Anyone on Femara getting Prolia shots?

Anonymous

Anyone on Femara getting Prolia shots?

pepper43

My insurance has approved Prolia and my MO indicated it may reduce risk of bone loss while on Femara, as well as cancer coming back in bones.

I'm 44 years old and stopped menstruating as soon as chemo started in June of last year. I've been taking Lupron shots to medically shut down ovaries each month for several months now and will have my ovaries prophylactically removed early next month.

Anyone else in a similar situation who opted for Prolia?

farmdau56

I would also love to know how others are doing on Prolia. Femara has caused bone loss for me and I am scheduled to have my first prolia injection this Friday. Got a huge folder detailing all the possible side effects and now wondering if this is the right thing.

SpecialK

Here are a couple of threads that discuss Prolia use. There are more mentions if you use the search bar at the left of the screen. I was osteopenic prior to diagnosis due to a total hysterectomy nine years earlier, at 45, and I fit the physical profile for those who often develop it. I had a very accurate baseline due to a DEXA scan done the same day as the other imaging that lead to diagnosis, so my MO knew after chemo and six months of Femara that I was now on the brink of osteoporosis and it was due to treatment. I started Prolia in February of 2012 and I am still on it, but I have had the largest percentage of reverse in low density that he has ever seen. I now have normal density and I have had zero side effects. I'm a fan!

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/78/topics/827380?page=5#post_4944936

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/120/topics/842125?page=5#post_4910066

pennsygal

Pepper - I meant to respond last week and completely forgot!! I had my first Prolia last week - I've been on Femara for almost a year. I was pre-menopausal at dx at 51. Chemo put me into menopause and so they changed the plan from tamox to AIs. I tried arimidex and aromasin first, and seem to tolerate femara best out of the three. DEXA scan after rads showed that I was osteopenic.

I had zero SEs from the shot - pleasant surprise!

pepper43

Thanks ladies! I decided to go ahead with it after asking my oncologist (whom I trust) whether she would get it done if she were in my shoes and she said "YES." So I did on Monday this week. Fingers crossed no SEs.

Butterfly1234

The positive comments regarding Prolia make me feel much better. I'm geting my first injection in June after dental exam and cleaning. Will be starting Arimidex in mid-May after completing rads. Best wishes to all!

farmdau56

I'm glad, too, to read these positive comments about Prolia. Will let you know how I do after my injection tomorrow. Thanks, all!

Butterfly1234

Good luck farmdau56! Let us know how you're doing.

ChiSandy

I was dx’ed as osteopenic even before starting radiation, much less letrozole. I have GERD, so oral bisphosphonates like Fosamax are not an option. I requested Prolia, but my MO kept trying and failing to get approval (Part B supplement carrier says that since it’s an injection it’s a “drug” that I could theoretically give myself and therefore a matter for Part D, and my Part D carrier didn’t even have it in its formulary. So my first treatment was Zometa, which has to be given I.V. and therefore is covered by Part B. Unfortunately, I had to get bloodwork first, and the lab refused to leave a catheter in the vein they tapped. It took 5 tries (first, that vein) to get an I.V. started (even with an Accu-Vein IR lamp, my veins kept “rolling”), the infusion hurt like hell with each pulse of the pump, and I spiked a 102 fever, had foot neuropathy so bad I had to take Lyrica, and had a “faux-flu” for nearly a week. In the interim, Medicare changed its guidelines and decided that breast cancer patients taking AIs, regardless of bone density status, are eligible for Prolia after all. (So instead of forking over $5K without a GoodRx coupon and $1200 with, I wasn’t out-of-pocket one penny). The shot is pretty huge (the prefilled injector is the size of an Epi-Pen) and hurt going in, but was over in a flash. I had no side effects.

LisaAlissa

I'm no longer on hormonal therapy, but my Mom is on Femara and has a Prolia injection every six months. The nurses really inject it slowly...they take well over a minute to inject, which they say reduces the pain of the injection.

But no side effects!

LisaAlissa

farmdau56

Hi all,

Got my first Prolia injection a couple of weeks ago and NO side effects at all so far. In fact, when I asked the nurse who gave me the injection when I could expect side effects, she looked puzzled and told me she has never heard of anyone having a bad reaction. So far so good!

Butterfly1234

This is good news. I get my first injection next month, thanks for sharing.

farmdau56

Hope all will go well for you, Butterfly 12. Let us know.

Butterfly1234

Will definitely let you know