Just wondering....

Hey Guys, hope that everyone is doing OK.  I am just throwing this out there to see what you guys think.  I am going to ask my Dr. to write me a perscription ahead of time before I begin treatment for Procrit.  It seems that everyone at one time or another has mention taking procrit.  I know that this might be presumptous because the sx of tx effects differently with all, but the common thread that I have put together from reading the majority of your posts is that all of you needed it.  Will Dr's write out ahead of time perscriptions for this?  It doesn't mean that I am going to run right out there and get it filled, but a just in case.   Would you all agree that the better prepared and the better you feel then the better you can fight this?  The better your chances of SVR's?  I have my Dr's appt. tomorrow.  I am a flight attendant and I don't want to be on a trip across the country and suddenly find myself in a bad situation.  Also I am taking off a month from work to let my body acclamate to this new medicine?  Is that at least some good time?  Thanks ahead of time for your responses?

In Him

[honey11]

I think its a great idea to take off first month so you know how the tx is going to affect you personally.  You will by that time know what you need to take for sides if you are out of town. If your dr would do a prescription in advance,,,that would be great so you would have in hand if you get a big drop but I doubt he will do that. More then likely,,,,he will tell you that you will cross that bridge when or even if it comes.  Good luck!

[copyman]

my doctor said wait to see what sides i have before writing any scripts. i will be starting this sat.

[jmjm530]

He may balk at writing an rx ahead of time but can't hurt to ask. You still may need documentation/pre-cert from him at the time you cash it for insurance reasons.

The important thing is to have the Procrit (epo) discussion with him prior to treating. Is he willing to intervene with Procrit and when. Some only intervene with your hgb hits a magic number like 10. Better are those that will intervene based on your symtpons and rate of hemoglobin drop. Others don't use Procrit and reduce or take you off the riba. You want to know where your doctor stands on this before you start treating.

Taking a month off prior to treatment is one reasonable strategy. Another is to see how things go and keep your "time off" for when you need it which can as likely be weeks 4-8 as it can be weeks 0-4. I suppose a lot depends on how easy it is to get time off in your profession and how much notice you need to give them.

Everyone reacts differently to the treatment drugs. Some get hit hard early, some get hit hard later, some have a relatively easy time of it.

Good luck moving forward.

-- Jim

[FlGuy]

I think it depends on how your tx will be managed and some possible insurance concerns. Which doctor will be monitoring your blood work peridically?  If your liver/hep doc will be writing orders for your blood tests and reviewing the results, then he'll be rx'ing the rescue drugs, if needed.  If you go to a hematologist for regular blood work, they might not only review the results but also determine the need for rescue drugs, administer them and then report back to your liver/hep doc and submit claims to your insurance co.  As to insurance, they might not cover an rx for procrit, for example, until your hgb reaches a certain level (mine won't pay til hgb goes under 12).  These are a few matters to go over with the doc before start (I assume you haven't started yet) to make sure who is doing what, when it gets done, a schedule and a plan.  If procrit is needed, for example, you want to get/use it as soon as it's called for to avoid any possible 'energy gaps' yet you still need to play according to insurance rules and doc's judgement.

[bobbyullc]

only 15% need procrit and they do not usually need it for weeks.... relax and wait and see. procrit has severe side affects so do not be in a hurry. sides vary from person to person and month to month. i could not tie my shoes without catching my breath while on tx. may yours be slight. if you need procrit it will take weeks to find out and weeks for it to work.
time only will tell, also the insurance co's will not approve it till your hgb drops to a low level and it is very expensive.
bobby
ps. let me know what flights you are on so i can dodge the riba rage.

[way]

I asked my dr.(at the begining of TX) about getting rescue drugs and he looked at me like I was nuts. I persisted with my concern and he said HE would moniter my labs and refer to a hemotologist if needed. I have only six weeks left of TX (18/24) and so far my blood has remained just a little below normal. A couple of times it has dropped enough to warrent MY concern (not his)and the next month it popped back up again.

I also wanted to do more frequent cbc's and he didn't see the need, so I've been getting them about once a month and it's all good. He was right!

Not everybody needs rescue drugs--in fact I'm thinking only a small percentage do. It's a little scary reading this board and thinking that you'll need them for sure...I know that less people (that are asymptomatic) post about it--and more people who have the worse symptoms post more.

[see me]

Hey guys- you all keep talking about rescue drugs and I know procrit is one but are there others.  Also,  what are the sides from procrit.
Thanks!

[AMAZED]

Funny......LOLOLOL......I keep you guys posted on what flights I will be working with the  Riba rage....LOL  Thanks for your humor!  It brightens my day.....

In Him

[jordie47]

I am on another rescue drug called Aranesp. I don't have a Rx for it I have to go every two weeks to hemo. office to have it inj. I have been on it for 8.5 weeks and still have not raised my HBG. I also am having bad sx from it. I go to hemo. next week to discuss further. Will see what happens

Hope you don't need the rescue drugs AMERIBOI.