Information about success and side effects would be appreciated!

Posted by lenorj @lenorj, Aug 4 8:11am

My Dr has just prescribed Fosomax for my osteoporosis. I’m unsure about take any meds so any information from your personal experience would be helpful.

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Profile picture for gmom14 @gmom14

Well, my doctor is well aware of my health history, so these are the directions I received:
Yes, I was told to try to increase water to 48 oz. the day before, the day of(I usually drink 12 oz with every meal...I don't always drink it all at once, but I leave it on the table till it's finished. So, I had to add another 12 oz.).
If I wasn't taking D and calcium supplements, I was asked to take 2000 IU OF D daily and Calcium 500 mg twice daily for at least 5 days STARTING the day of the infusion.
Since mild flu-like symptoms can be a normal side effect following the infusion for up to 3 days.
The instructions were that I would be given the Tylenol before the infusion starts and not to take Tylenol for at least 4 hours prior to the infusion. They recommended Tylenol 500 mg 6 hours after the infusion and continue taking every 6 hrs. As needed.
Everything happened as above. I was mildly tired. I did not need Tylenol after day 2. This is day 3, and I feel good.
As far as dosage: she took out one small bottle of Reclast and one small bag of saline, and attached it to the machine. It took @30+ minutes to empty the bottle
followed by the bag of saline. I was worried about having to go to the bathroom after all of that water! The nurse said to just call, she simply untethered me and I rolled away to relief!
So far all of my worries were wasted😉.
Yes, my doctor assured me that this should do the trick, but if I need more she would follow with the same process in a year or two,
which isn't as scary as it first was.
Blessings on your journey!

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What is recommended for those for whom Tylenol is nothing more than an expensive placebo?

REPLY
Profile picture for gmom14 @gmom14

Well, my doctor is well aware of my health history, so these are the directions I received:
Yes, I was told to try to increase water to 48 oz. the day before, the day of(I usually drink 12 oz with every meal...I don't always drink it all at once, but I leave it on the table till it's finished. So, I had to add another 12 oz.).
If I wasn't taking D and calcium supplements, I was asked to take 2000 IU OF D daily and Calcium 500 mg twice daily for at least 5 days STARTING the day of the infusion.
Since mild flu-like symptoms can be a normal side effect following the infusion for up to 3 days.
The instructions were that I would be given the Tylenol before the infusion starts and not to take Tylenol for at least 4 hours prior to the infusion. They recommended Tylenol 500 mg 6 hours after the infusion and continue taking every 6 hrs. As needed.
Everything happened as above. I was mildly tired. I did not need Tylenol after day 2. This is day 3, and I feel good.
As far as dosage: she took out one small bottle of Reclast and one small bag of saline, and attached it to the machine. It took @30+ minutes to empty the bottle
followed by the bag of saline. I was worried about having to go to the bathroom after all of that water! The nurse said to just call, she simply untethered me and I rolled away to relief!
So far all of my worries were wasted😉.
Yes, my doctor assured me that this should do the trick, but if I need more she would follow with the same process in a year or two,
which isn't as scary as it first was.
Blessings on your journey!

Jump to this post

Thank you so much for this. This is very helpful to me as I had some anxiety and now at least I know what to expect. The suggestions you gave for water, supplements and Tylenol are very. helpful too. Thank you and best of luck on this process for you also. Deborah Lanius

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Profile picture for njhornung @normahorn

What is recommended for those for whom Tylenol is nothing more than an expensive placebo?

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Sorry, I wish I knew the answer to that. I have been fortunate enough to not need pain meds often, so it doesn't take much to give me relief. The recommended amount was ample for me.

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I, too, rarely need any pain medication and typically use aspirin when I do. The one and only time I used Tylenol was years ago and it did absolutely nothing for my headache but the aspirin I finally took worked. I tried Ibuprofen once and ended up nauseous. Yet, the only thing being pushed and pushed and pushed is Tylenol.

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