Hello, I joined today to get help in deciding what medication to begin

@windyshores you are lucky you have a doctor who will agree to 20% reclast every 3 months or so. When are you doing that? I’ll be very interested in the outcome, as I may propose it to my endocrinologist after my two years on teriparatide is up!!! BTW, my first four days of injections have been side effect free🥳. Just a little redness around the injection site and burning eyes for an hour or so the first day. Even those minor ones are gone now!!!

@lynn59 great you are not having side effects and helpful to everyone who is scared!

My doctor did not "agree" to the lower dose of Reclast. He suggested it. I have heart and kidney issues that are relevant and am generally sensitive to meds.

During my cancer treatment, which caused bone loss, he did not prescribe the usual Reclast to go with the cancer meds, because at the time it was thought to aggravate afib (which I have once annually). Now I think the concern is my lower kidney function.

There may be no reason for folks to have a lower dose. It involves getting infusions more often. Many people tolerate Reclast quite casually, some have fluish symptoms. Whatever you do, hydrate and ask for a slower infusion.

Thanks for the clarification @windyshores. I wrongly assumed you preferred to split it up. Personally, I would feel more comfortable not infusing a year’s worth at once, although that is probably because I’ve never done it, so I’m a little frightened. Just like I was scared to start teriparatide, which so far has been quite easy and tolerable.

It sounds like you have been through a lot, and I commend you on your attitude and your willingness to help us all through these uncertain times❤️

I do prefer splitting it up @lynn59. But I am grateful my doctor suggested it!

I have esophagus issues so Reclast is my only choice to lock in gains, and I figure doing low dose more frequently is almost like doing an oral med.

A presentation that may be of interest:
https://calendar.app.google/oftZ14vey8y4SM886
Join BHOF Chief Medical Officer, Andrea Singer, MD and Cate Lockhart, PharmD, PhD, Executive Director of the Biologics and Biosimilars Collective Intelligence Consortium for an informative webinar about osteoporosis medication and treatment options. You will learn about weighing the associated benefits and risks of medications and gain insight into speaking with your healthcare practitioner about treatment planning and osteoporosis management. The differences between biologics and biosimilars will also be discussed.

How are you doing on Forteo? It’s the drug we are considering for my husband who has osteoporosis. He’s already had one compression fracture. His is from taking high doses of prednisone for over a year - he has PMR and GCA.

Also. Are you being told you’ll need to take another drug after stopping Forteo? From what I’ve read once you stop Forteo you lose bone at a fast rate if you don’t start a medication like Fosamax. Would love to hear what your doctor is recommending. And how long the plan is to keep you on Forteo and a follow-up drug.

Wishing you the best!

Could you please share your most trusted person here. I too am getting my best info here. 😊

One more thing. Who is the astute poster who can help with avoiding side effects? Thank you in advance.

Could you please explain why you went on Forteo followed by Tymlos followed by Evenity and going on Reclast.

We are at the deciding point on starting his first medication. He has a -3.4 thoracic spine result so we need to do something quickly. We’ve put off starting on Fosamax as his starting point. From what I’ve read here he needs something different first. All of this is so confusing.

Isabelle?, I'm so happy with Forteo that I'm having bone markers to see how long I can stay on the medication. I'll have a dxa 7/2 for find out if Forteo has been effective.
It seems to me the very best choice. Tymlos may have a slight advantage in bone gain, with a much higher dose of medication.
I am repeatedly advised to follow with Reclast. But if I follow with a bisphosphonate, it wiil be risidronate. I will be wanting to transition back to Forteo. But my plan is to take Forteo forever with short pharmaceutical breaks (two weeks I think).
Applauding your choice, I should caution that there can be adverse effects. Those generally diminish after the firs four hours and stop when the drug is completely eliminated at 24hrs.
wise choices, best luck