However, this increased risk was not seen in people who took 10 mg or less of Fosamax per day. Before taking Fosamax, talk with your doctor about any other medications that you take. If you take aspirin, your doctor may recommend a medication other than Fosamax to treat your condition. The digestive tract refers to the parts of the body involved in eating and digesting foods and liquids.
This irritation may increase your risk of digestive side effects from Fosamax and NSAIDs, such as nausea or belly pain. This was in comparison with people taking a placebo, which is a treatment with no active drug. But your doctor may monitor you more often during treatment just in case you have increased side effects. Using certain supplements with Fosamax could make Fosamax less able to treat your condition. Below, we describe a type of supplement that may interact with Fosamax in this way.
But keep in mind that you should take any supplements at least 30 minutes after taking Fosamax. And only take a calcium and vitamin D supplement if your doctor recommends it.
You should take Fosamax at least 30 minutes before consuming any food, drinks, or other medications. Taking Fosamax with these other substances can prevent your body from properly absorbing Fosamax. Taking Fosamax with a beverage other than plain water can decrease how much Fosamax your body absorbs.
Fosamax works by stopping the activity of osteoclasts cells that break down your bone tissue. By preventing these cells from working, Fosamax increases your bone density and strength. This lowers your risk of fractures. Fosamax begins working after you take your first dose.
However, you may not notice it working, or it may take time to notice the effects of the medication. This is because Fosamax works to decrease your bone breakdown over time.
Eventually, Fosamax can make your bones stronger and improve your bone density. Bone density is a measurement of how strong your bones are. Fosamax works to improve bone strength by decreasing bone breakdown in your body. This is important to do to ensure that your body absorbs Fosamax. Note: Fosamax Plus D, a combination of Fosamax and vitamin D3, may be prescribed to treat osteoporosis instead of Fosamax in some cases. If you have questions about whether Fosamax or Fosamax Plus D is better for treating your condition, talk with your doctor.
As with all medications, the cost of Fosamax can vary. To find current prices for Fosamax tablets in your area, check out GoodRx. The cost you find on GoodRx. Before approving coverage for Fosamax, your insurance company may require you to get prior authorization.
This means that your doctor and insurance company will need to communicate about your prescription before the insurance company will cover the drug. The insurance company will review the prior authorization request and decide if the drug will be covered.
If you need financial support to pay for Fosamax, or if you need help understanding your insurance coverage, help is available. Medication Assistance Tool provides lists of programs that may help to lower the cost of Fosamax. And generics tend to cost less than brand-name drugs.
To find out how the cost of Fosamax compares to alendronate, visit GoodRx. They may recommend that you use one of the forms rather than the other. However, animal studies showed that Fosamax can increase the risk of death for a pregnant female and her fetus. Studies showed that Fosamax lowered body weight in fetuses and increased the risk of miscarriage.
They may recommend a different medication for you. You can also call the American Association of Poison Control Centers at or use their online tool. But if your symptoms are severe, call or your local emergency number, or go to the nearest emergency room right away.
When you get Fosamax from the pharmacy, the pharmacist will add an expiration date to the label on the bottle or box. This date is typically 1 year from the date they dispensed the medication. The expiration date helps guarantee that the medication is effective during this time. If you have unused medication that has gone past the expiration date, talk to your pharmacist about whether you might still be able to use it.
How long a medication remains good can depend on many factors, including how and where you store the medication. They should be kept in a tightly sealed container away from light. Avoid storing this medication in areas where it could get damp or wet, such as bathrooms. This helps prevent others, including children and pets, from taking the drug by accident. It also helps keep the drug from harming the environment. This article provides several useful tips on medication disposal.
You can also ask your pharmacist for information on how to dispose of your medication. Of note, Fosamax has not been studied beyond 4 years of use. It is not known if the drug is safe and effective after 4 years of treatment. Therefore, it is best to reevaluate Fosamax treatment regularly. After 3 to 5 years of treatment, reevaluate people at low risk for fracture, and consider discontinuing treatment.
However, even after stopping treatment, people should still be monitored. Fosamax is available as a tablet. The brand-name medication is only available as the mg tablet that can be taken once weekly. However, alendronate, the generic form of Fosamax, is available as a tablet that comes in 5 mg, 10 mg, 35 mg, 40 mg, and 70 mg.
Fosamax tablets should be taken as a whole tablet in the morning on an empty stomach. The drug should be taken at least 30 minutes before any other food, drink, or medications to avoid decreased absorption of the Fosamax.
After taking, people should remain upright in either a sitting or standing position for at least 30 minutes to avoid the risk of esophageal ulceration. They should also eat before lying down. Tablets should be taken with at least 6 to 8 ounces oz of water.
The oral solution should be taken with at least 2 oz of water. Fosamax is a bisphosphonate medication. It works by binding under osteoclasts, which then bind to bone surface. However, osteoclasts lack the border that causes resorption. In this way, Fosamax inhibits osteoclasts from working, so bone breakdown is blocked.
Because Fosamax blocks osteoclasts, rate of bone formation occurs faster than bone breakdown. This increases bone mineral density as well. In women, alendronate taken in the morning, 2 hours before breakfast, has a bioavailability of 0. In men, the bioavailability of alendronate taken in the morning, 2 hours before breakfast, is 0.
The oral tablet and solution have equal bioavailability. Therefore, alendronate should be taken 30 minutes before other food, drink, or medications. The volume of distribution at steady state is at least 28 liters. The terminal half-life of Fosamax is greater than 10 years, which is due to alendronate releasing from the skeleton.
