Sally Field pimps Boniva — oh, I mean “Bone Health”

Follow up : Typographical error, should be one month in the hospital. Looks like 11. Sorry about that. It seemed like 11.

Please don't take Boniva. I took it for several years, Last winter I fell in my house and broke my femur. It was the most severe pain I have ever had. I spent ll month in the hospital. It has been 8 months and I am just now able to walk some without a cane. I advise anyone I talk to: Please ask your dr if you can take something else if you have severe osteoporosis. I didn't have it, just osteopina, could develop it. I am 87 years old and don't have that many months of my life left to waste getting over a femur break.

what is the eliptical machine sally uses in her comercial?

Please, Please DO NOT take Boniva, Fosamax, or any of the supposed bone builders -- not even if your bone loss is considerable. I have stopped taking the bisphosphonate Boniva [I have also taken and stopped Fosamax in the past]. My doctor is upset with me, but I will suffer the increased stiffness, aches, pains, acid stomach and reflux, and who knows what else, for years -- maybe the rest of my life. Even though those drugs are supposed to prevent brittle bones, more and more research is showing increased occurrence of unusual fractures [especially in the femur] and no reduction of fractures overall. These drugs inhibit iconoclasts and so prevent the body from getting rid of old bone [thus increasing thickness, but now research shows also increasing brittleness] AND ALSO PREVENT FORMATION OF NEW BONE. Taking Boniva for a couple of years caused a friend's vertical femur fracture[she just stood up; she did NOT fall]. Vivian Goldschmidt has written “The Bone Health Revolution” with a lot of documentation and research cited. Bone is 65% mineralized collagen and 35% collagen matrix [flexible]. What are our bones without that 35% flexible collagen? Think of a dry, brittle dead branch and a green, flexible living branch. Continuous old bone removal is a natural process and creates space for new bone formation. Disruption, which bisphosphonates do, prevents new bone formation, leaving bones brittle and inflexible. Bisphosphonates are bone hardeners, not bone builders. What is really scary is that this bone hardening and subsequent brittleness is NOT a side effect like nausea or difficulty swallowing, which affect relatively few. This prevention of old bone removal and new bone formation is what these drugs DO. Everyone who takes these drugs will likely have problems with brittle bones and more aches and pains. Please do the research, stop the drugs, and spread the word!

Just please be careful, Tova! I would never take it again knowing what I know now. Unless your bone loss is considerable I wouldn't do it. Or if I had to take it, I'd limit it to under 3 yrs at a time. Good luck, I know the dr's tend to scare you...sometimes unnecessarily.

My doctor want's me to take Boniva but I don't Know what to do with all the side effect's I have read.

I too have a horizontal fracture of my femur which my orthopaedist has attributed to long term use of Fosamax/Boniva. Have always been very active, no falls, no health issues. Now the femur is not healing as expected. So I'm meeting with a leg orthopaedist this week to discuss options (nail in femur?) I'm concerned, don't want to have the surgery if possible, but don't want the femur to break completely. And what's to prevent the other femur from fracturing?? This is driving me crazy! Are there not any class action lawsuits yet? It's a pity: you follow the dr's and drug manufacturer's orders to prevent an issue and it backfires!

I am so glad to find a place about Boniva..my pain is getting unbearable. Been on Boniva for 6 months..I've always had pain since 2008..my T score -2.7 High risk for fractures. That scared me so I agreed to Boniva..May 1st was my 6th and final dose..I awoke twice from sleep with acid reflux chocking me! and now this muscule and bone pain makes me want to cry and my hubby said..enough.stop taking it and stop talking about it! I will be making a appt. Monday talk w/my Dr. I just want the pain to go away..everything I try is temporary. Can we just stop taking Boniva? I have a lot of bone loss in my hip but what is Boniva suppose to do for that? I'm listening.. tks ghart

I have been taking Boniva for 6 or 7 months for osteopenia, am 56 years old and work in a lab on my feet all day, ride my bike to the bus stop 1 mile away about 4-5 days per week. I have had no ill effects from the Boniva, but was dubious when I was prescribed it. My dad, age 86, told me about the Dr. Besser interviews on ABC, so I am very interested in the Fosamax bone fractures.

I live in Marietta, Texas and just had a second surgery on my broken femur....this time it had to be cemented in or I could lose my leg. I was never on Foxamax as it made me very sick. Changed be to Actonel & then changed to Boniva. Will need to do some research on how long I've been on it. I was walking, swimming arobics and living a normal live. Fell at work and then a month the femur broke. Doctors stated that the case was from the radiation 20 years ago that left my femur bone brittle. I believe the the fall I had a month before had something to do with it also. Please keep me undated. I will be here as I will not be returning to work this time.

