FOSAMAX Reviews (ALENDRONATE SODIUM)Average Rating: 1.4 (1232 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare FOSAMAX with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 |
More on FOSAMAX: Reviews Summary | FDA Adverse Event Summary
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR FOSAMAX | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 2 | osteopenia the osteoporosis | I began treatment after being diagnosed with osteoporosis, gained a small amount of bone density and was reevaluated as having osteopenia. Then during/after menopause I regressed to having osteoporosis. I stopped taking Fosamax 18 months ago and had my first DEXA scan in 18 months this past May. I lost an additional 8% bone density in my spine - T score is now -3.1. Either the medication didn't help much or not at all. Moreover, almost 2 years ago I developed persistent tinnitus in my right ear and episodic tinnitus in my left. My teeth, orthodontically corrected when I was a teenager, shifted, I developed TMJ and arthritis of the jaw. My teeth have been for the most part, straightened with invisilign and kept in place and to prevent further damage, with a nightguard. I can only assume these problems are related to Fosamax. My doctors want me on a osteoporosis medication ASAP but they all have side effects and frighten me, particularly the infusion drugs. I have always exercised daily, | F | 55 | 8 years 1X W | 7/7/2011 | 1 | 1 Year | I remember the first time I took Fosamax I was standing in the shower when an intense flushing wave started in my head and flowed through my entire body. My vision went dark and I experienced tunnel vision. I almost fainted. My heart began a rapid pounding that subsided around 10 min later. My doctor insisted that Fosamax did not cause heart palpitatons. He said that he did the research. He asked me if I wanted to be a jelly fish after menapause and insisted that I remain on Fosamax. I reluctantly took it for the next year. Three years ago I went to my current doctor who does an EKG on all new patients. My EKG showed that I had an arrythmia. He ran a Cardiolite and diagnosed me as false positive since there were no other symptoms. Last month, I started having intense arrythmias. They have changed my life. I've cut out all caffine. I can't have even a glass of wine. Meals are almost terrifing to me. When I eat some foods, my heart goes racing and it can last all night long. I have an ap | F | 56 | 360 days 1X day | 7/2/2011 | 3 | Osteoporosis | I had quit taking Fosamax because it was so expensive. About two years later, on the way to a restaurant I fell backwards on stone steps, breaking a bone in my spine among other things. Went back on Fosamax and my bone density tests are fine now. BUT in the past two months it feels as if my lower jaw is shrinking. Scary! | F | 74 | 4 years 70 1X W | 6/29/2011 | 1 | low hip dexascan reading | Swelling of feet and legs, joint pain, tinnitus, slight taste change and possibly leg muscle tears. | Would avoid | M | 58 | 6 months 70mg 1X W | 6/27/2011 | 1 | to prevent bone loss | Started experiencing severe pain in various joints and swelling around the ankle recently. X-rays are all normal. Primary care physician suggests that it is arthritis. I suspect this may be a side-effect of having taken Fosamax for so long. I have no family history of arthritis and have a very healthy lifestyle. I'm a Yoga instructor. This pain has been debilitating and I think I should stop taking Fosamax altogether to see if I get better. | F | 71 | 10 years 70mg 1X W | 6/21/2011 | 2 | osteoporosis | I have begun to feel aches and pains in hips and jaws. I have also just started to experience severe pain in my upper right shoulder blade the last 2 days. Am not sure if Alendronate is the cause but would have to assume so. | F | 49 | 2 times 70mg 1X W | 6/2/2011 | 1 | osteoporosis | I cannot believe the person saying "all these people reporting side effects just think it's from Fosamax and it's probably from something else"......surely you jest??? AND, this same person reports further bone loss after being on the drug for years, yet thinks it's been helpful! I have no doubt all these reports of terrible side effects are from Fosamax, and are very real. Another person reports broken leg, ribs and toe after being on the drug for years........................Hellooooo! | NEVER will I take. I'll live with my osteoporosis and go the natural route and hope for the best. | F | 57 | 0 days 1X day | 5/18/2011 | 1 | Myelodyplastic | My Mom has been diagnosed as having Myelodyplastic and I also feel it was caused by taking this drug. | F | 73 | 2 years 1X day | 5/16/2011 | 4 | Osteoporosis | none to my knowledge. | I never felt any different, other than general aches and pains of growing old, and I believe all the many complaints of the people who responded with