Teriparatide and Fatigue

Hi @paulita teriparatide (generic for brand Forteo) is known to cause fatigue or tiredness, mostly because it reduces blood pressure. Many members on this forum had this effect when staring Forteo. Personally I experienced it during first one and a half months of Forteo treatment. As many had described, drink enough water (10 cups or 2400cc water daily) can help. If blood pressure is still on the low end, adding some salt to water or eating some salty snacks will help further. The discussions were scattered in different threads, if you search Forteo, they might lead you to some of the discussions. Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks @mayblin I get fatigued a couple of hours before I take my injection. I thought the low blood pressure effect was only immediately after injecting ? But I do suffer from low pressure anyway so that could be it. I will try to increase my water intake as I tend to forget to hydrate. I hope it's a temporary side effect.

Paulita, high calcium levels can cause the fatigue with Forteo. If your levels are staying high through the 24 hours, you may want to reduce your D intake. I would want labs maybe eight hours after injection. If you are taking Forteo at night, it may be affecting your sleep. You could try a morning injection. Maybe on a weekend.
When switching, though, be sure that you have at least 24 hours between injections.
Did you have kidney function labs before beginning Forteo?
I would call the doctors office at the least to obtain the lab order for serum calcium and D levels.
Low blood pressure can cause fatigue. I the Forteo is causing sustained low blood pressure, it would be good to know.
If you have a blood pressure cuff, you might take readings after four hours.
I realize that I'm probably saying do this and that in the middle of the night. And to make it worse drink a glass of water before the injection the you really won't get decent sleep. Forteo is our only excuse to eat salt.
Salt constricts our blood vessels and reduces the low blood pressure effect of Forteo.
Mablin and I need to know so keep us posted.

Thanks @gentlygently I will get the Vit D and Calcium levels checked. My rheumatologist has advised me for years to take no Vit D or calcium supplementation. Last blood works (before Forteo) indicated normal calcium and Vit D a little high (probably too much sunshine when gardening). My kidney function tests were also fine. He doesn't want me getting bloods done until 4/5 months but I think it might be wise to get them done a little early. I might try moving my injection little by little. I was told to move it by an hour a day so that'll take me 12 to 14 days to move it to morning. It's all a learning curve and I appreciate your feedback.

@paulita, each person is different. Some people experience low blood pressure shortly after injection and could be accompanied by increased heart rate. For me, the low blood pressure lasted 24/7 at low80s/low50s. Not a great feeling. With increasing water intake and a bit more salt, this will pass as your body adjusts. Keep us posted re your progress.

Please be careful telling anyone how their body will react. You can say that their body should adjust but that is the limit of what you can say. Some might have the reaction continue to get worse. I am one whose body does not always react in the "standard" way.

Thanks @normahorn for your comments and perspective. Definitely will be more mindful with word choices in the future.

Would it be better to take Teriparatide at night rather than the morning to help with the fatigue? I am finding it difficult to work as a Psychologist due to the debilitating tiredness and yawning in front of clients is not a good look.

I had severe fatigue when I first started, and so the physician assistant had me change to doing my injections at night and after a couple months, the fatigue stopped. The first year I would stop taking it if I had an extra heavy physical weekend of work ahead of me, but the second year I don’t even blank. I’m just keeping on and keeping on hoping to finish soon this fall with good results.!

@normahorn
I've been on Teriparatide since April2. Yes, I've noticed fatigue. Just had labs done, calcium and D look fine. D is somewhat lower than I expected. I was taking about 4000 IUs prior to Teriparatide. I cut it down to 3500 to 3100. Sounds like alot, right? Hidden D is in so much. Multivitamins and other supps. I had to look at everything I was taking and make a list to know what the totals were for Calcium, Magnesium and D. Aside from those I was taking D3 400IUs 2x a day. I cut out one and the leg cramps came back. That being said I've had terrible malabsorption issues for years now, so maybe even tho taking a higher dose, alot might be passing through.
I have not so far, experienced any problem with low BP. Nausea has been somewhat problematic. I've suffered with it for years for other health reasons but it has increased since I began this therapy.
Eveyrone is different, it's best to get your labs done more frequently I think, when in the first year of something like this. Know the symptoms to look for for Hypercalcemia and anything else that might be a factor. Keep a diary.