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Support For Those Quitting Prolia

Osteoporosis & Bone Health | Last Active: Jan 20 7:30pm | Replies (171)

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@rjd

Finding and posting that paper about CTX level rising each month in relation to bisphonate cessation would be appreciated.

Sorry to learn about your recent CTX result falling back into the mystery zone. You already know the reason for my concern about low CTX numbers, having had dialogue on this issue previously, including the perspective of McCormick from his book. You may also recall I am interested in what produces strong bone and that this may or may not be connected to what we typically measure.... bone density.

Your information about a newly discovered fracture obviously raises some concern. Did you have pain or any other symptoms that caused you to seek a spinal xray? Even though many such fractures apparently result without acute trauma, can you recall anything that might account for the fracture.? What is your level of physical activity?

Your situation now appears very similar to @awesomemomx2 and hope she will chime in here. As I recall she consulted with McCormick about low CTX numbers and her desire to stop Prolia. She also had a couple of spinal fractures and McCormick asked for follow-up that would hopefully shed light on whether the fractures occurred while on Prolia or pre-Prolia. I think her next scheduled Prolia injection could be this January. Hate to rely on my recollection but this forum is just too difficult/time-consuming to research/review prior postings.

Have you ruled out any other possible causes for a low CTX score?

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Replies to "Finding and posting that paper about CTX level rising each month in relation to bisphonate cessation..."

Hi rjd,
It is difficult to make any conclusions without knowing if my fracture is an old or new fracture. Unfortunately, i did not think of doing a spinal scan before starting on osteo meds as like many others, i started on meds with very little knowledge of osteoporosis. I did the recent scan not because of any pain or suspicion of a fracture but as a record upon completion of 1yr on Alendronate. I had several falls onto my front in the past (last was over a year ago), any of which could have resulted in the fracture

I had raised the question of whether my persistent low CTX perhaps indicated that the fracture was not new (as fractures lead to increased turnover and higher CTX) and gently pointed out that it might not be easy to catch the period during which CTX is raised.

But i also just came across the following from an article entitled < Bone turnover markers to monitor oral bisphosphonate therapy> "Therefore, BTM testing may be unhelpful in patients with recent glucocorticoid use (resorption markers rapidly increase, formation markers decrease), recent fracture (resorption markers double in weeks, formation markers double in roughly 3 months and stay elevated up to 1 year), or autoimmune conditions affecting bones (eg, rheumatoid arthritis), where markers do not correlate with disease progression or treatment effect."
where it mentions that fractures could cause elevated CTX for up to 1 year. However, as mine is stated as a mild fracture, the 1 year period may not be applicable

Yes, i hope awesomemom2 will be able to chime in. It's important to know if there is a risk of compression fractures as a result of low CTX arising from even short-term use of Prolia/bisphosphonates (as opposed to the risk of AFFs and ONJ from long-term use) - it would have a big impact on the use of such drugs