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LDLs high due to Prolia?
I've posted here before re: my issues with taking Prolia and experiencing severe problems with my jaw during dental treatment. I have managed somehow to get through 3 years of hell with implant placement, timing the work around Prolia injections. Both implants failed twice due to infection and bone loss, but both have finally succeeded. But, after 9 years I am ready to go off Prolia. My recent bone density scan shows that I am now downgraded to osteopenia, and a couple of my scores are actually in the normal range. I attribute this change to having one of my parathyroid glands removed about a year ago, due to a tumor. I no longer have hyperparathyroidism. My PTH levels are in the normal range and so are my calcium scores. Now I face another dilemma. I recently had a scan of my heart calcium and at 72 my arteries are about 50%. My HDLs are high but so are my LDLs. I'm now a candidate for taking statins, but I'm terrified of those side effects, and I do not want to be on this drug the rest of my life. I'll add that I also lost 48 lb in the last year and a half by taking a GLP-1 and I understand that it's possible statins can interfere with GLP-1 efficacy. I also strongly believe my mother's dementia was a side effect of taking statins for so many years. I'm desperately wanting to get off Prolia, especially now given the fact that my LDLs are higher than they should be, given my lifestyle and dietary choices. My physician mentioned I could go on one year of Reclast and then transition to a lower strength drug after that, but after reading so many things about Reclast side effects ( I already have severe bone pain that I've dealt with being on Prolia all these years), I don't want more side effects. Does anybody have experience with having high LDLs attributed to Prolia use? Also does anybody have any suggestions about whether someone like me who now is in osteopenia can go off of Prolia altogether? Is that even an option for me? I'll say one last thing and that is I've never had one fracture, not one. And I've fallen several times over the years. I don't know why my doctor put me on Prolia in the first place? Maybe because it was a new drug? I wish I knew then what I know now about this drug. I'm so sad that I've had to live like this for so many years. I won't even go into the expense and the difficulty getting it through insurance. That is a whole other topic.
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I'm so sorry, but please, read about the notorious rebound effect of stopping with Prolia without taking a follow up osteoporosis medicine within a few weeks...
Do you mean with calcium in the arteries being in the 50% percentile? Or have a value of 50?
I can't edit my answer above any more, but when I meant the 50th percentile when I wrote the 50% percentile. A 50th percentile would mean that 50% of your peers of the same gender and age would have arteries in better condition than you have.
Recently I learned that a high cholesterol is one of the causes of osteoporosis.
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1 Reaction@wilweten no I'm talking about cholesterol in my arteries... I'm very well aware of the rebound effect of Prolia that's why I've had to stay on it All this time.
@wilweten my CT Calcium Score is 108. That puts me in the moderate coronary artery disease category (100 to 400). My LDLs have been on the high side, and I'm concerned that it's a side effect of taking Prolia I guess I didn't make myself clear in my post.
@jheieck I understand your hesitations about taking statines. However, modern statines have significant less side effects than the former ones. My LDLs were too high too, but only when my arteries showed lots of calcium was I subscribed a statine. I got rosuvastatine and now have a decent LDL while taking 10 mg daily. It's supposed to stabilize the plaque in the arteries and prevent it from tearing up. Fortunately, I don't feel any side effects. The idea that this medicine may prevent a heart attack or brain infarct is important for me. Also, I recently discovered that a high LDL is one of the causes of osteoporosis and that discovery is for me an additional reason to stay on rosuvastatine.
@wilweten thanks for this information I have to weigh this carefully because I'm also taking a GLP 1 and I have read some studies where statins interfere with glp1 efficacy and that it would concern me because being 30% overweight would not be a good thing and I will gain the weight back absolutely if I go off the GLP ones or they stop working. I'm going to catch 22 situation because I believe that my high LDLs are directly related to taking prolia no one in my family has a history of heart attacks or high cholesterols so there has to be some sort of connection.
It’s not easy to get off Prolia and not recommended because those dang osteoclasts go berserk! I went on in because it’s my second go round with osteoporosis and have a history of fractures. My LDL has always been slightly high but my risk factor is low. I tried statins and hated the side effects so I don’t take them. Doesn’t make my cardiologist happy but that’s ok. I am interested to see what they are now that I am on Prolia.
@bswpb thanks for your answer. I agree after being on Prolia for all these years and not having high LDLs running my family even the people who have high blood pressure and other issues have never had a heart issues. I have to believe that these high LDLs are side effect of taking prolia. I do not want to go on statins I have heard and read nothing but bad things and I don't want to be on them the rest of my life but I certainly don't want to die of a heart attack. I feel like now that I have osteoporosis down to osteopenia range that maybe I can transition off of prolia onto something else, and maybe that will help the high LDLs? It's just a theory.
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1 Reaction@jheieck On the site of Prolia itself at https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/drugs-prolia-side-effects it says: "The most common side effects of Prolia® in women being treated for osteoporosis after menopause are back pain, pain in your arms and legs, high cholesterol, muscle pain, and bladder infection." So yes, this medicine may (partly or fully) be the cause of your high cholesterol.
I know there are a few alternatives to statins to lower high cholesterol, but I haven't got a clue to how safe and effective they are. I guess it's worth talking about it with an endocrinologist.