Anyone taking Zometa??

Quite a few people take Zometa for prevention of recurrence but usually we have to bully our oncs into it -nice to see yours is being proactive!

Do a search on Zometa and that should give you lots of posts about it.

I begged my onc for it right after radiation and she gives it to me for "prevention of osteoporis" for insurance purposes - but whatever!

I'm also taking it. 2x a year for 3 years. I've had 2 tx so far. I'm on Arimidex and this is to help with bones. However, my insurance won't pay for it. Zometa is covering 50% of the cost as well as the full cost of the infusion.

Hi Catherine,  my onc told me from the start that her practice is to treat based on large international multicentre trials with long follow up - when I asked her about zometa, she felt there was enough evidence coming through of benefit for prevention of recurrence, that she is happy for me to have it twice a year - I have to pay for it though - well worth it I think. The ONJ - osteonecrosis of the jaw - is a worrying but rare side effect.

My oncologist is suggesting I do the 2x a year zometa as well. I'm a little concerned about the jaw necrosis se (and I need a root canal at this moment, so clearly the zometa won't be starting for a while for me), but it sounds like a promising treatment to prevent recurrence and I hope I can make it work.

I asked my onc about taking zometa even though my bone scan showed everything was within normal range and he said he would give it to me twice a year based on an Austrian study that suggests Zometa fights recurrence.  I haven't decided yet whether or not I'm going to do it. When I google the studies they mostly address premenopausal women with bc, and don't mention whether or not the benefits extend to postmenopausal women.  

Would love to hear more from postmenopasual women taking Zometa to prevent reccurence.  Thanks.

Kathy

I will be taking zometa twice a year to combat osteoporosis and recurrence. You do need to be careful to time your major dental work to preven jaw necrosis. I was told that if you have side effects it is usually on from the first infusion and they last 24-48 hours. Hey after chemo I can deal with that.

I finished chemo yesterday and my first Zometa infusion will be in three weeks. She did not want to add it to my last chemo because if there was a side effect she wanted to know what caused it. So back the the infusion center for me. They told be it will be less than one hour (the infusion itself is 20 minutes) and I can schedule it for a weekend. I am a little concered about all these appointments when I go back to work.

RCCA

Medigal...ice does not seem to be the way to go - moist heat would be my option. 

RCCA - I have spoken with a dentist who is on this board and only major dental work would create a problem - routine cleanings and fillings should not have any effect. 

The first infusion is the worst as far as se's go.   You may well be able to add it to the regime once they are aware of any reaction  - getting the infusions all done in one appointment so you don't miss work.  My work does work around my appointments.  I try to schedule things all in one day or 1/2 a day on a Friday so if anything should be a problem, I have the entire weekend to recover.