Last year I suffered a nontraumatic femur fracture of my left femur. In July, 2008 I read an article that described femur fractures identical to mine and a possible link to long term use of Fosamax. Since then I have had a bone scan which shows increased activity in my right femur which could very possibly be a stress fracture. I am very worried about the risk of a fracture occurring in my right femur. I would love to communicate with others who have had this experience. I am also interested in learning about how I can protect myself from this happening again.
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Dear Anonymous,
Your story is a typical Bisphosphonate epic. I hope your doctors realize the dangerous "time-bomb" you are walking on. You should get a nuclear bone scan immediately and if a stress fracture lights up....you should talk to an orthopedic surgeon about preventive intramedullary rodding so you do not experience another complete, painful fracture. The drugs stay in your bones for at least a decade, so there is along time from when you stopped Fosamax to that time. I wish you all the best!
April 19, 2010 - 7:59amThis Comment
Well I find myself in the same dilemma as you....my right femur napped in two in 2006 with no trauma. Dr.'s told me they had only seen this type of fracture as a result of an automobile accident. Prior to my break I had pain in my right leg for quite a while. Dr. told me it was a pinched nerve.... I am now experiencing pain in my left leg & I am absolutely terrified of my left femur breaking. I too was taking Fosamax for a number of years prior to my fracture. I see my rheumatologist next week and hopefully will get some answers. I will post them if you would like!! Good luck...
April 19, 2010 - 5:11amThis Comment
Anon, yes, do let us know what your rheumatologist says, and please also look to us as a resource as you run into new information and have questions. We have several very knowledgeable and supportive people here who can help. Good luck to you! Pat
April 19, 2010 - 5:44pmThis Comment
(Note from EmpowHER Moderator: This appears to be a copy of a letter sent to ABC News.)
RE: Fosamax & Fractures
I watched your segment regarding Fosamax (aired on March 9, 2010)
with shock & amazement!
(Good Morning America : link )1. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/video/fosamax-linked-fractures-bones-10049562#
This was MY STORY......my life altering story to say the least.
I was taking fosamax on a regular basis from 1997 until 2006 when my accident occurred.
Now backing up to a year prior in 2005, I was experiencing pain in my right leg. It was so uncomfortable that it was affecting my employment.
As per Doctor’s orders I went to physio 3 times weekly, but to no avail. My Physiotherapist sensed there was more going on with my leg, so he sent a letter to my physician suggesting an M.R.I.
The M.R.I. indicated nothing to account for my pain, so by the process of elimination my Doctor advised me that she suspected I had a pinched nerve. Shortly thereafter I went to the local hospital for a spinal nerve block which provided me with some relief.
Then on January 20, 2006 while helping my daughter relocate, my right foot became lodged between a box & the wall. I simply tried to pull my leg up & out to free it. It was then that my right femur snapped in two. As the lady mentioned in your segment the pain was indeed excruciating. By the time the ambulance arrived I was going into shock.
After X-Rays at the St. Catharines General Hospital the doctor in
emergency stated that the only time they had ever seen a break so severe was the result of an automobile accident.
Surgery & physio followed.
Unfortunately my femur did not heal completely and the rod and hardware had to remain in my leg, otherwise it would re-break.
I became very proactive and last March 4th (2009) I had a bone graft done from my pelvis to my femur at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario.
This March (2010) I was elated to learn that the femur has finally healed after more than four years!
I am presently awaiting my third surgery to remove the rod & assorted screws.
Let me assure you that the past four plus years have been a living nightmare for me.
I commend you on airing the segment on fosamax, for now I have the missing pieces to my life altering “puzzle”. Thank you G.M.A.!!
We need to address this condition, and get this vital information out to women everywhere!!
If my small part in this issue saves just one woman from enduring the pain and suffering I have been subject to, it will be most worthwhile.
Sincerely yours
Janis McAughey
March 26, 2010 - 6:01amSt. Catharines, Ontario
CANADA
This Comment
I will probably be a lot more level headed about it in a few months, but right now I'm not. Right now, my wife is more resigned to the day to day situation and I'm the one really ticked off about the possibility that this was a "side effect". Some side effect, huh? In a few months, my wife will probably be here, but right now she's not ready. She has more good days than before, but she's tired of the pain medicine and the way it makes her loopy and emotional. She's tired of not being active or exercising. She's worried about the future. She's even tired of her broken leg being the "talk" of the town.
My advice to you ladies. Stick it out together for the long haul. I have seen how my wife's story resonates with people and shakes them to their core in a visceral way.
