Bone Strengthening Treatment

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Hi All,

We are now 2 months post diagnosis and it has been a dizzying round of appointments and tests. I have updated my profile to show my husbands diagnosis and so far he has had hormone injections and a session of radiotherapy to target the worst mets in his thigh and pelvis which cause the most pain. He starts chemo on Wednesday next week.

Can I please ask if anyone has had or been offered bone strengthening treatment on the NHS and if so, did you find it helped? We have been told that this is no longer part of the NHS protocol to be offered but not sure if this is just in our case or across the board.

We have booked to see a private oncologist in a weeks time through our medical insurance for a second opinion and to see if this might be available privately. However, I'm interested to hear anyone else's experience of this and if it helped.

Many thanks.

  • Hi

    I've just checked on Google, and it looks like you can get VitD+Calcium without prescription. So, if you are having problems, that may be a solution - if you can confirm the dosage.

    Hope this helps.

    Stuart

    Trying to get fit again!
  • Thank you for taking the time and trouble to look: it really is very much appreciated.

  • Hello MamaS,

    I was diagnosed in March 2020 with Stage 4 PC two weeks before the first lockdown. I was prescribed Alendronic Acid  70mg taken same day, once a week and Adcal-D3 1.5g calcium carbonate & colecalciferol chewable tablets twice a day ( morning & evening ) by the hospital pharmacy in May 2022. Still taking them today with no ill effects. I hope you get things sorted out.

    Take care, Tom

  • Thank you for your reply Tom, it’s really appreciated.

  • This also happened to us. And we had problems getting the first LHRH injection as one of the inexperienced GP’s wouldn’t complete the prescription re the health authority guidelines making it extremely stressful and unnecessary.

  • My oncologist confirmed that she recommended this in her letter to my GP.

    The Pharmacist advising the GP surgery prescribed that first tablets, because she said that the oncologist had recommended it.

    However, she said that she can't confirm that she will be able to continue that.

    These are the ones I was given:

    I've just spent a few minutes trying to track down a price for this exact match but couldn't find it.

    The cost of equivalents seems to be £4 - £5.

    Probably best to ask the pharmacy that supplies your prescriptions.

    Steve

    Changed, but not diminished.
  • My husband takes a multi vitamin for the over 70's which also has calcium in it so I balance the additional calcium with this to ensure that the level is right. I believe that the recommendation is to keep the total calcium supplement below the 1500mg level.

  • Thank you all so much for the replies! Just a brief update: we did get a second opinion and the consultant confirmed that my husband should have been given a prescription for Calcium Carbonate & Vit D3 as well as Darolutamide.  When we had asked originally, we had been told that it wasn't protocol to offer this in our circumstance. We did decide to switch consultants as we have never seen the original consultant face to face even after diagnosis and were always seen by other colleagues in the department. We feel much more positive and confident now that the treatment he is undergoing is what we would have expected and we have a consultant who is trying his very best for us.

  • It is so important to have confidence in your medical team and glad you have found a consultant who fits the bill.

    How is your husband's chemotherapy going?