I hope everyone has been watching the Fosamax/bisphosphonate reports on ABC-TV, Good Morning America, this week of March 8. AND I hope everyone will contact GMA, Dr. Besser, and Diane Sawyer with your experiences. I have and have also contacted the FDA and the pharmaceutical company. These fractures, aches, pains, etc. are not allergic reactions! Brittle bones are what these drugs DO! karenoma

I am in agreement to all drugs we must buy only 4 to 6 pills and check it out to see how we feel upon taking it. Boniva is only one pill for one month. Read the info.on the leaflet with the medication. If you are allergic to its ingrediantes beware. Many people do not read, don't ask and this is a big problem on medication given by doctors. I have osteopenia, I looked it up in the computer and acording to this information I am a borderline for osteoporosis. I drink calcium, eat right, and I do not do excercise. I am a Lupus patient of 40 yrs. I was on cortizone 30 yrs. that is my killer. Slowly I was able to get away from cortizone. I am 76 yrs.old and love my life. I am co-founder of The Puerto Rico Lupus Support Group with Sallie Valcarcel the President, we give information to people about drugs. We tell them don't buy them all you don't know if they will hit you well. All medication should not be taken in morning, there is 24 hours to day. Drink medications spread out in the day until night time. You develop heartburn and that causes nausea. Women believe their doctors to no end. All doctors are not sincere, and rather you not know what is true. Get into the internet ask about such and such drug. Read, read and understand and then make your choice if you buy it and try it. Don't be fooled. Get educated and follow through. God bless you all for reading my suggestion.

Why does no one talk about balance and ways to improve balance? Falls are caused by poorer balance as we get older. I find my balance is much worse than a few years ago and there are exercises to improve that! Balance, exercise, diet, vitamins and minerals, sleep!

Correction -- I should have said OSTEOPOROSIS -- not arthritis. I knew it did not look right. I only had osteopenia when I took Fosamax, then later Boniva, which I greatly regret. My PCP's PA first warned me of things showing up now that the drugs have been out more than 10 years and some people have been on the long term.

Pat--Please do NOT take ANY bisphosphonates. The effects can be terrible and if you take any long term, probably will be terrible. Please read experiences on the Website Topix and others. I have filed a form with Roche and with the FDA describing debilitating effects. Also, Google and read about Jeremy Allen who helped Merck "rejigger" [his word] the marketplace to get women diagnosed with osteoarthritis to sell large amounts of Fosamax!

Hello Pat, what were your t-scores? The treatment of osteopenia is controversial. Currently, candidates for therapy include those at the highest risk of osteoporotic bone fracture based on bone mineral density and clinical risk factors. As of 2008, recommendations from the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) are based on risk assessments from the World Health Organization (WHO) Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX).[5] According to these recommendations, consideration of therapy should be made for postmenopausal women and men older than 50 years of age, if any one of the following is present:[6] 1.Prior hip or vertebral fracture 2.T-score of -2.5 at the femoral neck or spine, excluding secondary causes 3.T-score between -1.0 and -2.5 at the femoral neck or spine and a 10-year probability of hip fracture ≥3% or a 10-year probability of major osteoporotic fracture ≥10% 4.Clinicians' judgment in combination with patient preferences indicate treatment for people with 10-year fracture probabilities above or below these levels. (Notably, the first two conditions identify individuals with osteoporosis. The third condition corresponds to individuals with osteopenia, namely those with T-scores between -1.0 and -2.5.) If you email me I can send you what "specific" supplements for you to start right away. These are like no other and you will see the results in any testing that your doctor will take. The Quality supplement route is far better than this medication or any like it. Let me know if you have any questions.

I recently have been diagnosed with osteopenia and the PA wants to put me on BONIVA after 12 weeks of building my vitamin D level...I am scared to death...I don't know what to ask to have monitored in my blood or the amounts of D , Magnesium, and Calcium to ask for ... then a dexa scan in a year...any suggestions how to proceed?

I took 1 dose of Boniva on the morning of June 19 and by 1:30 the next morning I was in such excruciating pain that I could only crawl out of bed and I tried to sleep sitting up on a couch. I am still unable to turn over in bed without pain in my hips/lower back. I continue to have pain that I never had before! I exercise with the pain and I actually feel better during the exercise. I will never take Boniva or other related drugs again. I am going natural....weight training, calcium & D and magnesium, good diet -- lots of fruit and veggies.

Shame on Sally for pimping herself out to big pharma. Everyone knows that this drug has horrible side effects from kidney damage to jaw bone necrosis. I quess everyone has their price!

