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sassy · 10-14-2013, 10:51 PM

Sometimes being "special", or should I say "rare" is just a pain in the.......legs.

One of the "rare" side effects of long term use of bisphosphonates is the development of stress fractures in the upper femurs.

I'm just one of the rare birds! My stress fractures were diagnosed earlier this summer. Happy to report that my latest x-rays show signs of healing!!! I think my orthopedist was really surprised. He looked at the x-rays and exclaimed "Look! Your body is cooperating! I sure am glad we didn't put rods in your legs--but it sure was tempting!" He's glad??? Made me a little happy too.

So i'm allowed to walk once again. I still have to be careful. But walking is good and I'm planning on complete healing.

So my word of caution--please be aware of this possible side effect, especially if you continue with bisphosphonates longer than five years.

10-14-2013, 10:51 PM	#1
sassy Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Mountains of Virginia Posts: 2,267	Legs are Healing Sometimes being "special", or should I say "rare" is just a pain in the.......legs. One of the "rare" side effects of long term use of bisphosphonates is the development of stress fractures in the upper femurs. I'm just one of the rare birds! My stress fractures were diagnosed earlier this summer. Happy to report that my latest x-rays show signs of healing!!! I think my orthopedist was really surprised. He looked at the x-rays and exclaimed "Look! Your body is cooperating! I sure am glad we didn't put rods in your legs--but it sure was tempting!" He's glad??? Made me a little happy too. So i'm allowed to walk once again. I still have to be careful. But walking is good and I'm planning on complete healing. So my word of caution--please be aware of this possible side effect, especially if you continue with bisphosphonates longer than five years. __________________ Rhonda (Sassy) dx age 45 DX 2/15/05 Stage IIb (at surgery)restaged IIIa Left mast .9cm tumor 5 of 14 nodes Triple Positive 4 DD A/C 12 Taxol/Herceptin 33Rads Strange infect mast site one year aft surg, hosp 1 wk Herceptin for total of 18 months Lupron Monthly 4 yrs Neurontin for aches, pains and hot flashes(It works!) Ovaries removed 11/09 stop Lupron and Neurontin Arimidex 6 yrs (tried Femara, no SE improvement) Tried Exemestane-hips got so bad could hardly walk Back to Arimidex for year seven Zometa 2X Annual for 7years, Lasix Stop Arimidex 5/13 Stop Zometa 7/13-Bi-lateral Stress Fractures in Femurs from Zometa 5/14 Start Tamoxifen 3/15 Stem cell transplant to stimulate femur bone growth/healing 5/15 Complete fracture of right femur/Titanium rods both femurs 9/16 Start Evista stopTamoxifen 3/17 Stop Evista--unwelcome side effects! NED and no meds....... 14YEARS NED! Last edited by sassy; 10-15-2013 at 05:15 AM..