Thanks for the informative post. I've been on Alendronate for 7+ months, 70mg dose weekly.

I had little problem to begin with; just a lot of pain the day after taking the first dose, an episode of vertigo the first week and some on again/off again dizziness. But over the past 4-5 weeks I've begun experiencing other side effects: tenderness (not pain) in my ribs, especially the sides of the upper ribs; mild upper back pain; left clavicle pain (comes and goes); "bruised"-like feeling in various arm and leg bones (again, comes and goes); lots of gas (have had this since I began the pill); painful leg cramps (calf); a second episode of vertigo; mild dizziness or lightheadedness; strange taste in my mouth; dry lips; legs sometimes feel strange and stiff; knee discomfort; cough and continuous clearing of throat; some days just an all around yucky feeling but nothing I haven't been able to compensate for. Now, for the past couple of weeks, I've been experiencing high blood pressure. It normally averages out at around 115/75, but lately it's been anywhere from 130/78 to 139/85. This isn't listed as a side effect, but I've seen studies that it can occur in rare instances.

Today was my day to take the med, but I decided not to. I'll instead wait until I see my doctor at a regularly schedule appointment next week and will tell her I want to go off the pill and see if the side effects subside. I say they're side effects as I didn't have these problems until just recently!

Please keep us advised of your experience. You comments have certainly been helpful to me!