Anyone taken Evenity (romosozumab) for Osteoporosis?

Posted by arlene7 @arlene7, May 27, 2020

Has anyone taken Evenity? I understand it’s only been on the market for a little over a year. I’m hoping it will help with my severe osteoporosis. Any information is helpful.

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I'm 71 have had 6 injections with no side effects. Have nurse set out evenity to warm up. Do your stomach & have her inject slowly.

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I receive my 5th injections of Evenity next week. So far, no problems. Good luck to us all in this difficult journey.

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@ligg

@dmort I'm reading your comment on mayoclinic.org from 2021 and wondering if you went through with the 12 month dosage? Did you go through with it? I'm insurance approved and doc recommended to start Evenity but nervous about the side effects. Could you share your experience? Thank you in advance.

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Hi! I get it 100%. Took a while but after further scans I finally decided to go ahead with Evenity just this past spring. However, my insurance denied it and recommended that I try Tymlos first. Thinking they were just making me go with the cheaper drug to save them money I was very upset. So, I did my research. Turned out that Tymlos had reported better outcomes and no longer had a black box warning. So, my insurance company was actually looking out for me.
Although the black box warning was bone cancer it had not been discovered in people, so it was downgraded. Unfortunately, it's given daily by injection at home for 18 months. Super easy to administer with a pen injection. The Tymlos nurse walked me though the first time and taught me some tips and tricks. I've had a little bit of nausea, but it goes away or is prevented with some food in my stomach. Since it's given daily any side effects only last for a couple hours. If you can't tolerate it you can stop and it's out of your system pretty quickly. My copay is completely covered by the manufacturer discount card. Sorry I can't tell you about my experience with Evenity. All I can say is do what's right for you. Don't hesitate to get a second opinion. I went to multiple doctors with the hopes of someone telling me I'll be fine without treatment. But unfortunately, after meeting with all of them and the testing showed it was needed. Good luck and best wishes!

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@gravity3

Do you mind sharing your age? I am 75 and wondering (to all participants) if age plays a part in weighting possible side effects against possible positive outcomes. I definitely does for me.

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I feel the same way. I am 76, and even though the osteoporosis in my lower spine is in the “severe” range, I question whether the possible benefits of drugs outweigh the possible, and sometimes really awful, side effects. I can’t seem to make a decision.

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@sandrajhunt

I feel the same way. I am 76, and even though the osteoporosis in my lower spine is in the “severe” range, I question whether the possible benefits of drugs outweigh the possible, and sometimes really awful, side effects. I can’t seem to make a decision.

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Which drugs have you taken?

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@sandrajhunt

I feel the same way. I am 76, and even though the osteoporosis in my lower spine is in the “severe” range, I question whether the possible benefits of drugs outweigh the possible, and sometimes really awful, side effects. I can’t seem to make a decision.

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At my age I feel it necessary to factor in life expectancy, the fact that I am going to die at some point of something and which side effects I am willing to risk (if any arise). Although I have not had any noticeable side effects from forteo, alendronate or one dose of evenity, I am quite aware that any of these may be having or had negative as well as positive effects on my old body.

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@gravity3

Which drugs have you taken?

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Several years ago i took boniva and had a bad side effect that sent me to the ER. I have not taken any other drugs since and am reluctant to do so.

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@sandrajhunt

Several years ago i took boniva and had a bad side effect that sent me to the ER. I have not taken any other drugs since and am reluctant to do so.

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That must have been terrifying. I'm sorry you had to go through it.

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@lauratys

Unfortunately yes and it started just about a week ago. I seem to be able to take Fosomax for 6-8 weeks then get pretty significant hip joint pain. I had that with Evenity at month 7 or 8. I don’t think my body likes antiresorptive drugs. I may try switching to daily Fosomax but waiting a couple of weeks to see if pain decreases throughout the week with 70 mg dosing. It’s just a challenge to feel like I have arthritis when I had zero aches/pains prior to Evenity and Fosomax .

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Thank you for your reply. I have had the same reaction but with Reclast after stopping Evenity after month 9. It only took about 3 days before the pain in my right hand increased followed by my left hand 6 weeks later. Reclast was 9 months ago. I have good days and bad but keeping active really helps. I am due for another Reclast in January that I am not going to take. So I was considering trying a bisphosphonate that isn't so long lasting. Actonel half life from what I recall is 30 days; I may be wrong about that. Anyway, I want to be able to evaluate whether I am getting an adverse reaction and switch to something else. Though I have no idea what an alternative would be.

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@ann707

Thank you for your reply. I have had the same reaction but with Reclast after stopping Evenity after month 9. It only took about 3 days before the pain in my right hand increased followed by my left hand 6 weeks later. Reclast was 9 months ago. I have good days and bad but keeping active really helps. I am due for another Reclast in January that I am not going to take. So I was considering trying a bisphosphonate that isn't so long lasting. Actonel half life from what I recall is 30 days; I may be wrong about that. Anyway, I want to be able to evaluate whether I am getting an adverse reaction and switch to something else. Though I have no idea what an alternative would be.

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I literally was too concerned to take Reclast after my Evenity experience. I was told that out of 8k people that have used Evenity in the practice I go to that I was "the only one" who had the pain like you and I have experienced. I picked up a prescription for Actonel yesterday as the Fosomax started up the same joint/muscle pain I had with Evenity. Frustrating but I'll keep trying as I have to do something to keep the Evenity gains that actually were only significant in my spine. Had a DEXA last week, 6 months after stopping Evenity and spine has gone from -2.1 to -2.3 while I was taking Fosomax. Spine was -3.8 before Evenity. Actonel historically does not cause the muscle aches as much. Being hopeful!

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