Anyone from Venables, LLP or Jones Day or Dechert would do well to remember that. Regular people see those X-Rays and they are ROCKED. It won't matter that it only happens to a "few" people. It won't matter that it "helped" people for their first 5 years. When regular people understand how these drugs work, they will ask why the hell didn't the manufacturers think about the inevitable? The fact that most people have not snapped a femur yet doesn't mean their bones aren't turning to chalk. I'm sorry, there I go with the feisty attitude, but Jesus Mahoney it ticks me off! A rare side effect? Oh....well that makes us feel sooooo much better. wish that rare "side effect" had been part of the commercials!
Call me crazy, but you would think that if these companies warn men about the risk of a four hour erection, they might see fit to warn women about the risk of the strongest bone in their body snapping with little or no warning, wouldn't ya think?.
March 25, 2010 - 7:27pmThis Comment
Your pain and loss speak loudly and that is perfectly fine and healthy I think! Your wife is so young to go through such an "old-age" trauma. I, too, was prescribed Fosamax as a "preventive" drug by a young GP. I know he was well intentioned, as most of the doctors are, as a matter of fact this doctor would not want anything bad to happen to us, he graduated from high school with one of our sons!
However, I have learned as the years have passed, that the doctors are vulnerable as well and they do receive "perks" for prescribing these drugs--even if it is only freebie office supplies. Nonetheless, your point of the drug company's responsibility does not fall on deaf ears!! Even today, as more and more women and men are coming forward with their stories, they deny a connection, even to the point of pushing a "survey," which they paid for through individual contributions to the authors. I am still too "young" to remember the details of the radio DJ scandal in the 1950s, when the DJ received "Payolla" to play certain records. If such things were a crime 60 years ago, aren't they a crime today??
I have days when I am so depressed and tired of the pain and the drugs for pain, and the slow rehabilitation time, and the complications, but most importantly, I only took Fosamax to prevent this from happening!!! At his point in time I can not play outside with my grandkids--the beats of my heart--or do the things that nourish me physically and mentally, such as gardening and being active outdoors. I have been robbed of the life I planned for and that hurts. Yes, I may improve enough eventually to play with my grandkids again, but they are growing up and not waiting for me to get better in the meantime.
March 26, 2010 - 12:36pmThis Comment
I second that Pat! And, as a "broken" woman, whose husband is very supportive would certainly appreciate hearing a husband's take on the pain of his wife and HIS suffering as well. Also, I invite your wife to join the support group that I belong to that was founded by Dr. Jennifer Schneider who can be contacted at: [email protected]
As is this web site, we are there for each other!
Vicki
March 25, 2010 - 5:39pmThis Comment
I'd also like to add that my wife was put on Fosamax by an apparently aggressive GP in 1997. He was a pretty young doc, so I wouldn't be surprisedif he was swayed by a cute blonde drug rep and/or future "Bachelor" contestant. (eye roll fro drug marketing). Anyway, last month, my wife was walking down a school corridor at our daughter's gymnastic's meet and her femur snapped before she hit the ground. The pain was brutal to watch, let alone experience first hand. She now has a rod and screws holding her thigh together I'm not a research scientist, but I'll bet my bottom dollar that the drug caused it and when a causal link is inevitably established it will be time for Merck to make things right or play some real hardball.
March 25, 2010 - 2:39pmThis Comment
Hi eafiii - Thanks for writing, and welcome to EmpowHER. I'm so sorry to learn your wife is going through this. How is she doing now? Is she still in pain?
March 25, 2010 - 5:20pmMost of our members are women and we really appreciate the male perspective too. As the husband of a woman dealing with the broken femur problem can you share how this makes you feel? Any advice for other men on how they can support women going through this? We look forward to hearing more from you.
Take care, Pat
This Comment
Many people may have some doubt about the link between bisphosponates and femur fracture because they believe the manufacturer would surely make a stronger warning of the risk for such a major side effect, even if it was only a small risk. To them, I say, read about Ford and the Pinto gas tanks in the 1970's. You can find the story in almost any business ethics book. Ford's attorneys knew a certain number of consumers would be burned alive in rear end tank ruptures, but concluded that from a business standpoint, it was cheaper to settle with survivors and their families than to recall the Pinto.
I'm admittedly a skeptic about these things, but my hunch is that the Fosamax fracture link will be stronger than the Vioxx heart attack/stroke link, but the current lack of clear causal link and the potential exposure are such that the manufacturers can hunker down and wait to see what happens.
March 25, 2010 - 1:09pmThis Comment