Hello @123suew,

I agree that you are probably talking about Fosamax which is used to treat osteoporosis. Here is some information from WebMD. WebMD is a user-friendly website for laypeople who have questions about medical matters.
https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-1273-7174/fosamax-oral/alendronate-oral/details.
If you read the article you will see that there are some side-effects. With every med that each of us takes, there are side-effects. Not all of us will get one or all of the side-effects. We have to decide individually how much we are willing to risk the side-effects or risk the results of not taking them (i.e. fractures, etc.)

I recently started taking a med, Actonel, on a once a month basis. This too is a med used to stop additional bone loss. While there are side-effects I'm willing to try it because I fear fracturing a hip more than the side-effects of the med.

It really is a personal decision. It is important to do your own due diligence. By this I mean, to read all you can about the side-effect as well as the benefits of the drugs and to talk with your doctor and then make the best decision you can for your well-being.

I took fosamax for about a year. I have bilateral hip replacements and my jaws are in very bad shape from childhood abuse. I have had to have surgery on my jaws. The fosamax caused both my jaws and my hips to hurt. I quit taking it. I did research and found those drugs reportedly work by not allowing your body to get rid of old bone (usually it would come out in urine). Instead, the old bone hangs around and makes your real bone look bigger - more substantial. The minute you stop taking the drugs, you pee out all that dead bone and so you are back to having fragile, brittle bones. The side effects, especially osteonecrosis, just aren't worth it. After talking to several women who took drugs like Reclast, Prolia and Fosamax (who now have osteonecrosis very bad), I decided to try supplements and an estrogen patch instead. Your doctor would have to prescribe the estrogen - and your family history and your own medical history will determine if that is safe for you. I wear a 0.025 mg patch and then every other month I take progesterone. You only need 60% of the patch to be effective. For supplements, I am taking calcium to make up for what I cannot get from food, magnesium, vitamins D3 and K2 (mk4, mk7), collagen peptides in my tea, and boron (3 mg capsules - I take two capsules with breakfast, lunch, dinner and before bed). Vitamin K2 (mk4, mk7) has been shown to make modest improvements with osteoporosis. Boron is the heavy hitter. It also got rid of ALL my arthritis pain (both rheumatoid and osteoarthritis), as well as fibromyalgia pain. Doctors don't seem to know anything about boron. You can find a video by Dr. Jorge Fleches on You Tube. He had osteoporosis and started taking boron for it - and he had great success. It is a very very inexpensive supplement. Do your own research, talk to your doctor, and see what you think. I will post my DEXA scan results as soon as the pandemic is over - I have NO immune system so my doctor wants me to wait to get the scan,. My last scan revealed a -5.7 score which is NOT GOOD. I have finally stopped fracturing - so something is working.

Hi 123suew, I am moni54, a new member. The bone drug Fosomax is a bisphosphonate as is Boniva, which I have been on for 3 years. I was also on Forteo for 2 years. I am 66 and pretty healthy except for PMR, diagnosed in October of 2020. I would urge you to read Dr. Lani Simpson's No Nonsense Bone Health Guide for insight into bone drugs and the pros and cons. They do work and there are potential side effects, but the alternative is the road to osteoporosis (which I had, I am now in osteopenia, thanks to Forteo & Boniva). My rheumatologist was glad to hear that I was already on Boniva. I had planned to get off Boniva and on to Evista, which is another type of bone drug, for maintenance, but then PMR happened and I decided to stay on Boniva for the duration of my PMR treatment, may it be short! If I recall, Dr. Lani suggests 3-5 years on a bisphosphonate is optimum for avoiding side effects. Many people are afraid to take bone drugs and with good reason as many websites and testimonials can scare people to death. Remember that those with negative reports are far more likely to post about their experience than those with good, positive results.