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You can report side effects to Medwatch online. You don't have to call. I did this for another medication and they called me to get my doctor's name, and then contacted the doctor for verification. They take issues seriously.
https://www.fda.gov/safety/medwatch-fda-safety-information-and-adverse-event-reporting-program
Due to kidney issues and preexisting afib, my doctor had me do a partial dose of Reclast, with IV hydration for an hour and infusion of 1mg (not 5mg) over an hour's time. I will do this every three months and gradually increase dose to 2-3mg with less frequency. My first dose caused a 5 day fever w/fluish symptoms, then some pins and needles and then okay. For me, no biggie. The insert for Reclast lists quite a few possible side effects.
The thing is, for those of us who have done other meds (I did Tymlos 2 years and Evenity 4 months) we risk losing all our gains if we don't do a bisphosphonate. For Prolia users, the risk is even greater without a bisphosphonate. If we also have GERD, Reclast is our only choice.. We have to do it.
If you haven't done any other medications, then the choice is still there, though if bone density is seriously low, I would caution that the fractures I have experienced are life-altering.
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@windyshores It has finally become clear to me that the dosages of the drugs available are not chosen based on what's good for the individual. Instead the dosages reflect economic interests and what "they" think will work best for all women with osteoporosis assuming that treatment will not be individualized and nuanced.
For instance, as long ago as 2002 they did a study showing you get almost identical results with Reclast dosages ranging from 0.25 mg to 4 mg with dosing schedules varied depending on the size of the dose. By dosing 0.25 mg at 3 months they accomplished the same bone benefits as 4 mg at one year. So a total of 1 mg in a year got the same result as 4 mg in one year. But what was desired by the various researchers and experts was it seems to improve compliance and convenience and reduce cost and produce the greatest good for all. Assuming of course that there is no health impact of using 4 times more of a drug than necessary to produce the same effect.
"Women received placebo or intravenous zoledronic
acid in doses of 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, or 1 mg at three month intervals. In addition, one group received a total annual dose of 4 mg as a single dose, and another
received two doses of 2 mg each, six months apart.
Lumbar-spine bone mineral density was the primary end point. There were similar increases in bone mineral density in all the zoledronic acid groups".
See https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa011807?download=true
There is a paywall for the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) but you can create a free account and get 3 free reads a month. That's how I got this paper.
I there are one or two more papers related to this that I have to finish checking out.
Thanks Windy for all your input on this forum.