Fosamax Feedback

My endo recommends taking Fosamax with 8oz. of water and waiting 1 hour before eating or drinking anything else. I definitely have osteoporosis in my left wrist and forearm, but all my numbers have improved in the last 3 years.

Well, good afternoon, @oknowwhatpixie, and welcome to Connect. I like your screen name. Sort of sets your mind before you begin reading.
Let's start with an answer to the question about drug holidays. Here is the Mayo Clinic policy.

"We will often suggest a drug holiday in lower-risk individuals after 5 years on alendronate or 3 years on Reclast. In high-risk individuals, we use alendronate for up to 10 years and Reclast up to 6 years before a drug holiday. Drug holidays only apply to bisphosphonates (alendronate, ibandronate, risedronate, zoledronic acid) and not other osteoporosis medication classes."
Dr. Robert A. Wermers, M.D.

Just to clarify, Fosamax is also alendronate. I want to share with you that in June this year, I will finish my second year on Fosamax. I have never had any side effects or digestive issues, and Dr. Wermers is my doctor at the Mayo Clinic. And....I do think that your words "ok, now what " characterize my continuing battle with aging.

However, I don't want to miss a day of joy and nature. Good luck with your program plan. Let me know how it turns out.

May you be safe, protected and free of inner and outer harm.
Chris

My husband has osteoporosis and he asks Connect comunity how long it is need to avoid milk or yogurt after taking alendronate, Thanks.

@whiteswan Your husband should check the prescription. When I was prescribed (alendronate) Fosamax the directions were not to eat or drinking anything for 30 minutes after taking the medication. That would include milk, yogurt and any food.

Did you husband's doctor give him instructions on taking Fosamax?

I took a holiday from fosamax after two years. I had rashes and welts all over my midsection and felt like I was being poisoned. After a month off fosamax I feel better and my skin cleared up. Docs want me to go on actonel now but I want to see how I do with diet and exercise, which I already work on but will dial up the exercise significantly. Year one on fosamax my lumbar spine and wrist went from -3.1 to -2.4. I was thrilled. Year two I got a little worse, going down to -2.5. My nutritionist says these drugs often hit a peak of efficacy then lose effectiveness. Has anyone else experienced that? And I wonder if another bisphosphonate would be effective since fosamax no longer was. This is a tough condition to deal with and I feel sometimes it’s like trying to keep hair from turning gray. I’m 72 and osteoporosis runs in my family.

Every doc I’ve talked to says nothing but water for 30 minutes then go ahead and eat or drink normally. But don’t lie down or get horizontal until after you’ve eaten. And make sure the water isn’t flavored or carbonated. Just plain water. At least 8 ounces.

I am hoping that someone can tell me my thinking is so off base that it is beyond belief.

As I understand the mechanism, bisphosphates work by coating the bones but do nothing to benefit the bones in any other manner. (essentially paint over rotten wood, or less rotten after a bone builder). So, when a DEXA shows improvement, what is accounting for the improvement is the thickness of the coating.

Please tell me I am oversimplifying to the point of absurdity.

I would love to see the replies to this excellent question.

My doctor’s exact words: “fosamax kills the cells that chew bone. “ that is, it’s normal for bone to get chewed up - or renewed- but as you get older there’s nothing coming along to replace what gets ‘chewed.’ As I understand it, fosamax does not build bone. It just helps hold on to old bone. That’s why you need a holiday every 4 years because that old brittle bone you’re holding on to, in time, is even more prone to fracture that what you’d have without drugs!

Thanks a lot for answers.
I found the thread here that it needs 2 hours no
to eat milk products after alendronate.