opinions of what they THINK resulted by taking Fosamax could be results of many, many other problems. I recently had a bone density exam and while it showed more deterioation than my test 10 years ago, my doctor said it did not show as much as is normal for that number of years, so it must be doing some amount of good. | F | 86 | 15 years 70mg 1X W | 5/15/2011 | 1 | prevent osteoporsis | unexplained aches and pains | Because of age and menopause, my OBGYN wanted me on Fosomax. I had no idea it could cause such terrible aches and pains. I couldn't walk, go up/down stairs, getting up from sitting. My doctor could not explain other than my weight and possible fibromyalgia. No pain remedy worked. After reading some other postings, I told him I was going to stop taking it. What a relief!! I have had a bone scan recently after being off for over a year and it is fine. I still do calcium & Vit D supplements. The only other problem I have encountered is tooth problems. I've had more dental procedures in the last three years than 25 years prior. I will fight not to have to go on anything like this again. | F | 57 | 3 years 70 mg 1X day | 5/11/2011 | 1 | osteopenia | Sudden back and hip pain with no warning | I took Fosamax for 6 years with little or no symptoms until one morning it hit me and I could not get out of bed or walk with severe pain in my back and hips. What was a mystery to me was that I had done nothing to cause the back pain. I too first thought it was due to my age until I happened upon this site, and then all the pieces started falling into place and I remembered some of the other things that had happened that I dismissed as age related. One thing was my feet were sore when I first got up in the mornings and I could no longer wear my wedding ring. I did have a tightness around my breastbone like a feeling of heaviness, but did not experience the esophageal symptoms others have mentioned. When the pain in my back was so strong that I could not stand or walk and I was unable to turn over in bed because of the pain, I took myself off Fosamax and I am hoping this pain goes away entirely and I can be pain free again. It has only been 13 days since I took my last pill. I was very active and did yoga until this back pain hit now I feel like an old woman. | F | 57 | 6 years 70mg 1X W | 4/30/2011 | 2 | osteoporosis | The first (and only) time I took generic alendronate was on 4/24/11. I took it on an empty stomach at about 11:30 a.m. and didn't eat until about 4 p.m. At about 11 p.m. the same day, pain developed in my left shoulder/upper arm and left wrist. By the next morning, I was nauseated and very fatigued. I also had a headache that was primarily localized in my left temple/forehead, with at least one blood vessel visibly protruding beneath the skin. The arm/wrist pain and the nausea were gone by that evening, but the fatigue persisted for a day. The headache persisted for at least two days. | I plan to discuss my apparent reaction to alendronate with my doctor, but will NOT take another 70 mg dose in any event. (I would advise others against starting this medication at a dosage of 70 mg.) Because I still have osteoporosis, I MAY ask about the possibility of starting with a small weekly alendronate dose (initially 10 mg?) and increasing it incrementally to a level that still does not cause a reaction. | M | 59 | 1 days 70 mg 1X W | 4/29/2011 | 5 | To prevent further bone loss | I did not notice any side effects whilst taking this drug. | After 2 years my bone density INCREASED by 11% and my doctor has suggested I can come off Fosamax now. I am thrilled. | F | 55 | 2 years 70 mg 1X W | 4/21/2011 | 1 | Oseopenia | Taking the generic. Started with stiff neck. Now severe neck pain with bones clicking and the sound of bones rubbing against each other when I turn my head. Pains go up back of head & muscles in back of neck are stiff. Had a sore thumb joint prior to taking this med but now left joint is severely swollen. No strength in the left hand. Can't lift or hold anything in left hand. Laying down is extremely painful. Lots of leg cramps. Have been off for 5 weeks now but don't feel any better. Seeing Orthopedic Doc next week. Almost feel like my neck could be broken. | F | 61 | 4 days 70 mg. 1X W | 4/6/2011 | 1 | Long term steroids | None for the first 1 and 1/2 yrs. | I was put on steroids for an autoimmune disease....at the time the Dr. thought the steroids would be for a couple of months. When he saw that I would be on them longer he Rx'ed the Fosamax. My bone density at that time showed osteopenia. To make a very long story short.....in the end I was on the steroids for 2 yrs. and the Fosamax for 23 months. As I was tapering down off the Prednisone I gradually became aware of joint pain and muscle weakness. And as the Prednisone dosage became gradually lower and lower the