors to know for sure what is best. If you look on the internet, there is a lot of information that may help you formulate the questions you want to ask the doctor and help you decide what medicines you want to take.
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