Reclast Infusions and Osteoporosis Treatment

Overview

Osteoporosis is a condition in which bones lose density and strength, so they can break after a minor fall or even a cough or bend. It usually causes no symptoms until a fracture happens. A bone density (DXA) scan is used to diagnose it and estimate fracture risk.

Common Signs and Symptoms

• Often no symptoms until a fracture
• Broken hip, spine or wrist after a minor fall
• Loss of height
• A stooped posture
• Back pain from a compressed vertebra

When to Contact a Provider

Ask your provider about a bone density test if you have broken a bone in a minor fall, have lost height, take long-term steroids, or are a woman 65 or older.

How Treatment May Help

Calcium, vitamin D, exercise and fall prevention are the foundation of care. Prescription medicines may help slow bone loss or build new bone, and may help lower fracture risk.

Therapies That May Be Available at Infuse Care

• Reclast (zoledronic acid): IV infusion, usually once a year; a bisphosphonate
• Prolia (denosumab): injection under the skin every six months
• Evenity (romosozumab): two injections under the skin once a month for 12 months; for postmenopausal women at high risk of fracture; helps build new bone

Safety and Monitoring

Reclast can cause flu-like aches for a few days after the first infusion, and your kidney function is checked beforehand. Prolia can lower calcium levels, especially in people with advanced kidney disease, and it should not be stopped without a plan from your provider, because stopping can raise the risk of spine fractures. Evenity carries a boxed warning that it may increase the risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death, and it is not used in people who have had a heart attack or stroke in the past year.

Rare side effects of these medicines include jaw bone problems (osteonecrosis) and unusual thigh bone fractures, so a dental check before treatment is often recommended.

Your prescribing provider decides which treatment is right for you. Infuse Care administers prescribed therapies after a referral, a clinical review and any required insurance authorization, and we keep your provider's office updated on your care.