pain and weakness became worse and worse. At the time I thought it was coming from the decreasing anti-inflammatory dosage....not the Fosamax! After reading and researching this drug I am sure the Fosamax is the cause. Three months ago I told my Dr. I was not going to take it any more. I was able to stop the Prednisone in Nov. and stopped the Fosamax early January. The pain and weakness is not one bit better and I'm now at the point where I wonder if I will ever be normal again!!! I can't get out of a chair or off of the john without pushing myself up (it is a real struggle!) because the muscles don't work and it is painful to stand up!! This is, I am convinced caused by the Fosamax. I am truly scared that I may never be normal again as far as agility. I predict that the FDA will eventually take this drug off the market as there seems to be a LOT of us that have the same debilitating side effects. And I have read that Fosamax stays in your body for 10 year | F | 73 | 2 years 70 mg. 1X W | 4/1/2011 | 1 | osteopenia & osteoporosis | I had no aches or pains when I started this drug. After 15 months I feel 87 instead of 57. A year after stopping, I am still stiff and achy, especially in my left elbow which I never injured or had problems with. Don't start this drug. | This drug should be removed from the market or have a black box warning. I was a vibrant, active 55 year old woman when I started it. After about 2 weeks, I started to have pain in my left arm and elbow. The doctor said it wasn't the Fosamax. I continued for 15 months. I started to have a lot of stiffness and achiness, especially at night. Did anyone else find that the adverse effects were worse at night? I have been off Fosamax for about a year and still feel like I aged 30 years in 15 months. | F | 57 | 15 months 70 mg 1X W | 3/29/2011 | 1 | osteoperosis | Very bad bone and joint pain. | Doctors refusal to acknowledge the serious side effects this deadly drug is having on so many thousand of people is puzzling. Fosamax should be pulled from the market immediatley. | F | 65 | 18 months 70mg 1X W | 3/22/2011 | 1 | Osteoporosis | When I was switch from real fosamax to the generic I started with Sever Pain in the Theocratic and lumbar spine that radiates through the ribs. | This drug should not be taken longer than 5 years. I had no issues with this drug until recently. My bone turnover is near zero now and this drug could be harming me much more than helping. My doctors have now removed me from this drug. Fosamax my be inappropriate for some men with low bone turnover osteoporosis (the kind most men get) is due to low bone turn over.... but they did not know this 20 years ago. IMHO, do not start this drug unless you are sure that suppressing your bone turnover rate will actually help you. | M | 61 | 20 years 30mg 1X W | 3/21/2011 | 2 | Osteopenia/Osteoporosis | I never had any side effects but found the timing of taking this medication then my other morning medication for thyroid disease annoying. I would have to wait nearly 2 hours before I could eat or drink my coffee. No improvement in my bone density ever. | I recently stopped taking Fosamax based on my doctor's opinion as well as reading all the negative information that has recently come out. I didn't think much of this until today but I have had radiating pain from my left hip to my lower thigh every day for the past month and find that it is starting in the right hip. Now I am wondering if this isn't a side-effect of going off this drug and am horrified to find it stays in your body for so very long. I am overseas and wonder if I will be able to manage this pain on my own until I return to the States. I exercise all the time and have started doing yoga in hopes of alleviating the pain. Seems that Fosamax was a poor choice for me since it did not change my numbers, I broke my leg, ribs 3 separate times and a toe all after being on this drug for years! | F | 56 | 12 years 70 mg 1X W | 3/19/2011 | 1 | osteoporosis | I took alendronate sodium 70 mg which is a generic form of Fosamax, starting on 2/6/11 following all instructions and I took it again the following Sunday for a total of 2 doses. A couple of days after the second dose i developed a tightness in my throat and in addition to that I have had an uncomfortable feeling in my chest that at times feels like i have overeaten. Now almost 6 weeks later I still have the symptoms but in the past week I have had days when I have had better moments, today is not one of them. I'm convinced that this is a reaction from the drug. | I didn't read the side effects of this drug before I got these symptoms, so I had nothing telling me you might have this or that reaction. The only thing I ever heard about Fosamax was about jaw issues. I wonder how long this drug can stay in your system. | F | 53 | 2 weeks 70mg 1X W | 3/19/2011 |