Zometa

Life after a breast cancer diagnosis Recovering from treatment
1

I’m on cycle 4 of 6 Zometa and was told my hospital initially to take calcium tablets for one month following infusion, however I was told by another nurse yesterday I should have been taking calcium tablet daily? I’d be interested to know what others have been told?

thanks 

2

I was given a huge bag of calcium and vitamin D chewy tablets to take twice a day every day all the way through treatment. The hospital supplied 6 months worth with the infusion.

3

I haven’t been told to take calcium at all. I drink a glass of milk and eat cheese pretty much every day though. 

4

Hello Cara247

I was given a big bag of  6 months’ supply of Adcal (Calcium and Vitiamin D  tablets)when I had my first infusion of Zometa  last July and told to take one tablet a day.

When I went for my 2nd infusion in January I asked  the nurses if I was going to be given  a top up  and was given only 2 boxes which gave me a further 2 months’ supply .I was told my bloods would be checked for calcium levels before my next infusion in July to assess if I still needed to take any more.

I vaguely remember discussing it with my oncologist last October and he said he wasn’t too worried about giving me tablets after my first treatment as the Zometa  treatment obviously  gives you the advantage of bone strengthening( along with hopefully preventing cancer coming back in the bones) but it can take a little while for the benefits  of the bone strengthening to kick in so  he would usually suggest taking calcium tablets for  the first month after the infusion. I have read somewhere that there are risks in having too much calcium  in the blood-I think it can cause kidney stones?-so maybe it’s a balancing act.

Maybe ask your breast cancer nurse or your oncologist at your next appointment?Are you taking Aromatase Inhibitors as further treatment? I’m on Letrozole for 10 years and being given Zometa for 3, so I’l certainly be asking more questions when the Zometa stops as I will be more worried about the risks of bone thinning from the Letrozole then. For the moment, I feel the risks are countered by the Zometa.

5

I was told by my doctor to take a calcium plus vitamin D tablet daily to assist with the negative effects of zometa.