[heblaj01]

Hello Barbara,

Based on the experience of an elderly lady in my family who has taken 12 Zometa I.V.s over an 18 month period here is what happened:
After the first infusion there was in the following 24 hours:slight fever, intense heat feeling in the back, pain in the joints (not all at the same time). Then no symptoms.
We asked advice from the hospital nurses & pharmacist who recomanded taking Tylenol just before & after infusion every 4 to 6 hours for 12 to 24 hours.
This worked perfectly for all subsequent infusions even when she took only one or two tylenol which may well indicate that the body got used to Zometa.

She was also taking coenzyme Q10 for a long time before starting Zometa.
This may inadvertandly have protected her from kidney damage by Zometa as her creatinine marker remained very stable. I can't be sure of this since no trial involving CoQ10 & Zometa has ever been done. But several clinical trials have shown the kidney protective (& even curative) properties of CoQ10 in other settings.
Further protection may result from extending the standard 15 minutes infusion time to 30 minutes.

Finally, a far more serious but fortunately rare side effect of Zometa called
avascular osteonecrosis of the jaw can be avoided by taking some precautions such as avoiding dental work while on Zometa, avoiding severe damage to gums (as with poorly fitted dentures)...
This is a severe side effect since,as far as I know, there is no effective treatment with antibiotics or surgery.