Re: Fosamax side effects?

Hello,

 I have heard quite a few people with concerns about 
Fosamax causing some bone type pain in the Back but have 
never heard  of anything related to the hands. I have 
experienced a similar effect from Miacalcyn - another 
osteoporosis drug and that pain stopped a few months after 
the drug was stopped although in my case that was after the 
2 year stretch was finished.  Earlier on we verified that it 
was that drug and continued since the extra pain was minimal 
yet definite.

Arthritis is easily diagnosed and from what i know, readily 
detectible on x-rays.

You say she is starting to show some bone loss- well that is 
 normal for someone her age but the KEY is HOW MUCH bone 
loss. Was a DXA scan run and if so what are the results? 
Somr form of bone scan is minimally required to diagnose 
osteoporosis.

If she is properly diagnosed and
IF she is in otherwise good shape
THen fosamax would be a valid drug of choice. It shows good 
results in women and is generally well tolerated as long as 
it is taken as directed.

I have also not seen you write about tests for calcium 
intake or loss or other blood tests to verify other 
necessary chemicals in the body. Most osteoporosis patients 
end up on enhanced calcium intake and along with that extra 
Vitamin D to allow the body to absorb and use the calcium. 
Did the doctor mention any of this ?

As a severe pain patient with a blown back, arthritis, 
osteorathritis and  osteoporosis, i can talk first hand 
about many of the anti-pain meds on the market today. Daily 
i take morhphine sulphate and use a duragesic patch to 
control the most severe pain and yet on top of that - and 
when the arthritis acts up - it is celebrex that helps that 
much more than anything else. I have seen maybe too many 
doctors before settling in with the present hospital pain 
clinic that i am now in but would be very wary of any doctor 
prescribing narcotic medicines before trying a much lesser 
preparation.

Sure they can argue that the new cox and cox-2 inhibitors 
are rough on the liver BUT so is morphine. Also while 
morphone is habit forming - the cox-2 inhibitors are not.

My best advice is to get all the information and if what i 
am asking is more than the present doctor has  - then it is 
time for another physician ...


--
John Madura
moderator sci.med.diseases.osteoporosis.newsgroup
http://www.jmadura.com/osteofaq.htm

reply to
n2rdv
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GotOuttaIdaho wrote:

> Hi -
>
> My mother, age 72, has been taking Fosamax for about a year.  During
> this year she has developed pain in her hands and back that she, and
> her doctor, assume to be arthritis.  She was put on the medication
> because of bone density tests that showed she was "starting" to have
> some bone loss.
>
> Now, she went through menopause in her late 30s. If, at age 72 she is
> just starting to show some bone loss, is placing her on Fosamax
> justifiable?  Because her hand and back pain were not problems prior
> to her taking Fosamax, I suspect that her pain is a side effect of
> this medication - a medication that I'm not convinced is appropriate
> for her.
>
> She gets little relief from OTC anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen and
> naproxyn; her physician has suggested that she might try some
> morphine-like meds.  I'm concerned about this situation, and would
> like to provide my mother with some better information than what she
> appears to be getting from her physician.
>
> Is increased arthritis (or arthritis-like) pain a side effect from
> Fosamax (online information is not very specific about this)? Any
> thoughts on the appropriateness of prescribing this medication for a
> "little bone loss"?
>
> Thanks,
> MLW