Boniva Drug Interactions

Mixing Boniva with other drugs and medications may induce certain adverse side effects and interactions. As always, you should inform your doctor of any prescription or nonprescription medications you are taking, as well as any herbal supplements.

Drug interactions occur when a patient takes two or more drugs which affect each other’s functioning. This can have two main effects on the patient: either one or both of the drugs may stop working properly, meaning that the patient is left without proper treatment, or one or both drugs end up working too much and the patient suffers multiple side-effects. These side-effects can sometimes have serious negative consequences. In some cases as a result of these interactions your doctor may have to take you off one of your medications, change you to another medication, or adjust the doses of your medications to limit these negative effects resulting from the drug interactions.

It is important to notify any doctor that you visit that you are taking Boniva before they prescribe you any medication, and to inform your pharmacist when buying over the counter medications. This will prevent them from giving you any drugs that will interact badly with your medication.

Significant Boniva Interactions

Boniva does not have many significant interactions with other medications. Its main interactions are with medications that affect its absorption, and therefore limit its functioning and actions in the body. This negative effect can be limited by leaving several hours between taking your Boniva and your other medications. If you are unsure or want further advice, visit you physician or pharmacist. Boniva’s drug interactions are with the following drugs:

Aminoglycosides- if this group of antibiotics are taken with Boniva, there is a higher risk of developing a complication of Boniva called hypocalcaemia (low calcium levels in the blood), which can cause the following symptoms:  rashes, pins and needles, muscle spasms and seizures.

• Gentamicin
• Amikacin
• Neomycin sulphate
• Tobramycin

Antacids- taking medications to relieve indigestion at the same times as Boniva can result in a reduction of Boniva absorption. Antacids should be taken several hours after Boniva at the earliest.

• Aluminium hydroxide
• Magnesium carbonate
• Magnesium triplicate
• Hydrotalcite

Calcium salts- calcium supplements are often prescribed with Boniva as they both treat osteoporosis. It is fine to take both medications, just not within a few hours of each other as calcium affects the absorption of Boniva.

• Adcal
• Calcichew
• Calcium-500
• Phosphex
• PhosLo
• Renacet

Iron- iron supplements also affect Boniva absorption, and so should be taken several hours after Boniva at the earliest.

• Ferrous sulphate
• Ferrous fumarate
• Ferrous gluconate
• Sodium feredetate

NSAID’s- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are a commonly used group of painkillers. Because both these and bisphosphonates can cause irritation to the lining of the digestive tract, several hours should be left between taking Boniva and an NSAID. Below are some commonly used NSAID medications.

• Aspirin
• Diclofenac
• Celebrex
• Ibuprofen
• Indometacin
• Mefanamic acid
• Naproxen

Boniva does not have too many interactions with other drugs; the main one is with limited functioning when dietary supplements are taken, but if Boniva is taken with certain antibiotics then low calcium levels in the blood can be problematic.