I have been taking Alendronic Acid for 2 years after breaking my femur and was diagnosed with Osteoporosis, I know drugs have side effects but I was not told about coming off them and the effects, getting some problems with it and would love a herbal or natural alternative I am 65 soon. My recent scan was good but I would prefer not to take this drug. How do I wean myself off this drug or can I just quit. help please thank you
As far as I know you can just quit and you should only be on it for 2 years maximum
hi jane 07218,
i was not told about the 2 years max. i have been on them for 3 years .
do you know who said about the 2 years ?.
thanks
Lots are doing the natural route. You can check your calcium and vitamin d levels via your blood tests. Vitamin K2 is recommended because it aims the calcium onto the bones. I take that one and D3 every day. Other things I have include leafy greens, bone broth, prunes, avocados, skin of cucumber and lots of vegetables as well as a balanced diet. Magnesium is another vitamin to have. I have this one sometimes.
Weight bearing exercises are recommended. Walking is therefore a good idea.
Research as well because there is a lot of information online to help you take care of your bones.
AA stays in your system for a long time so that will continue to work as well.
I have never taken AA or any other pharmaceutical for bone thinning. In one year, despite being on steroid treatment for polymyalgia I improved my t-score from -2 to -1.6. So, yes, there is an alternative to AA, and it is, as Kathleen briefly outlined, using natural means. As well as supplements and diet if you are able you should also do appropriate exercise. Dependiong on your vulnerabilities, you may need to consult with a physiotherapist for techniques to protect your spine. Otherwise, any weightbearing exercise, including walking, Nordic walking, some kinds of yoga, tai chi, and possibly wearing a weighted walking vest, can all help.
If your recent scan was good, I personally would just stop taking AA and do what I could to maintain and improve bone health naturally. It's a lifetime commitment but the advantage of natural methods is there is only one side effect - overall improved helath!
Thank you Anhaga, I do some light exercises at the moment and walk. I will be seeing the doctor on Monday, I did mention to her over the phone that I want to come off this AA and she said there is no alternative to this drug but I am adamant I don't want it. My recent scan was good but I rally want a natural approach to my osteoporosis.
Thank you Kathleen, I do walk and eat greens and fruit. I will be seeing my doctor on Monday and must come off this drug, it is definately causing problems, I was fine before I took this.
Thank you Jane, My doctor told me I would have to take this drug for 5 years, I have been on this for 2 years and want to come off as I am getting problems with it. Will be seeing Doctor on Monday. I have a nurse friend and she said eat healthy and supplement with vitamins and walk and exercise and you can't go wrong.
Anne, google combination of micronutrients osteoporosis. You will find an article describing a study where people took nutrients and improved their bone density. Unfortunately the doctors have been bamboozled by pharmaceutical companies who are mostly interested in their bottom line - I hate to say that but I believe to a large extent it is true. It isn't the doctors' fault, they don't have time to do reserch on all the drugs they have to prescribe, so of couse they rely on what the salesman tells them, and trust that government overseers have done due diligence.
If your scan is "good" does that mean you are not in the osteoporosis range?
I believe current guidelines are in fact leaning towards two years on the drug. By now you'll have received the most benefit the drug can give you. It remains in your bones for many years after stopping taking it. And you really want your bones to be able to start normal bone remodelling again so you don't risk serious side effects. Please make sure if an dwhen you stop that you are taking all the right nutrients, plus doing appropriate weight bearing exercise, whatever is best for you, I do walking, Nordic walking, tai chi, wear a weighted vest some days, and a few other things. Your nurse friend is right!
Hi Anhaga,
I found an article on Vitality who say this drug will be taken off the market, and the company have taken out millions to cover the cot of all the lawsuits they will be getting, it was very interesting. I will try supplements and am eating good now and walking and exercising. My scan said I had increased by bone density by over 3% but I still want away from this drug, starting to feel sick and taste buds diminishing.many thanks I will google micronutrients.
Merck recently settled a class action lawsuit in Canada regarding fosamax and fosavance. They settled out of court and said this did not mean they were admitting any liability - this was over jaw necrosis and atypical femur fractures. Of course all the bisphosphonates have the same problems.
How did you find out what your % improvement was? I only know the t-scores but don't know how to translate them into a percentage.
Weren't there class actions in America?
Hi Anhaga,
When I had my bone scan the nurse said that it was over 3% improvement.
I guess they must have a formula then, because my engineer son said we would need more information to be able to work it out, Using the figures we have my score improved by something like 20% which is absurd and impossible, so they must measure both old number and new number against a separate base and compare the two.
Could be. I happened to see a notice in the newspaper informing people who might be beneficiaries of the class action in Canada.
Hi Anhaga! I was sent to the bone clinic at my local hospital and saw a wonderful Nurse Specialist. Very informative and not the least patronising as all the docs have been... Anyway, she had a chart which compared t scores with the expected score for a persons age. This gave me 81% for my lumbar spine and 79% for my hip. I have to say I was rather horrified by this. I suspect that this is what Anne is talking about.
I do think that adding this information is much more useful than just these weird T-scores.
I don't quite understand. What are those percentages measuring?
She had a chart showing t-scores on one side and expected bone density in women of different ages on the other.
Using my example, my lumbar spine has only 81% bone density of what would be expected of a woman my age.
so if Anne had a 3% increase that would make sense as an improvement.
My gp has just prescribed AA for me but after receiving the info I definitely don't want to take it. Even the most common side effects (affecting 1 in 10 people) are horrendous and for me the worse one would be hair loss because at my age (75) once its gone its gone! I expect with the other side effects once you stop taking AA the other side effects would eventually go. Gp's don't always do what's good for patients as they get perks from drug companies so I don't always do what gps tell me. I used to go to a dental hospital because I have TMJ and I was prescribed Amytriptilene and because I stopped taking it they refused to see me so it's all about drugs even if the drugs make people feel really ill. I've had Dexa scans and I've been diagnosed with osteoporosis and I haven't been told any details about my scans only that's there's no cure and all I can do is take painkillers and AA. Also I usually eat a lot of the right foods and I take vitamin D3 and calcium magnesium and boron (all in one tablet) and probiotics. I don't know whether this is enough or whether I need something natural or herbal but stronger than what I already take. I expect if I talk to my doctor about it he will probably try and get me to take AA but I'm not going to! I was told not to start AA until this May 2020 as I have a dental at the end of April so I have some time to research and decide and get advice about herbal alternatives.