Reclast BEWARE causes broken femur!

Im very sorry this happened to you! It is an atypical occurrence and your doctor was negligent in ignoring the warnings of your pain and where it was located ( the warning sign). My specialist had me do one infusion only before two years of Tymlos then it will be 2 or 3 annual infusions and then done for life. (I suppose that is why!) my bones are terribly demineralized. There is risk if I don’t take the medicines and risks if medicine usage isn’t closely monitored. So I don’t think it’s true to make a general statement when it’s only true for a small group who have an atypical reaction. For example, I am one of those people that had muscle weakness and pain from the stash class of drugs to reduce the cholesterol and I had to be taken off immediately. Yep, my dad could be on it for 20 years and it was effective. So it would be wrong for me to say “beware statin drugs, cause muscle weakness, and pain!” Because it doesn’t do it for everyone and I am just a small sub class. The pharmaceutical companies do respond though when enough people have complaints so I definitely support you’re making them aware that you are part of the sub class. When it gets to be enough, then they do give out public warnings. Also, there’s some problems when we don’t know about the conditions of your bones when you started the medication. So we might think that there’s a cause relationship we want to blame the medication, but when all is said and done, it could’ve been the demineralized state of your bones and the severity of your fall. It could just be coincidence that people with severe demineralization and fragile bones who take hard falls are also on the medication, not that the medication in fact actually caused the breakage. Good luck in healing. I’m sorry for your accident! People can read this link if they’re interested in more information:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/thigh-fractures-linked-to-osteoporosis-drugs-long-term-use-questioned-201205214737

Hey. Thanks for the heads up. Docs aren't great at ANY side effect conversation anymore and pharmacists used to do it for a new med but not so much anymore. (And this drug isn't from a pharmacy I think!) If there is a side effect, i'll most likely get it. But my family experience with cholesterol meds and also drugs for osteo makes me say "no thanks" anyway and I'm also glad at 70 I don't have to deal with decisions yet. My bones aren't perfect for sure but...

The femur is a bad bone to break! And a hard bone to break usually as the biggest bone in the body. It sounds like the fx was the reason for the fall or was it from the fall. A fall that would break your femur would I think maybe break your hip first? I don't know but a hip replacement would have been easier?

Tough break (ok literally and figuratively.) I think telling each other about all side effects is worth it. I think and hope most understand nothing affects everyone the same. Be well

So sorry that you are having this problem! I have osteoporosis and have been considering Reclast infusion, temporarily delayed until after some dental work. I normally am not too concerned about possible side effects of meds; but reading the AI descriptions of side effects of Reclast, I have become concerned not only about possible femur fracture, but also about jaw damage and "mild" (supposedly) cognitive effects on older people. I will be 90 this year, live alone, handle my own affairs, and so far have a sharp mind; but there is a family history of dementia. I don't want to risk even "mild" cognitive decline, but AI is not a resource that I wish to base a decision on.
Any suggestions as to reliable resources about frequency of these negative effects of Reclast??
(Other than a very painful and unusual reaction to Xarelto after taking it for a year, I have had no other negative reactions to meds.)

Post marketing reports after the drug was tested and had been on the market demonstrated "atypical subtrochanteric and diaphyseal femoral fracture" were identified but no percentage or numbers of occurrence are noted. it's important to read the literature provided with medication we are prescribed. I do this online since the printed literature is too small for my old eyes and I can adjust the print size too. Bone pain was noted at >10% of those surveyed reported this symptom.

Have you taken any Osteoporosis meds before?

I took Fosamax for years, but after a number of years was told to discontinue use.

missprince,

Any osteoporosis meds before reclast? What were your dexa scores prior to starting reclast? Any determination of osteoporosis cause or was it simply loss of estrogen due to menopause?

So sorry you had to go through that. Yesterday I went for a first visit to a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon for sit-bone bursitis. I brought all my records including my recent DEXA. His thoughts on my osteoporosis were, first off, no more steroids for me ever (a steroid shot is sometimes given for sit bone bursitis) but his view on osteoporosis meds was that he recommended never to take the meds because he has treated many patients with fractured femurs as a direct result from osteoporosis medications. Could it be that femur fractures are not as rare as the literature makes it out be? I've heard of other orthopedic surgeons not recommend these meds as well. My podiatrist, my general MD, and my dentist all think it's a good idea for me to go on bone meds so his view on them was surprising. His advice to treat osteoporosis is to lift weights to build bone. (He didn't elaborate further since I was there for a bursitis issue.) For the record, I didn't rule out taking them in the future but I'm giving myself two years (I was diagnosed last year) to see if I can maintain or better my DEXA scores. If not, then I'll reevaluate.

It would be interesting to see a study of all fractures of post-menopausal, osteoporatic women compared to osteoporosis medication usage vs non medicated.

Have you ever taken tymlos, forteo or evenity. I don't know if you took fosomax for more than 5 years....this is the maximum with current thinking. Also, current thinking is take one of the above drugs. Why reclast now? Are you getting sequencing help from an endocrinologist ?

Did he clarify which of the Osteoporosis drugs he considered risky? Or did he include all? That may be a very important question. They are not all the same.