My Reclast infusion adventure

[grannyh]

On the plus side.. medicare and my supplemental insurance agreed to pay for the treatment. Also on the plus side.. the infusion went well.. the needle went in without pain.. at first stick.. no problems with the drip. Afterward about 25 minutes I was on my way just like any other day.

About 6 hours later the ribs on my right side started to hurt.. it hurt to breathe. Ok a little shallow breathing was a small price to pay for once a year osteoporosis treatment and it couldn't last long.. could it??

A few hours after that there was pain in the back of my butt.. along with the rib pain.. just trying to walk gave me sharp pains that elicited a small scream each time I move..shuffled along.

By bedtime.. I decided maybe a tylenol three might help.. there was no way I was going to be able to sleep with the rib and butt pain.

Around three in the morning I was running a slight fever and barfing myself inside out.. did this standing at the sink.. there was no way I could get to toilet bowl level.. I know it was disgusting.. but I really didn't care at that point.

Spent the next day in bed taking tylenol 3 every 4 hours. The following day hubby had an appointment with the family doc.. and I asked if I could have his appointment and if he would drive me. I didn't bother going to the arthritis doc since he didn't know me from a lamp post and knew even less about CC.

Family doc put me on neurontin after I gimped in using a crutch. Had me go for blood work to make sure there wasn't any muscle damage. Dr's wife was there and said she had been thinking of getting Reclast but I wasn't much of an advertisement for it...LOL

The nerontin did the trick.. no pain after a full cycle of it. Well this might not be too bad, I thought.. as long as I don't have to take it forever.

Since I had started the first pill at 3 pm and took the next at 9 pm and the next at 3 am.. I found the schedule not really practical and thus missed the 3 am pill 2 days in a row.. Quickly found that missing one pill a day was not smart.. pain came back..not the sharp pain that caused slight screams with each move..just a liveable pain...LOL

I changed the pill schedule to 6 am, 12 pm, 6 pm, 11 pm.. that works..and after two more days.. am almost totally pain free in my butt and can walk, bend and even empty the front loading washer:)

I see the family doctor on Thursday to see how we proceed. We have a year to find out how this goes and whether I will be able to do Reclast next year... he knows the arthritis doctor and will be talking to him.

Anyone else tried Reclast???
grannyh

[mia]

I'm glad to hear it's working for you grannyh. Seems like quite an ordeal though!

[grannyh]

I had read the whole pack of stuff that was given to me and knew it was possible but "rare" to get flu like muscle and joint pains and fever. What I ended up with was more painful than I expected, thought.

Family doc wonders if he had started neurontin before the infusion if I would have had the same problems... something to consider before next year.
grannyh

[JLH]

I am really sorry to hear all that you have been through, GrannyH. I Googled Reclast because of your post. What I found was scary and the same for Fosamax. I am so glad I am not taking it anymore.

I hope you feel better soon.




HUGS

[tex]

GrannyH,

Hmmmmmm. Quite an ordeal.

I'm glad to see that you're pretty much out of the woods, finally. The best thing about that whole adventure, IMO, is that you have almost a whole year to decide if you want to go through it again.

Tex