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Has anyone had new on of osteoarthritis or flare up with Reclast?
In January 2025, I had intravenous zolendronic acid (Reclast) for osteoporosis the first time. The following week (January 21) I began to experience right knee pain. It became sharp. I was concerned that I might have had a blood clot and went to the ED on January 28. They found it was a Baker’s cyst. Then, later in February, my left leg knee started to hurt and swell and went to a sports medicine doctor who said my left leg also had a Baker’s cyst and that it was due to osteoarthritis. But I have not up until this point ever had knee joint pain and never before been diagnosed with osteoarthritis. Neither or my parents or grandmother had arthritis to my knowledge. The knee pain came on so suddenly and just around a week or so since I had the infusion. I recently checked some medical sources and it appears this might be related to the zolendronic acid. I am concerned because I cannot do my regular activities such as walking very far and working out—this has really messed up my life. (I was on Prolia for a number of years and never had pain). I reported this to my prescribing doctor and she was sympathetic. My question—has anyone had a new case or flare-up of osteoarthritis—and if so, how long did it last? Thank you.
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Thank you for sharing your experiences, since I thought I was going crazy here. I had a Reclast infusion 10 days ago. On the fifth day I started having osteoarthritis flare ups in different parts of my body. First it was the hands, the next day my knees and one elbow, then one foot. Today I woke up with a swollen knee. It is very frustrating since it impacts my activity level tremendously, not to mention the pain, and so far the doctors just say to manage it with Tylenol. Any advice is welcome! Thank you and good luck in your journey.
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1 ReactionYes, I recently had the reclast infusion and that very day I felt like I was coming down with the flu. I ached all over and had a stuffy nose. The next day I had this excruciating pain in my left arm, I took tramadol, gabapentin, and Aleve and it did nothing to stop the pain. finally, the doctor gave me prednisone.
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1 ReactionFrom what I've read, it seems to be that people who have arthritis and take reclast have problems.
I have a friend who is on her 3rd year of reclast and has absolutely no problems with it -- but she does not have arthritis, even tho she does have osteoporosis. Can anyone with osteoporosis but no arthritis please post about their experience with reclast -or any of these drugs? And thank you all for any info you can share.
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1 Reaction@ctnater Here are 2 case studies about osteoarthritis and zoledronic acid (brad name Reclast). Research using generic name finds more scientific/medical references.
Osteoarthritis Flare-up Secondary to Zoledronic Acid Infusion: A Case Report
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12414099/
EXCERPT: "We describe the case of a woman with osteoporosis, who developed a flare-up of osteoarthritis hours after receiving a single dose of zoledronic acid."
Severe polyarthritis secondary to zolendronic acid: a case report and literature review
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4469233/
EXCERPT: "We report the case of an older patient with osteoporosis and osteoarthritis who presented within 12 hours of her first zolendronic acid infusion with evidence of a severe acute polyarthritis affecting her peripheral appendicular skeleton, in joints affected by pre-existing osteoarthritis"