how fast does procrit help with anemia

[newtex]

I am in my 5th week of treatment, and it has not been an easy road...around week 2 I started getting very dizzy and out of breath almost daily. I have ran fever almost everyday. I have felt extremely weak and cannot tolerate the HEAT here in Houston for more than 5-10 minutes at a time. Once I take my morn. pills, I usually start feeling bad within 2-3 hours, and I just feel " OUT OF IT " all day...I am drinking almost nothing but water all day, everyday. I don't smoke, NO caffine, just water and juice!!!Everybody that sees me has commented on how pale I look.

Okay...last Friday my labwork showed I was very anemiac. My counts were:
WBC-2.58   RBC-2.50  HGB-9.4   HCT-27.8  PLT-121   Everything was LOW, so My doc. gave me a shot of Procrit, and a rx for 2 months worth of weekly shots...My question is this:

On average how long does Procrit take to clear up some of these sx?? I am usually not one to whine alot but this has been rough. I am finally back to work on a limited schedule ( 5 hours a day for now) Thanks for your support and God Bless

[smaylea]

I got my 1st procrit shot yesterday and it wasn't bad at all. HGB went down to 8.5 about a week ago (from about 9 - 9.5 for the 21 wks of tx so far). My insurance co delivered it to my house. Hubby and I took the meds, syringes, needles to the docs office. Our fave nurse showed hubby how to do the injection - she spent about 20 mins with us going over everything thoroughly. Hubby had to assemble the needle/syringe and pull liquid from vial. He gave it to me in the upper arm, two-fingers below the shoulder joint. Pinched and inch and injected slowly - took about 10 secs for the shot. It did not hurt and was not as painful as other shots I've gotten at the doc. I was told it will take 10 days - 2 weeks to really kick in. So now we'll do it at home once a week. The shot, that is. Hope this helps.

[Aaron223]

My doctor just suggested that I start Procrit. My Hmgb is right around 10. I'm supposed to get an injection every 2 weeks. I'm wondering what happens when I go in for the injection? Is it just a shot and I leave 5 minutes after I get there or is there a lot more involved? I'm just wondering what to expect? Also, where will they give the injection? Is it especially painful or just like a normal shot?

Thanks so much.

Aaron

[srbk]

my mom is 87, and she just had a transfusion, her blood level droped down to 6.0, she now is 9.9, but she is still not stronger enough to really walk around, and still tired. also she started with night sweats when her blood lever droped down and she still gets them. is that from the low blood? they are going to start her on procrit every other week, will that be enough to just start her or shoild she have every week?   thank you

[snide]

i had a kidney thans plant 20 years ago,lately i have not been feeling the best, my humacrat has been around 28,29 so they put me on procrit,and it seemed like the next day i was a new person! could that have worked that fast or is it all in my head?
thanks snide

[snide]

i had a kidney thans plant 20 years ago,lately i have not been feeling the best, my humacrat has been around 28,29 so they put me on procrit,and it seemed like the next day i was a new person! could that have worked that fast or is it all in my head?
thanks snide

[eveningsunset]

Hi everyone,

I haven't started any treatment at this stage of my hepititis C...however...my blood work detected low iron.  I'm dealing with this b/f I even start treatment.  Has anyone experienced this?  My blood work has been flucuating regarding my ALT level and now my ferritin levels...like to have some input from others on this!!!!

Thnks,
eveningsunset

[MajNeni]

It sounds like you have a great doc.  Close monitoring is a key  piece here; they are catching this early.  Just in case you are coughing, that would also be related to the anemia and the ribavirin.
My first two tries at tx ended early due to low RBC and WBC's. he first try ended in an "Adverse Effect..." due to anemia, week 4.
Third try, in 2002, new doctor... with weekly monitorig.  I started Procrit in week 4; had to go to 2 weekly shots in week 33.  My doc agreed to let me ride around Hgb 8.5, give or take a bit.  I was able to do full doses of Pegasys all the way through.  I had occasional minor reductions of Ribavirin during the first 24 weeks, with a LOT of Riba reduction weeks 24-48. I also had to take Neupogen for low white counts; that started in week 15.  I was undetectable at weeks 12, 24 and 48; am now SVR at 6 months post.  Stairs don't bother me anymore, and my color came back the week after I stopped tx.  I'm amazed that you've been running!  I couldn't have completed tx without the Procrit and Neupogen.  
By the way, make sure they Rx Procrit (and Neupogen) so that you can give it to yourself.  My first Procrit shot was given at the Infusion Center at the hospital, and they billed my insurance over 2 grand!  The insurance paid about $900, take it or leave it... then, I got the shots at the doctor's, and they cost around $500; finally, do-it-yourself, way lower than that.

