Did you guys read this today
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN0740958620080 107
This is a new warning about the osteoporosus drugs fosamax, bonia, and others.....I have taken fosamax for about 2 months now....
Thanks for the heads up Smartie. I cannot believe this. I googled Didrocal and find that it too is a bisphosphonate. Does anyone else feel like we are being used as guinea pigs? I will most definately show this article to my Dr. when I next go in. It will be interesting to hear what she has to say. I am feeling so disappointed right now.
Mayo did not prescribe osteoperous drugs for my husband. He was given Citracal with Vitamin D, 2 caplets per day. They said it was as good as the drugs and believe me, alot cheaper.Smartie, thanks for the link. I printed it out for my wife who has just started Fosamax. Then Kants (Cap) mentioned that the Mayo Clinic thinks Citracel with Vitamin D is as good as the drugs, and cheaper.
Cap, could you provide us any more background and details on Mayo's suggestion?
My wife has a big jar of Kirkland Calcium Citrate from Costco which I'll bet is equivalent to Citracel and probably cheaper. It contains, for two daily tablets, 500mg of calcium, 800 i.u. of vitamin D, and several other things (vitamin K, vitamin B6, magnesium, zinc, copper, manganese, and boron). I'm going to see if I can find the same details for Citracel, which is highly advertised and thus presumably higher priced.
He was prescribed 2 tablets daily of Citracal. The ingredients are as follows:
Calcium as calcium citrate 630 mg x 2 =1260 mg daily
Vitamin D3 as cholecalciferol 400IU's x 2=800IU's daily
The other ingredients are: polyethylene glycol, croscarmellose sodium, polyvinyl alcohol-part hydrolyzed, magnesium silicate, magnesium stearate.
It costs approximately for 180 caplets which would be a three month supply. I am sure that what you are getting at Costco is probably the same thing but Costco is not an option in our part of the midwest and the Citracal is available in almost all stores.
Since June 2005 I have been taking Calcichew D3 and sometimes Ideos. On netdoctor.co.uk I found the following about Calcichew D3: How can this medicine affect other medicines?
Calcium salts may reduce the absorption from the gut of the following medicines:
- tetracycline-type antibiotics, eg tetracycline, doxycycline, minocycline
- some quinolone-type antibiotics, eg ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin
- iron preparations
- bisphosphonates, eg etidronate
- thyroxine
- sodium fluoride.
It seems therefore that Clacichew doesnīt contain biophosphonates. I donīt know if it is available in the USA and Canada but it seems to be available in the UK. I also looked at Ideos and couldnīt find that it contained biophosphonates, so I guess I am lucky.
In Sweden, we have subsidised medicine and we get a little rebate in the beginning and then more and more until we have paid US $ 265 during a year - from then on it is free. If the doctor prescribes Calcichew D#, we get what is cheapest at the moment with the same active ingredients. In my case I sometimes get Calcichew D3 and sometimes Ideos which has the same active ingredients
Ragnar
Thanks, Cap and Swede. Watch out for my spelling. I inadvertently spelled citracal as citracel. The latter is a fiber-type supplement!
Thank you for the very informative link. I was prescribed Fosamax when I got the got the prednisone prescript on. I did a Google search and decided that I would not take it because of side effects. One of which is dead jaw disease. I did post that link at that time.
I started taking 1500 mgs of calcium along with vitamin D, hoping that would work. I don't understand if it deters the above drugs or not from reading the post with the other drugs listed. I'll have to see if I can find out more what affect that much calcium has on ones system.
I think we are being used as guinea pigs so the drug companies can rake in th mega bucks. Mary
Mary
The problem I have is...how the heck are we supposed to know if we are having side effects of joint and muscle pain from this drug????? I was told to take Citricel also for osteopena (before PMR). But the next year my tests were worse and i had a bit of osteoporus in my lower spine so then I was told that maybe I was not absorbing the Citricel so take chewable Caltrex....then I got the PMR and the steroid prescription then told to get on the Fosamax. I got off the pred last week or so so I am pondering if i should also quit the fosamax. The first test that was ordered for me by the rheumatologist before I wasHere is a link to a news story today. We are catching up with new Zealands news...
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20080115/calcium-hea rt-risk-for-older-women?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Also, My dentist told me that the worry for dead jaw is more for people taking the drug intraveniously....then I heard dr. theodore rosenfeld talk about it on fox sunday house call on tv....he said the same thing. He also talked about the side effects of muscle and joint pain and to be aware of that...He did not mention this heart thing....
Hi all