<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

In November, 2002, I was diagnosed with celiac sprue after losing
21pounds. Since then, I have been very careful to follow a strict celiac
diet, cooking my own bread, and eating very carefully the few times we
eat out. In spite of this, my stomach has been slow to heal. Last week,
at my doctor's office visit, I now weigh 103 pounds, so just maybe I am
slowly on the road to recovery.

My doctor has recommended that I take Aredia intravenously every three
months for my severe osteoporosis. I am undecided about doing it, until
I talk to someone who has gone through this procedure. We did a Google
search on just the word Aredia, and found that it was a cancer drug.

My daughter attended a medical conference in Memphis and had a one hour
conference with Dr. Murry, a professor at the Mayo Clinic who
specializes in Celiac Sprue and he told her that I should take the
aredia for my osteoporosis. First he recommended that I have a blood
test to check my calcium and vitamin D to see if it is normal and also
check the PTH level.

Since this bypasses the stomach, my Dr. thinks this would be better as
it wouldn't cause problems that the other drugs do.

I would like to know if anyone has used this drug for osteoporosis and
did they have any side effects, and what results did they have.

Any suggestions or thoughts on this drug would be very much appreciated.
I can’t begin to tell you how much all you list mates have helped me in
the past year from celiac digest postings.

Betty Jackson
Knoxville, Tennessee

* Visit the Celiac Web Page at www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html *