I was offered Aclasta as a relay drug but decided against it as there's no way out if one has an adverse reaction to it. It's in your body for a year. I struggled with the weekly Actonel 35mg as I had unpleasant side effects (back pain, vertigo, blurred vision, nausea) for the three weeks I was on it. I then took the daily Actonel 5mg, so sort of drip fed it into my body and, once it seemed tolerable, I went back onto the 35mg weekly tablet. I feel about 95% ok, but have a few low-level side effects which fortunately are manageable. I'm in Australia and am taking the EC (enteric coated) Actonel which apparently only starts to be absorbed once it is in the bowel, so bypasses most of the digestive tract and avoids the risk of gastrointestinal issues. That might work for you if you decided to stop Prolia. I see you're in Canada - not sure if the EC version is available there.

My bone density improved by leaps and bounds on Prolia - 14.9% in the hip and 7.9% in the spine over 2 years. However, I've since read that, despite the increasing density, the bone quality is very poor as the mechanism by which Prolia acts means that the old bone is not being removed. This poor-quality bone is also apparently prone to microfractures over time, hence the incidence of atypical femoral fractures. So DEXA scan results are not reflective of the true bone status.

Besides your cholesterol, the other things to check while on Prolia are your blood pressure and parathyroid levels. Mine both shot up despite being mid-range and at healthy levels before I started Prolia. I always had low blood pressure (108) and it's now very high (144). My parathyroid level doubled to over the upper limit! They are both on the way down now.

Taking any osteoporosis drug is obviously a personal decision, but I wish I'd done my research before starting Prolia. There is a very good bone health forum called HealthUnlocked in which I am a participant. It's worthwhile having a look at other people's experiences with Prolia from an educational point of view. There are some frightening stories there, including reports of ONJ and atypical femoral fractures which are certainly not as rare as medical professionals would have us believe. After reading these horror stories and taking into account my experience with Prolia and now Actonel, nothing would persuade me to stay on these osteoporosis drugs. I think there are also a lot of scare tactics around getting women onto them. They actually CAUSE fractures in the long term because of the retention of poor quality bone! The key to not fracturing is not falling over. Retaining one's balance and avoiding tripping over furniture, toys, pavements, etc is paramount.

I agree eliminating dairy helps. I followed a diet for over 2 years that was mainly vegan with fish and my numbers dropped but never to the normal range. What I am interested in is if anyone on Prolia experienced this rapid rise in cholesterol in a very short period of time. One of the side effects listed for Prolia is increased cholesterol levels. I have been on the cholesterol lowering injectable biologic Repatha for three months. Bloodwork done after one week showed a decrease in LDL of 43%!

I can't take oral bisphosphonates so my only option is Aclasta (called Reclast in U.S.). Its given intravenously and frightens me a bit. Given the whole covid scene, I decided to get yet another injection of Prolia. My cholesterol has been abnormally high since my 40's (I am slim with good diet). What changed was the ratio of HDL:LDL and the total number did Sky rocket. Anyway the Repatha has brought it down. My bone density has definitely improved and diet and exercise will never get my bones into the safe zone. I was and probably still am a fracture waiting to happen. Hopefully a better drug will be available in the future. I really do not want to end up in a wheelchair in a long term care facility which is a scary place to be today. Between a rock and a hard place.....

I'm now on Actonel (risedronate) as a relay drug to get me off Prolia safely, i.e. without risking multiple spontaneous vertebral fractures. Once I'm beyond the danger period, I'll be weaning off the Actonel and going down the supplement and exercise route. These osteoporosis drugs do more harm than good. I was scared into taking Prolia in 2018 and not told of the potential dire consequences of stopping it. I'd refused to take bisphosphonates since being diagnosed with osteoporosis in 2012 - and now find myself forced to take them to get off Prolia! The long-term side effects of these drugs (osteonecrosis of the jaw and atypical femoral fractures) are horrific should one be unfortunate enough to experience them.

It's more than a year later since the March 2019 post. Have had my 4th Prolia injection. Continuing to show improvement
in both hip and spine.