I was on Fosamax for over five years. I fractured while on it, I believe partly due to Fosamax shutting down all bone remodeling resulting in older, dryer, and more brittle bones.

My rheumatologist was not concerned in the least about the gap, which was nearly three months. Nor was she concerned about the fact that bisphosphonates reduce the efficacy of anabolics like Tymlos and Forteo due to the release of the bisphosphonate when bone remodeling restarts. The bisphosphonate is reaborbed by the bone which then inhibits bone remodeling again.

I am switching doctors in the near future to an osteoporosis clinic as I’ve realized from reading the experiences here that I need a plan for the rest of my life that includes multiple components (medication, diet, exercise, supplements, etc) and my current doctor is uninterested in any of these.

My teriparatide is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. It will be interesting to see how it compares to Tymlos. I had few side effects from Tymlos but it did have one side effect I found difficult and that was extreme constipation despite my being on a very high fiber diet due to a family history of colon cancer and some precancerous polyps on recent colonoscopies.

I wouldn’t consider Fosamax a good starting option if your doctor thinks you need to build bone. Fosamax will not do that for you. You may see an increase in bone density because it shuts down bone resorption to start but that will eventually slow down or stop. I had a gain for two years but then it stopped.

If you have acid reflux then Fosamax would not be a good idea, in my opinion. I never had the side effect that others experience with acid reflux and Fosamax which appears to be awful.