Hi
When I was dx with bone mets 6 years ago I was put on Pamidronate, an IV bone strengthener, as our local authority didn't prescribe zometa. I was on this for a few months and then switched to Bondronat, a tablet form of bone strengthener as I was fed up with the hospital visits and hunt-the-vein! This held my bone mets stable until 2012 when I started getting a pain in my hip and right femur, more like a muscular pain than bone pain. However a CT scan showed my bone mets had progressed and at the time I took over the counter painkillers to help but didn't need anything stronger. I was then put on the newest drug, Denosumab, which is a simple injection under the skin, not into a vein, given every 4 weeks. Within a few days of having the first injection all my pain had gone and I haven't looked back since! It's certainly the easiest of the 3 types of bone strengthener I have had in terms of side effects and also the restrictions on eating and drinking that come with the tablet form. I wouldn't have been moved off the tablet form though unless my bones had stayed stable but it is worth asking for at your oncology unit. It is a more expensive drug, certainly more than the tablet form, but there is very little nurse time and equipment used if you compare it to the IV ones. Also it has been shown to have better results than the other forms of bone strengthener.
Hope this helps
Nicky x