I was on Boniva as far back as 2005. Stopped taking it in June 2009, after suffering vertigo, auras, extreme muscle pain, etc. Now, two months later, my nails have improved; they no longer look crushed and they don't catch on everything. However, I'm still suffering with pain in my muscles and knees. It's difficult to kneel, squat, or get up or down. I'm 73 yrs old, but I've always been fit. In spite of the pain I'm experiencing, I work out at the gym 3 days a week, pumping the eliptical for 35 minutes and weightlifting for at least 35 minutes. I actually feel better after completing my work out. When can I expect to be rid of this pain? I feel like my body's being crushed, and it's very difficult to sit for any length of time. My whole body hurts.

I have stopped taking the bisphosphonate Boniva [I have also taken and stopped Fosamax in the past] because, even though those drugs are supposed to prevent brittle bones, more and more research is showing increased occurrence of unusual fractures [especially in the femur] and no reduction of fractures overall. These drugs prevent the body from getting rid of old bone [so increasing density, but now reseach shows also increasing brittleness] AND ALSO PREVENT PRODUCTION OF NEW BONE. We believe taking Boniva for several years contributed to a friend's fractured femur [a vertical fracture -- she did NOT fall]. Vivian Goldschmidt has written “The Bone Health Revolution” with a lot of documentation and research cited. Think of a dry, brittle dead branch and a green, flexible living branch. Bone is 65% mineralized collagen and 35% collagen matrix [flexible]. What are our bones without that 35% flexible collagen? Continuous old bone removal creates space for new bone formation. Disruption prevents new bone formation and leaves old, brittle inflexible bone. What is really scary is that this is not a side effect like nausea or swallowing difficulty which may affect relatively few, but this is what these drugs DO. Everyone who takes these drugs probably will have more brittle bones and increased aches and pains. Please do the research and stop! Sally Field please stop! Karen

http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=21455&name=BONIVA&sort=DateAdded http://www.topix.com/forum/who/sally-field/TJKAH6274R3RO3U92/p3 This drug is bad news for women. Time to speak up.

Tell me about trusting too much. Just eight years ago I had a doctor prescribe to me 36 oxicodone a day. I was only forty years old. I don't trust doctors that don't practice nutritional medicine and I certainly don't trust the FDA and the drug companies. I am currently on no drugs. I would love to talk to you Anita through email since this has nothing to do with Boniva and Sally Fields. Although I agree with you I too loved Sally Fields growing up and it disappoints me to see she sold out. Just know any information that I give you, you will be able to validate it through science and not marketing hype via celebrity endorsements. I can be reached at www.linkedin.com/in/lorraineferret. I look forward to talking with you.

After my 1st dose of BONIVA on 11/01/08, I have severe major trochanter pain and digestion problems. I can not walk, drive or even sit on the toilet without crying in pain. The prescribing dr. would not see me again and stated, emphatically, it was not related to BONIVA. Saw another dr. and she would not diagnose it as such either. The pain pills and muscle relaxers help, but I have no idea when this poison will (or if) leave my system. I am 53 and feel 103! The FDA, pharmaceutical lobby and we consumers are all to blame. Guess we trusted Sally Fields a bit too much, as I grew up with "Gidget", the "Flying Nun", and now realize Sally is the BONIVA P I M P !!!!!!!!! I will never trust an actor w/my health and will investigate any and all drugs prescribed by our "practicing" physicians.

Sally Field advertises Boniva which causes bone jaw decay in some people and she makes it sound so wonderful. Does she know that most dentists won't work on people taking biophosphonates as their side effectd are dangerous. Does she need money that bad and I ubderstand her program brothers and sisters is coming back on tv which is a boring program. She also does advertisements looking like a young girl and shes an older woman and should act her age. I will not watch her show or listen to her advertisements on boniva. It gave me ulcers.

Where is the FDA indeed. How is GlaxoSmithKline getting away with saying Boniva reverses osteoporosis. And the new Sally Fields ad (the second one) is now saying that she took Calcium and Vitamin D and she still got osteoporosis. That's because 90% of all supplements out in American today aren't worth anything but I represent a supplement company that is very effective of combating osteoporosis along with all other degerative diseases but I am prohibited by law to never make such claims because the FDA refuses to evaluate the supplements I represent. When are we all going to see that the pharmacuetical industry needs us to continue to get degenerative diseases in order to keep bringing in record profits. I am living proof that high quality nutritional supplements works and I have the science to back my claims up!! Read the book Death by Prescription by Dr. Raymond Strand M.D. it will make your skin crawl regarding how cozy the pharmaceutical Industry and the FDA have gotten.

My mother is having serious side effects from this drug. I googled " How long does it take for boniva to get out of your system. Wow was I surprised when I found sites where so many people talking about how bad this drug is. http://drugs.healthdiaries.com/boniva-side-effects.html