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Teriparitide - ugly fatigue & headache. Need ideas, please!

Posted by pjwesty @pjwesty, Apr 13, 2025

Hello! I am about a month in with teriparitide and I want it so much to work for me. I take the injection between 8:30-9:00 AM and around 11:00 or so the headache, fatigue and fog knock me out. I have never been a napper and I sleep solid for 45-60 minutes. When I wake up I am a foggy mess until 4-5 PM. The day is wasted. I plan on reaching out to my endo, but to be honest, he’ll again say, “If it continues, stop taking it and go to the ER”. I’ve read about injecting every other day for a week or two or stopping for a week and starting back. Is that something that works? FYI: I hydrate like crazy, take 1000 Vitamin D and eat plenty of calcium rich foods. Spine -4.2, femoral hips -3.5. Multiple fractures. Thank you so much for any advice you can offer

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marieaw | @marieaw | Feb 24 9:44pm
In reply to @broken13 "@marieaw Just another thought, was your dental work on the side you feel the headache? I..." + (show)
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@marieaw Just another thought, was your dental work on the side you feel the headache? I did experience that after a filling that was later discovered to actually be a cracked molar that had not initially showed up in X-ray. Something to check maybe.

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@broken13
Yes it was. A crown was removed to fix cavities under it. And i have a temporary. Did your cracked molar have a crown on it?
My endocrinologist told me this afternoon to take the Forteo every other day and see if headaches improve , and we'll recheck calcium in 2 weeks. It is just above normal at 10.3. I quit all calcium supplements when i started Forteo 3 weeks ago and it still went up a little.

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gently | @gently | Feb 24 11:35pm
In reply to @marieaw "@broken13 Were your headaches just on one side of your head. Mine are. I haven't had..." + (show)
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@broken13
Were your headaches just on one side of your head. Mine are. I haven't had migraines in 20 years, and this has started since the Forteo. I've had recent dental work, so I don't know if that could be the cause.

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@marieaw
teriparatide expands the blood vessels. In your head this can cause headache. These headaches feel a bit like migraine because while the expanded vessels is no longer thought to be the initiating cause of migraine, it is considered to be the cause of migraine pain. You might try some of the things that mediate the expansion of blood vessels by constricting them, those being salt and caffeine just before the injection.

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marieaw | @marieaw | Feb 25 8:15am
In reply to @gently "@marieaw teriparatide expands the blood vessels. In your head this can cause headache. These headaches feel..." + (show)
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@marieaw
teriparatide expands the blood vessels. In your head this can cause headache. These headaches feel a bit like migraine because while the expanded vessels is no longer thought to be the initiating cause of migraine, it is considered to be the cause of migraine pain. You might try some of the things that mediate the expansion of blood vessels by constricting them, those being salt and caffeine just before the injection.

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@gently
Thank you for that information. I will definitely try that. It does feel just like my migraines did 20 years ago.

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broken13 | @broken13 | Feb 25 1:42pm
In reply to @marieaw "@broken13 Yes it was. A crown was removed to fix cavities under it. And i have..." + (show)
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@broken13
Yes it was. A crown was removed to fix cavities under it. And i have a temporary. Did your cracked molar have a crown on it?
My endocrinologist told me this afternoon to take the Forteo every other day and see if headaches improve , and we'll recheck calcium in 2 weeks. It is just above normal at 10.3. I quit all calcium supplements when i started Forteo 3 weeks ago and it still went up a little.

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@marieaw Kind of rare to get a cavity under a crown. But I'm sure they did an X-ray. Dental pain does travel to ear and definitely side of the head. I finally had my tooth removed, but did not have a previous crown on it. Worth checking before reducing your Forteo as the pin is suppose to only be good for those 28 days. Not sure how that works for dosing only every other day. Maybe ask your pharmacist.

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marieaw | @marieaw | Feb 25 3:27pm
In reply to @broken13 "@marieaw Kind of rare to get a cavity under a crown. But I'm sure they did..." + (show)
Profile picture for broken13 @broken13

@marieaw Kind of rare to get a cavity under a crown. But I'm sure they did an X-ray. Dental pain does travel to ear and definitely side of the head. I finally had my tooth removed, but did not have a previous crown on it. Worth checking before reducing your Forteo as the pin is suppose to only be good for those 28 days. Not sure how that works for dosing only every other day. Maybe ask your pharmacist.

Jump to this post

@broken13
Thank you.

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