Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Before Using
In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For this medicine, the following should be considered:
Allergies
Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to this medicine or any other medicines. Also tell your health care professional if you have any other types of allergies, such as to foods, dyes, preservatives, or animals. For non-prescription products, read the label or package ingredients carefully.
Pediatric
Studies on this medicine have been done only in adult patients and there is no specific information comparing use of ibandronate in children with use in other age groups.
Geriatric
This medicine has been tested and has not been shown to cause different side effects or problems in older people than it does in younger adults.
Pregnancy
| Pregnancy Category | Explanation | |
|---|---|---|
| All Trimesters | C | Animal studies have shown an adverse effect and there are no adequate studies in pregnant women OR no animal studies have been conducted and there are no adequate studies in pregnant women. |
Breastfeeding
There are no adequate studies in women for determining infant risk when using this medication during breastfeeding. Weigh the potential benefits against the potential risks before taking this medication while breastfeeding.
Drug Interactions
Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. Tell your healthcare professional if you are taking any other prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicine.
Other Interactions
Certain medicines should not be used at or around the time of eating food or eating certain types of food since interactions may occur. Using alcohol or tobacco with certain medicines may also cause interactions to occur. Discuss with your healthcare professional the use of your medicine with food, alcohol, or tobacco.
Using this medicine with any of the following may cause an increased risk of certain side effects but may be unavoidable in some cases. If used together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use this medicine, or give you special instructions about the use of food, alcohol, or tobacco.
- Dairy Food
Other Medical Problems
The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of this medicine. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:
- Anemia or
- Blood clotting problems or
- Cancer or
- Cancer treatment or
- Dental or oral disease or
- Infection—May put you at risk for a serious jaw problem.
- Asian or Caucasian race or
- Family history of osteoporosis or
- Other bone problems or
- Previous broken bone or
- Smoking or
- Thin body frame—These conditions may make it more difficult for this medicine to prevent osteoporosis.
- Digestion problems—Taking ibandronate may be harmful to the esophagus, intestine, or stomach.
- Esophagus problems or
- Intestine problems or
- Stomach problems—Ibandronate may make these conditions worse.
- Hypocalcemia (low calcium levels in the blood)—Must be treated first, before beginning treatment with ibandronate.
- Inability to stand or sit upright for at least 60 minutes—You should not take this medicine because it could cause serious problems to your esophagus and stomach.
- Kidney problems—The effects of ibandronate may be increased.
