Many people have trouble taking their medicines. People with osteoporosis often take one or more medicines for other conditions as well. They may worry about the risks and side effects or find the instructions for taking a medicine confusing or complicated. When you have questions about your medicines, be sure to speak with your healthcare provider or pharmacist.

When you take an osteoporosis medicine, you will not feel your bones getting stronger. This can make it hard to stay on a treatment plan. But it’s important that you take your medicine if you want it to work. You should take it just as your healthcare provider prescribed it, and you must remember to continue to take it. You also need to exercise regularly and get enough calcium and vitamin D.

If you decide that a treatment is not right for you, don’t just stop taking the medicine. First, talk with your healthcare provider about your concerns. When prescriptions are not filled, or if they are forgotten, taken incorrectly or stopped early, your health may not improve or could get worse. Studies show that if you take your osteoporosis medicine half of the time or less, it is the same as if you don’t take it at all.  Healthcare providers may find it difficult to figure out why you are not getting better. They might think the medicine did not work or that another health condition may be present. This can lead to extra tests, prescriptions, costs and broken bones that may have been prevented by taking the medicine as directed.

With antiresorptive medicines, the goal of treatment is to prevent more bone loss and to reduce the risk of breaking bones in the future. Your response to treatment is considered good if your bone density either stays the same or improves and if you don’t break any bones.

With anabolic medicine, the goal of treatment is to build new bone, increase bone density, repair tiny defects in bone and reduce the risk of broken bones. Your response to treatment is considered good if the rate of bone formation increases and your bone density improves and if you don’t break any bones.

To find out how your treatment is working, your healthcare provider will repeat your bone density test every two years. In some cases, healthcare providers will also use special lab tests called bone marker tests or biochemical marker tests to see if patients are losing bone faster than normal. While there is no easy way to measure improvement in bone quality, research in this area is currently underway.

You should be sure to see your healthcare provider regularly and review your medicines at each visit.  This will help to find any side effects of the medicine and make sure you are responding to it as you should.

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