This was featured on our NBC national news program a few weeks ago, and frightened me into stopping my meds. They reported people getting fractures while just walking or going down a stairway, etc.

Yes, I read about it then did some research on the web, printed it off and took it to my Doctor and told him I'm not taking the Fosomax any longer while he read it. He agreed with me but insisted I keep taking Calcium + D. I agreed with him on that one......your danged if you do and danged if you don't.

I already have bone loss which is why my Doc put me on the Fosomax, but IMHO it isn't worth the risk.

I had my first dexa scan when I was 54 (a year before menopause) and it showed osteopenia. The dr rx'd Actonel which I took for 7 years. I was doing some online research to read about Vitamin D levels & supplements & in the process read a bunch of credible literature on the downside of taking biphosphonates. One piece was that taking the med for 5 years was possibly sufficient & the long term effects were not know. So I stopped them & discussed this with my new dr. He said he didn't believe I should have been taking the med. The lit I've read says you shouldn't have a screening scan until age 65 (barring other indications for early screening).

For me it was a second example of taking an Rx without being fully informed & weighing all the pro's/con's. The other situation for me involved taking cholesterol lowering drugs (statins) which I am also no longer taking.

Well, it's hard to know what to think. My 89-year-old mom has been on Fosomax since it was available and she hasn't had a major break (yet!) After her heart surgery she did have several hairline-type fractures in her back but I think having her body splayed on the table for those hours weakened bones for a bit. So far, so good! She also has taken Calcium+D for as long.

Thanks for posting this Bee. It reminds me I need to see my doctor this summer.

I've been on 3 osteoporosis meds, the first one Fosamax. I will share my story here, but this should NOT NOT NOT NOT influence anyone to stop taking their meds: while I was on Fosamax, I did have a fracture of the largest bone in the body,the femur. It started on a very long walk, and was exacerbated in a stumble off a step. Making a long story short, I finally had to have a rod put in the femur to stabilize it as it would not heal alone. I now take Boniva, but I'm not too happy about it.

Amgen is coming out with a new medication called Prolia. It is injected once every 6 months, costing about $800 per injection.

I feel like we are all "guinea pigs" using these drugs because they have not been around that long and are certainly no major cure. But I fear doing otherwise.

Best wishes to everyone facing the challenge of osteoporosis. Take care.

I've always said we live in an over-medicated society! There's a flipping pill for everything. D@mn..there's even pills to help you get OFF pills!! It's almost a guarantee if you go to a Dr....you're gonna leave with a prescription for something!

I don't see Drs. unless I absolutely HAVE to, and it's been about 5yrs. since I went to a Dr. If I'd known my ankle was sprained instead of broken...I wouldn't have gone then! :)

The published medical evidence I've read on this so far is inconclusive. There is a hypothesis that you may be more prone to femur fractures if you take biphosphonate for an extended time. There's also a hypothesis that you may be more prone to hip fracture and spinal compression fracture if you don't take it and have progressive osteoporosis. There's more medical evidence for the latter. Medicine and science aren't black and white. Your best bet is to educate yourself with the most reputable information you can find (not necessarily whatever you happen to read online) and make your own risk/benefit decision.

I just had surgery on my cervical spine in May. The doctor said he was surprised at the condition of my bones. So this is a subject I have been investigating lately. Besides this surgeon and my own family doctor, I have also consulted with my sons physical medicine doctor, as well as the physical therapist that I have just started with. All of them advised against using anything, other than the calcium and D supplements. With that the advice is to get more weight traing in, as soon as I am physically able. My density test was only 6 years old and showed no signs of problem, so I had pushed it out of mind. I have taken the calcium and D, but was not as diligent as I could have been. Part of mine of course is age related, but I want to stay as mobil as possible. This past 8 months has been he** and I would hate to have it get worse, if I can do anything about it, but they were all in agreement that calcium, D and weight training was the way to go. Thanks Bee for bringing this to our attention.

Had my bone density scan recently and got a report that there was improvement by one third, the doctor said to continue Fosamax.

I attribute the improvement due to my weight training, I started a year ago.

I was diagnosed with osteopenia in 2003 and then a dexa scan in 2004 confirmed osteoporosis in both my spine and hips. My GI had me on Fosamax at first for one year, and later switched me to Boneta. I took this for two years. I had another dexa scan last year and showed so much improvement in my scores that my GI took me off the Boneta, explaining that it would actually be harmful for me to continue. He said it was fine to continue with calcium and D supplements, but no further medication was needed.

I asked my doctor about this a few weeks ago. She said it was fine for me to continue taking it and that there was no conclusive research about the problems I'd read about.

I'm not sure what to think at this point.

Oh and now I read about a study published in the British Journal of Cancer that women who have taken bisphosphonates have a 40% lower incidence of breast cancer than those who haven't.

how about this? due to dehydration during my hyst (and kidney failure, doing very well now), i now have to watch in-take of calcium, but have to take 2000 units of vit d plus a syntheic d...so now second round with the big c breast cancer, wa-la now am taking anti-hormone fermera, which can cause bone loss (just had a bone density test)they get you one way or another..

my mother did take fosamax, but ultimatly was in dreadful back pain...the ironic thing she passed away just days after a mri to see what condition she was in..i really never got a defined reason, other than heart failure...

I absolutely refuse to take any of those drugs. At the last scan I had osteopenia and it runs in the family. Doctor wanted me to get the yearly shot. I said no thanks. I asked if I needed another scan ,and he said ..what for, you won't take any drugs ? I walk 4 miles a day and do some weight lifting. Previously, I had only walked 2 miles a day with no weight training. I remember a doctor telling me how wonderful Proprem was for the heart, bones,.. .the wonder drug. So in 2003? we found out otherwise. I will not be a guinea pig any longer. I know someone who got necrosis of the jaw from Actonel.