***First injection of procrit, question***

[gizmoesgirl]

OK so my insurance finally authorized epogen, however the pharmacy sent me procrit.  I just did my first injection tonight (by the way that is the first time i have ever personally injected myself, my husband usually does it but he is out of town). Putting the needle in didn't really hurt but while i was injecting the solution it killed and it is still hurting a few minutes later.  Is it normal for the solution to hurt going in and is it normal for it to still be sore after the injection?

Here are my latest lab results, they are from 3/3/2008

WBC  2.8
RBC  3.11
HEMOGLOBIN  10.1
HEMATOCRIT  28.3
ABSOLUTE NEUTROPHIL 1.4
PLATELET COUNT  140

I am scheduled for my next labs on 3/31 which is next monday, i know that is soon but hopefully we see a difference in my blood counts!!

[merryBe]

glad u got the JUICE.. Hope you go back up soon.

nurse tip...pinch the whole time, causes less pain....that's what the experts do.

you can giggle the skin real hard after....to get it to spread into the muscle, and then slap an ice cube or ice pack wrapped in a cloth on it for a couple minutes...this will help the nerve settle and not overreact to the substance.
MB

[jools57]

My pharmacist told me to pinch the skin and inject slowly. The faster I go the more it stings for some reason. Sometimes my injection site stings right after, not like the reddness I get from the interferon tho. I think it took me about 3 weeks to get back into the 11's. Wishing you all the best!

[joiy]

yes it takes procrit(epogen) a while. it stimulates the system to produce RBC's and the numbers grow gradually. u r brave. say hi to gizmo.

[geterdone]

It looks like you were heading south by your numbers, I didn’t know what week your in but It’s good that you were prescribe Procrit at this point and it will take up to about 4 to 6 weeks to start working in your system depending on your body as we all are different and could quite possibly kick in sooner but you will start to feel better. My doc started me on Procrit at week 5 and remained on it till the end of treatment.

Congrats on first self injection, what I have found when injecting is grab a big pinch of skin inject the needle and slowly release pinch while injecting, less painful when complete. If you just inject with no pinch it is more or less creating a bubble under the skin and it takes longer to be absorbed and creating separation of tissue which causes the stinging. Next time grab a big pinch of skin first and you may want to read up on the possible additional side effects as well.

Feel better soon…

jasper