Teriparatide and Fatigue

Hi @paulita teriparatide (generic for brand Forteo) is known to cause fatigue or tiredness, mostly because it reduces blood pressure. Many members on this forum had this effect when staring Forteo. Personally I experienced it during first one and a half months of Forteo treatment. As many had described, drink enough water (10 cups or 2400cc water daily) can help. If blood pressure is still on the low end, adding some salt to water or eating some salty snacks will help further. The discussions were scattered in different threads, if you search Forteo, they might lead you to some of the discussions. Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks @mayblin I get fatigued a couple of hours before I take my injection. I thought the low blood pressure effect was only immediately after injecting ? But I do suffer from low pressure anyway so that could be it. I will try to increase my water intake as I tend to forget to hydrate. I hope it's a temporary side effect.

Paulita, high calcium levels can cause the fatigue with Forteo. If your levels are staying high through the 24 hours, you may want to reduce your D intake. I would want labs maybe eight hours after injection. If you are taking Forteo at night, it may be affecting your sleep. You could try a morning injection. Maybe on a weekend.
When switching, though, be sure that you have at least 24 hours between injections.
Did you have kidney function labs before beginning Forteo?
I would call the doctors office at the least to obtain the lab order for serum calcium and D levels.
Low blood pressure can cause fatigue. I the Forteo is causing sustained low blood pressure, it would be good to know.
If you have a blood pressure cuff, you might take readings after four hours.
I realize that I'm probably saying do this and that in the middle of the night. And to make it worse drink a glass of water before the injection the you really won't get decent sleep. Forteo is our only excuse to eat salt.
Salt constricts our blood vessels and reduces the low blood pressure effect of Forteo.
Mablin and I need to know so keep us posted.

Thanks @gentlygently I will get the Vit D and Calcium levels checked. My rheumatologist has advised me for years to take no Vit D or calcium supplementation. Last blood works (before Forteo) indicated normal calcium and Vit D a little high (probably too much sunshine when gardening). My kidney function tests were also fine. He doesn't want me getting bloods done until 4/5 months but I think it might be wise to get them done a little early. I might try moving my injection little by little. I was told to move it by an hour a day so that'll take me 12 to 14 days to move it to morning. It's all a learning curve and I appreciate your feedback.

@paulita, each person is different. Some people experience low blood pressure shortly after injection and could be accompanied by increased heart rate. For me, the low blood pressure lasted 24/7 at low80s/low50s. Not a great feeling. With increasing water intake and a bit more salt, this will pass as your body adjusts. Keep us posted re your progress.

Please be careful telling anyone how their body will react. You can say that their body should adjust but that is the limit of what you can say. Some might have the reaction continue to get worse. I am one whose body does not always react in the "standard" way.

Thanks @normahorn for your comments and perspective. Definitely will be more mindful with word choices in the future.