Good luck

[raheem]

By the way, good work having your lab results at your finger tips.  Keep them in a folder so you can track your numbers.  I collected mine after every blood test result came in so I could stay on top of what was happening with me.  Don't forget, it's your blood work, your health, you paid for the tests and you have to be an active participant in your own health care.  Your doc is probably ok but numbers don't lie and that's what this is all about (WBC, RBC, HGB, HCT, HCV RNC PCR etc.)

[raheem]

Those are some pretty rough numbers, about the same as mine when I started Procrit/Epogen.  It took about 2 weeks to feel better and believe me the stuff works wonders.  You don't get a buzz or anything but you'll feel much much better in 10-14 days.

[DownThisRoad]

I had to start with Procrit on week 7 of my hepC tx meds.  The Procrit seemed to me to work very quickly, within the first 10 days.

I remained on Procrit injection 1ml, weekly until my tx was finished at week 56.

It would of been impossible for me to continue or complete my tx without the aid of Procrit.  It worked !!

Good Luck !

`dtr.

[newtex]

WOW...thanks for all of the input and encouragements...This really helps knowing how well It has worked for you all....Donl, I can really relate to walking upstairs taking your breath away.Every single time I would go upstairs, I would get dizzy and lose my breath. I would have to lie down for a few minutes, before I could get ready for bed...This seems to be a little better this week, (maybe the Procrit shot). I will be doing labs every Friday until my 12 week test....Raheem, I do have a very detailed notebook about this disease with all of my lab results. I have charted my #s from the start (last Oct.)..Thanks and God bless

[Amerabrit]

Procrit worked great for me, I echo Fubarcat's experience.  I took it for 4 weeks and my hemoglobin went from 10 to 12.6 in the same amount of time. Good luck to you.

[Fubarcat]

I started on Procrit around week 16.  It took it about 10 days to kick in, but it was like a miracle when it finally started working.  No more dizziness, breathlessness, etc.  I took it every week for about 6 weeks.  I did my labs, my bloodwork came back to normal, so I tapered off taking it to once every two weeks and now I only take it one a month.  Give it time.  You will feel like a brand new person when it starts working for you.  Take care and let us know how you are doing!

[Ambush]

It took me a couple weeks for the Procrit to get me back on my feet.  Your hematocrit is pretty low ~ I'll bet you are pale :)Your doctor acted on your low numbers much quicker than mine did so hopefully you will snap back faster. I'm sorry you are feeling so crappy.  I remember it well and it was horrible.  Good luck and hang in there!!  You'll feel better soon.
ambush :)

[cuteus]

I have found that if the hgb is not too low(above 11) it takes less time for Procrit to effectively take care of symptoms. If the hgb is below 11, it takes longer to work well(two weeks). Yours is pretty low, but hopefuly you will feel well enough within a week.

[Better Angels]

Hi there:

It took my husband several weeks to even start feeling better, but he was also on twice weekly Neupogen shots, and that made him feel like he'd been run over by a truck. He never did get his RBC's back into the normal range, he always hovered just under, but his HGB did get back up over 10, which helped.

I want to point out how lucky you are to have a Doctor who isn't shy about prescribing the drugs necessary to beat this thing. Many people here have doc's that want dose reductions first. I had to change my husband's doctor because they wanted to cut his dosage due to his WBC's collapsing. I refused, and found him a new Doctor willing to do whatever was necessary to keep Greg on full dosage, I believe critical for a 1B.

Hold on for the ride Newtex, it can get pretty scarey, but you're in good company here. We've all had our share of white knuckles throughout treatment. The point is to keep holding on...

My best thoughts are with you,
Debbe

[DonL]

I started on Procrit in about week 7. As I remember, within a couple of days, I started to feel better. It took several weeks of weekly Procrit to where I was able to walk upstairs without gasping for breath. I don't know if the couple of days was psychological or not, but who cares?

[jonihs]

I didn't take procrit, but I seem to remember people saying that it takes a couple of weeks. Joni