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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Thank you all for your posts. I wonder if anybody is from Canada? I live in Canada and can tell you that nobody knows about this problem or they don't want to talk about it. My mother has been on Fosamax for about 8 years. She just had femur fracture on her right femur. Prior that she had horrible pain that was hard to describe because it was somewhere between knee and hip and doctors excluded many things but could not find the reason. She had X-ray done but later I found out that they never took X-ray of her femur - just knee and hip. My mother does not speak English and all she had to go through was very difficult. The day she fell, we just come from the doctor who could not tell me anything. She fell down for no obvious reason - her leg just gave up on her. She had a surgery and got a rod put in her thigh.
February 10, 2010 - 10:31pmThe whole experience was very difficult in every way, but thanks God she is getting better. Thank you all again.
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Hello,
I am sorry to read about your fracture and that there is yet another among our ranks of fractured Fosamax victims. If your other leg is showing "activity" as you say on an x-ray, it is a stress fracture most assuredly, not mineral deposits and you are at an extremely high risk of another horrible fracture. I hope you follow up on this with a nuclear bone scan which your doctor can order. Did you have surgery with a titanium rod inserted into the bone? I wish you well and hope your future does not hold any more Fosamax surprises for you. Vicki
February 6, 2010 - 6:41pmThis Comment
I truly believe the ads for fosamax are very misleading. I, too had a low impact femur break after taking Fosamax. Xrays reveal that the other fenur also has ridges of mineral depositis. Fosamax does not make bone cells or new bone. In fact it stops both osteoclasts and osteoblasts from formimg.
February 6, 2010 - 5:47pmThis Comment
I truly believe the ads for fosamax are very misleading. I, too had a low impact femur break after taking Fosamax. Xrays reveal that the other fenur also has ridges of mineral depositis. Fosamax does not make bone cells or new bone. In fact it stops both osteoclasts and osteoblasts from formimg.
February 6, 2010 - 5:47pmThis Comment
Thanks for the update John. It really is a bad drug, though I am sure if it was administered correctly for a reasonable length of time, we would not be where we are today. Keep plugging away. It sounds like you have a good dentist on your side that should help get you through this in that area. Be kind to yourself during this recovery process.
January 22, 2010 - 4:51amThis Comment
Hello friends,
Thank you for all the welcome greetings. I went to both the ortho doc and my dentist today.
Good news.....and not.
The nuclear bone scan report came in but the doc's computer was down so they could not print it out for me. The doc said he read it earlier when it first came in and the good news is my right femur looks good, but the report noted "some emerging and healing stress fractures of the 4th and 5th metatarsals". The doc did not seem concerned and I will wait to study the report before drawing conclusions one way or the other. I return in a month for xrays to monitor the healing of the left femur, meanwhile he OK'd me to continue water aerobics, stationary bike and upper body workouts.....good, I don't want to turn into jello sitting on the couch!
On the other front, I had an extraction of a lower rear molar in Oct due to extensive decay under an old crown. The dentist was not optimistic re saving the tooth so we concurred on extracting it. I had no pain or complications, but the area never seemed completely healed when I ran my tongue over it. Today, he examined the area and confirmed BONJ, or osteonecrosis of the jaw in that area. On the good side, he remarked on how healthy the bone and surrounding tissue looked and in his opinion he feels it will heal on its own without further complications. He is a dental implant specialist and quite knowledgeable re bone biology and bone health. He gave me a detailed seminar on osteoclasts, osteoblasts, bone turnover etc and he is also quite concerned about unmonitored long-term use of biphosphonates......"it can be a bad drug" in his own words.
I'm still trying to digest all this, and I truly appreciate your support and knowledge.
Cheers,
John
January 21, 2010 - 11:40pmThis Comment
I will be thinking of you John. If indeed it shows a stress fracture, I highly recommend a preventive rodding of that leg. I had the rodding of my left leg scheduled when it snapped in two before I could get that done. Having the preventive procedure would be much, much easier on you than another broken bone to experience and recuperate from.
Best wishes,
January 20, 2010 - 7:14pmVicki
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Thanks Vicki,
Indeed quality is more important than quantity in this case. I'll post the scan results tomorrow.
Best,
John
January 20, 2010 - 7:06pmThis Comment
The DEXA (bone density scans) are a vital tool in discovering the mass of our bones, but keep in mind they do not generate the quality of our bones. My scores also went up, so the Fosamax did indeed create "more" bone, but the quality was that of chalk. Good luck John!
Vicki
January 20, 2010 - 7:03pmThis Comment
Thanks Pat & Vicki,
I will sign up for Dr. Schneider's newsletter. I have been taking calcium supps plus vit D for several years. My T-score went from a -4.0 in 2000 to a +.02 a year ago and I thought I had this thing beat....guess not!
I have an appt to get the bone scan results tomorrow....wish me luck!
Cheers,
John
January 20, 2010 - 6:56pmThis Comment