Has anyone taken Alendronate?

That's a great question and I wish I knew the right answer. I have been off Fosamax now for over a year but did two rounds of anabolics (total of six months of treatment) from June to February.

I was started on Tymlos because of the vertebral compression fracture. Long story short: I had side effects from both Tymlos then generic teriparatide that caused me to stop taking all meds about a month ago.

I have an appointment next week with a endocrinologist at the Stanford Bone Clinic for guidance on what to do next. I am on supplements (calcium, D, K, collagen) and an exercise program that emphasizes resistance training and impact.

I have enough alendronate in my bones at this point to last for decades so I want to know if I can stay off meds until my next DEXA and reevaluate then. That's pretty much my plan and unless I get some compelling reasons not to do that, that's what I'm going to do.

I am also through the critical bone loss period of menopause so I'm hopeful I can stabilize.

I'm not opposed to another med but I want to push it out as far as I can because I am 63 and there are (hopefully) a lot of years left in my life.

How long were you on alendronate?

I also have been taking alendronate for about 1 year with almost no major side effects (some bone pain; took a 2-3 week drug holiday, pain subsided), other than a bit of constipation (IBS sufferer though, so used to GI issues!). Had 2nd dexa scan which showed improvement the doc was happy with (no improvement in femoral neck however). Now he wants to try reclast which I am not really interested in as the alendronate is helping and tolerable for me. Who knows what will happen with a once a year injection. Probably nothing but better bones - but the osteo drugs out there have a lot of issues. Then again an osteoporosis diagnosis is a big issue!

That's great that you've had improvement! Knowing that it works for others gives me a positive outlook. Good for you! I see my doctor in June and hopefully she'll schedule me for a second scan.

I've never had any gastrointestinal problems. Well, I take that back. At the beginning I did have a lot of gas, quite a lot more than usual! But that seems to have subsided. I don't have problems with constipation -- I make sure I eat a bowl of oatmeal with almond milk and blueberries most mornings. That helps greatly. I have the minor ache or pain, which may or may not be due to the Alendronate. But I can always blame it on that anyway!

I'm not sure what I think about the other meds. Like you, I would worry with the once a year injection. They all seem to have some major side effects, though in an extremely small sample of the population. Still...