Some of you may remember my great concern over the Osteoporosis meds I was either taking or would soon be put on. Well, I was referred to the Univ of Iowa Hosp and saw a Specialist in the Bone Clinic. Her specialty is Osteoporosis and bone diseases and I was truly impressed w/the amt of time she took w/me.

For now, she wants me to stay on the Boniva IV inj's every 3 months until next Dexascan in Dec, see her in Jan and then we will see where we are then. She did not want to put me on the Forteo daily injections, as that is the Big Gun and can only be used for 2 yrs. I was totally impressed w/her and she asked me a hundred questions and listened.
I had bloodwork done for a Vitamin D & calcium study, and she switched my type and amt of calcium & Vit D. I also had many X'rays taken on my spine and hip areas, as I have alot of pain there and have lost an inch in height. I'm now 5' 2". However, my posture is very good, so she's thinking some compression fx's in the hips may be the culprit. (I have taken several spills over the past yr.) I don't have the results back, as she was leaving for 10 days and said I could either talk to her nurse or wait for her to come back to call me. I opted to have the Dr, herself call me.

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Just getting another opinion and finding the proper channels to go through has made me feel so much more confident that I am managing the Osteo the best I can.

SO, that's my update and thanks for all the advice and encouragement I have received from all of you. It's been scary, but I feel like I am on the right path now.

If you need information on Forteo in the future...

A poster at PN, Silverlady, just posted about her favorable response to Forteo. (she has several fractures of the pelvis).

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ghlight=forteo

Thank you mrsD; I'll check it out. My Dr told me that Forteo is a great drug for rebuilding the foundation of the bone, but since I'm 53, she wants to hold off for at least a yr before going on it and see if the Boniva inj's hold off bone loss.

Thanks again.

DM,

I am so glad to hear that your appointment went so well. I sure hope they can get you on the right med for your osteoporosis.

I took my second once monthly Actonel and have been in pure misery the last 2 weeks. My back, ribs and knees have been the worst.

I felt some discomfort the first month but I had a failed back surgery in 1991 and always have pain. The pain was worse for a little while but not too bad.

I fell a few weeks ago and hit the wall in my hallway. I banged myself up pretty good. I was sore and bruised but glad I didn't break any bones. I was starting to feel better and could get around ok.

A week after the fall, I took my second Actonel and a few days later, my pain was just horrible. It was getting worse instead of better. I have been able to take a shower and that's about it for the last two weeks. I have been miserable and couldn't figure out what was wrong until I did some searching on the Internet and found all the site about pain from Actonel.

I am not taking anymore Actonel once monthly pills. I can't tolerate that much in my system at once. I see my PCP on the 25th and am going to ask her for a weekly dose of the generic Osteo med and see if that works.

I wish you luck with your doctor.

Oh I'm so glad you saw this doctor DM. I was so worried about you over this. It sounds like you're in good hands now. We want you to be in good shape for scrapping with AMN, you know.

I'm pleased you saw this doc as well DM as I've been waiting until you get your's sorted out, so I can give my own doctor your regime for me. Not only that, I'm really pleased that some-one is finally making sense for you.

Becky......I too started on Actonel, but after a month, I was waking up every morning between 4 and 5 am and rushing to the bathroom in order to worship the porcelain goddess! I haven't even told my doctor yet that I stopped taking them about 3 months ago. I daresay she'll notice soon that I'm not asking for repeat prescriptions.