Kliovance Side Effects

The International Osteoporosis Foundation reports that by 2010, one of every two women over the age of 50 in the United Kingdom will experience a broken bone. The reason behind this staggering statistic is osteoporosis, a chronic medical condition. Over time, osteoporosis makes the bones brittle and easily fractured. In the U.K. and Australia, there are a number of drugs available to help reduce the effects of osteoporosis, including kliovance, which is specially designed for women going through or having undergone menopause. Despite its effectiveness, kliovance is not for everyone as it presents several risks for side effects and complications in some patients.

Common Side Effects

• The most common side effects of kliovance are not normally serious in nature and pose only minor discomfort. Many patients taking kliovance experience mild breast tenderness to moderate breast pain. Some women also report menstrual bleeding or spotting between periods. Typically, this occurs when kliovance treatment begins and continues for the first few months.

Other Side Effects

• Kliovance also has the potential to cause a number of other troublesome or annoying, but not dangerous, side effects. Some women experience gastrointestinal side effects from the drug, such as nausea, indigestion, vomiting, stomach pain and gas. In addition, some users of kliovance describe side effects similar to the symptoms of pre-menstrual syndrome, such as fluid retention, changes in sexual desire, acne, depression, breast enlargement and headaches. Other possible side effects include back pain, vaginal infections and irritation, benign uterine fibroids, excessive hair growth, itchy rash and difficulty sleeping.

Drug Interactions

• There are some medications that produce unwanted side effects when used in conjunction with kliovance. For instance, kliovance has the potential to lower your body's response to insulin, so if you are diabetic, you may need to increase your dosage. Combining kliovance with the Parkinson's disease drug ropinirole may increase the side effects of the Parkinson's drug. Drugs such as barbiturates, antiepileptics and HIV drugs can decrease the effectiveness of kliovance and cause vaginal bleeding.

Risks

• In addition to minor side effects and the risk of interactions, kliovance has the potential to cause serious medical complications. In some cases, kliovance has been linked to cardiovascular problems, including blood clots, heart attack, stroke and increased blood pressure. Kliovance may also increase your risk for developing certain cancers of the breast, endometrius and ovaries. Women taking kliovance may also experience dysfunction with or damage to other organs, including the liver and gall bladder. In some extremely rare cases, kliovance causes brain dementia in patients.

Considerations

• Kliovance can cause fetal death and birth defects, making doctors avoid prescribing the drug during pregnancy. Because of the risks associated with use of the drug, doctors do not prescribe kliovance to women with a history of cancer, cardiovascular disorders, epilepsy, impaired liver function or kidney problems. Taking kilovance can also amplify symptoms of other medical conditions you may have such as migraines, lupus, endometriosis and asthma, and if your doctor prescribes the drug for you, he will closely monitor your progress. If he observes any ill effects, you will likely be given another drug to take for osteoporosis.