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Q: my mother have been taking forteo for 20 days but she told me that she is still the same .can she stops forteo after 8 days or she must continue
Hi safy, welcome! I'm sorry but I'm not sure what you mean when you say your mother is the same after 20 days. Could you provide more information?
Forteo can be stopped, but generally isn't unless the patient is having serious side effects. It takes 2 years for the drug to give its full benefit. She may see an increase (T-scores) in 1 year of use, but that isn't the norm.
I took Forteo and did very well with no side effects at all. I improved my scores greatly and haven't had any new fractures (6 pre-Forteo). I went from severe osteoporosis to osteopenia in 1 year and continued to improve the second year.
I also followed Forteo with a non-bisphosphonate (Evista) and am now on HRT and maintaining my improved scores after 4 years since the end of my 2 year treatment on Forteo.
Best of luck and let me know if you can explain further since I'm not sure what you are asking.
Hi safy, I just thought of something else. Forteo won't make you feel any different. This type of medication is not like blood pressure, asthma or headache medicine. You won't notice any change in how you feel while taking it.
Osteoporosis is considered a silent disease and we don't find out we have it until we have a fracture or a DXA scan saying we have bone loss. Some people claim they feel stronger, but frankly I think that is a type of wishful thinking-I hope not though.
If you could explain a bit more that would help. I hope you and your mom are well; and don't hesitate to post again, it's no trouble for me, and I wish I could help in some way.
Take Care and good luck to you both.
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Hi Safy, you could try asking your mom if she is expecting to notice something, in particular, or if she had a recent DXA scan that didn't show any improvement. Normally a DXA scan would not be authorized till 1-2 years following the start of Forteo, but she could have a bone marker test that can measure collagen in the urine or blood.
Bone Marker tests are blood or urine tests that can be done along with a DXA scan to monitor treatment in the interim between DXA scanning, of every 1-2 years. I had these tests done because I didn't want to wait the full 2 years to find out if the Forteo was working or not since that's such a long time and the drug is very expensive. I had the 2 Hour NTx (n-telopeptide) urine test which is done either in a 24 hour or 2 hour urine sample. You can also have the blood test as well, but you wouldn't have both, just one or the other. These tests are covered by Medicare if the patient is on a new drug therapy (medication never taken before) , so if she has this insurance she would qualify for it, and then a repeat test can be done 2 more times in the same year. The following year, I believe, they allow 2-3 more of these tests. These test will not give a T-score and are not a substitute for a DXA, but it will tell the physician whether or not she is gaining or losing bone, even early on after starting the treatment. I think you can have the test as early as 3 months after starting Forteo.
The collection of the urine is real easy and the doctor will give her all the instructions for doing this. The 2 hour NTx is the easiet, and she would collect the second void of the day, and discard the first void. If this isn't clear, or you don't understand, just let me know.
Just remember the benefits of this treatment (Forteo) are not seen until the end of the 1st or 2nd year, however, the bone marker test can tell you something at the 3 month mark. If you need more info on this, I wrote an article on this test at this link for Bone Marker Tests.