| Author |
Message |
Jack
Member
Username: Johnhollenbach56
Post Number: 53
Registered: 12-2009
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 02, 2010 - 09:04 am: | 
|
Morning all, yesterday several of us (lungers) were having lunch and Fosamax came up. I take this along with many others I understand. One of the others said he would not take it because of a study he heard of where bones became brittle and damage came after 5 years of use. At my last annual I was told the bone loss had been stopped and there was an actual 3% gain in density, not sure if this was the fosamax, well now alendronate or changes in meds. What have others found or experienced?
Jack Hollenbach
Received double lung transplant August 2, 2007 UCSD Thornton Hospital
Live each day to your fullest, for it is a gift to be treasured |
|
Joanne Schum
Member
Username: Joannes
Post Number: 78
Registered: 08-2009
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 02, 2010 - 09:16 am: |
|
THAT IS WHAT THE MEDICAL JOURNALS ARE REPORTING..FOSAMAX IS BAD FOR BONES....KNOW MANY PEOPLE WHO HAD TO GET OFF IT.
GOOD NEWS...MANY OTHER OPTIONS OUT THERE.
I DO PAMIDRONATE-EVERY 3 MONTHS, A 2 HOUR IV.
BONE DENSITY WENT FROM 78% TO PRESENT 89%.
JOANNE
Joanne Schum
Bi-Lateral Lung Transplant
September 12, 1997
University of North Carolina Hospitals-Chapel Hill |
|
Russ
Member
Username: Rjwitte
Post Number: 48
Registered: 06-2009
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 02, 2010 - 09:53 am: |
|
My understanding is that Fosamax is GOOD for increasing bone density, but it's a little more complicated than that ... There is an increased risk of certain types of fractures and of osteonecrosis (death) of the jaw bone after dental surgery if you've been on very long term Fosamax usage. Most programs are giving fosamax "holidays" for a couple of years after being on it for a number of years. Most people taking fosamax are much older, so they didn't have long term studies until recently. Long term use seems to change the way the bones rebuild, so really rare types of fractures become a greater risk when on Fosamax ... and the Fosamax Holiday allows you to rebuild correctly.
Bones are always under destruction/reconstruction as you need calcium in your blood. Bones are essentially the calcium storehouse in your body. That's also why we should take calcium supplements, to make sure that the body has enough all the time and doesn't need to borrow it from your bones. 
I've been on Fosamax for about 11 years now ... with two holidays in the middle. My bone density has increased from extreme osteoporosis to mild osteopenia in the back and to normal in the hips. But I also walk about 90 minutes a day and I'm sure that helps. And they checked my thyroid, my testosterone levels and my vitamin D levels to make sure that I had everything I needed to build strong bones.
Be sure to discuss it with your doctor and they can plan accordingly. I see an endocrinologist a couple of times a year to go over the plan.
Russ - Heart Txp, 1-1-1999
Univ. of Michigan |
|
walt s
Member
Username: Desparado
Post Number: 16
Registered: 02-2010
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 02, 2010 - 10:57 am: |
|
i was told fosamax ws one of the few drugs that actually did what it said it would would do. and i was told right after my transplant as soon as i healed up i was to start taking it 1 x a week with 2 large glasses of water after 1 year he told me to have another bone scan and we would talk about stoping it at that time.
walt s
copd
listed may 14th 2010
for dbl lung transplant
University of Washington Medical Center
just waiting |
|
|