People at risk for aspiration should not take the oral solution of Fosamax. The oral solution is only available as the generic form of Fosamax, called alendronate. It should be kept in a tightly sealed container, away from light. It should not be stored in areas where it could get damp or wet, such as bathrooms. Disclaimer: Medical News Today has made every effort to make certain that all information is factually correct, comprehensive, and up to date.
However, this article should not be used as a substitute for the knowledge and expertise of a licensed healthcare professional. You should always consult your doctor or other healthcare professional before taking any medication. The drug information contained herein is subject to change and is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects.
The absence of warnings or other information for a given drug does not indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective, or appropriate for all patients or all specific uses. Bone density decreases with time, and some people have a risk of developing weak or brittle bones. Learn how to increase or maintain bone density here. An introduction to bones. We discuss their function, the different types of bones in the human body, and the cells that are involved.
You should swallow this drug with a full glass of plain water not mineral water to make sure that the drug is delivered to your stomach. You should sit or stand. These steps will help prevent irritation of your esophagus. One 5-mg tablet taken once per day. However, because drugs affect each person differently, we cannot guarantee that this list includes all possible dosages.
Always speak with your doctor or pharmacist about dosages that are right for you. Alendronate oral tablet is used for long-term treatment. For this drug to work well, a certain amount needs to be in your body at all times.
If you take too much: You could have dangerous levels of the drug in your body. Symptoms can include:. If your symptoms are severe, call or go to the nearest emergency room right away.
What to do if you miss a dose: Take your dose as soon as you remember. But if you remember just a few hours before your next scheduled dose, take only one dose. Never try to catch up by taking two doses at once. This could result in dangerous side effects. How to tell if the drug is working: You may not be able to tell if alendronate is working since it increases the thickness of your bones. Your doctor may scan your bones with a machine to tell if the medication is working.
A prescription for this medication is refillable. You should not need a new prescription for this medication to be refilled. Your doctor will write the number of refills authorized on your prescription. This will help prevent irritation of your esophagus. You and your doctor should monitor certain health issues. This can help make sure you stay safe while you take this drug.
For instance, your doctor may do blood tests to check how well your kidneys are working. Alendronate can make your skin more sensitive to the sun. This increases your risk of sunburn. You should avoid being in the sun. If you must be outside, wear protective clothing and sunscreen. There are other drugs available to treat your condition. Some may be better suited for you than others. Talk to your doctor about other drug options that may work for you.
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A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. See more conditions. Request Appointment. Osteoporosis: How long must I take bisphosphonates? Products and services. How long must I take bisphosphonates for osteoporosis?
Are they a lifelong commitment? The impact of a major fracture on patients' lives is often devastating. If one survives a major fracture, the transition to frailty and dependence is common. The costs to the individual, the family, and society are significant. Bisphosphonates, the most commonly prescribed class of agent for the treatment of osteoporosis, have proven efficacy for prevention and treatment of bone loss and fractures due to aging, estrogen deficiency, and glucocorticoid use.
Recent concerns about potential long-term safety issues, such as atypical femoral fractures AFFs , osteonecrosis of the jaw ONJ , and esophageal cancer, along with the possibility that fracture risk reduction may persist for years after treatment is stopped, have resulted in interrupting or stopping bisphosphonate therapy.
However, many questions surround optimal treatment duration, which patients may discontinue treatment, and what the retreatment criteria should be. From the outset, let me point out there is little evidence to guide us as clinicians. Nelson Watts, MD, an internationally recognized endocrinologist, refers to this as a "data-free zone.
This article attempts to put into perspective the long-term use of bisphosphonate therapy for the management of postmenopausal osteoporosis. The data available are for use of bisphosphonates in women; long-term use clinical trial data are not available for men.
Bisphosphonates and Long-Term Efficacy The currently FDA-approved bisphosphonate therapies to treat postmenopausal osteoporosis include alendronate, risedronate, ibandronate, and zoledronic acid. Bisphosphonates are available as oral formulations alendronate, risedronate, and ibandronate or as IV formulations ibandronate and zoledronic acid. No head-to-head studies have been conducted to assess whether there are differences among drugs in fracture risk reduction or safety.
The registration trials for bisphosphonates were three or four years in duration, with fractures assessed as the primary end point. The risk of vertebral, hip, and other nonvertebral fractures was reduced in women with osteoporosis. Alendronate, risedronate, and zoledronic acid trials were subsequently extended to investigate the long-term effects of these drugs.
Ibandronate that assessed either oral or intravenous dosing regimens was not continued in placebo-controlled design. Fracture reduction is the goal of long-term osteoporosis treatment. However, the extension trials had smaller numbers of subjects and were not powered for fractures as a primary endpoint. Bone mineral density BMD was the primary outcome measure with fractures assessed as exploratory endpoints or collected as adverse events.
The extension clinical trials demonstrated continued improvement of that BMD beyond three or four years of treatment and beneficial effects on fracture risk.
No unexpected adverse events were identified in these longer-term studies of bisphosphonates in postmenopausal women. In studies of zoledronic acid use up to six years and alendronate use up to 10 years, continued treatment showed a reduction in both bone loss and vertebral fractures.
The benefits of risedronate appear to be of shorter duration after discontinuation until BMD and bone turnover markers returned to baseline. There are no data for ibandronate. Ten-Year Alendronate Dose Ranging Study Extension Alendronate has been studied longer than any other osteoporosis medicine in a controlled clinical trials setting. The original dose ranging study was continued for a total of 10 years with about women.
Bone density at the hip remained stable. Bone turnover markers remained in the premenopausal range. No safety or tolerability issues were observed with this length of treatment in this study population.
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