Aa
shot #12 plus first shot of procrit
tuesday was shot 9 but really it was shot 12. you see, in sept. when i started tx, my sides became horrific and my doc stopped tx for only 2 weeks then restarted right away. so with only the 2 week break, i had 12 shots. at the end of tx in march, my doc will give me an extra 3 shots, but as far as my lab work goes, she will act as my tx never had a break. next week, i will have my first PCR test to determine if its workin. i cant beieve its already 3 months on tx! i also had to have my first shot procrit tuesday. my count is dropping really low. she said your blood cels should be in between 5 and 10 and my last lab showed a 2.5 aslo the hemo- something was like 30, she said it was low as well. i have been stopping in between floors when climbing stairs to catch my breath and i get a lil chest pains when i over do it. my eyes are still sore and sensitive, but compared to when i first started tx, i am alot better. i really hope i am undectable. can someone answer this question? when i began tx, i was at a viral load of 399,000. my genotype is a 3A and all my blood work shows my liver is functioning fine and my ultrasound was fine. i have only had an active viral load of hepC for 1-2 years max. prior, i was diagnosed in 1999, but was naturally undectable from then till this past july. is it safe to say, if i am not undectable next week when i have this first ever PCR, does that mean the tx most likely aint workin? should i be undectable? or if i dropped some, can i still become undectable? my doctor said with a 3A and a low load, my chance to beat it is 80-90% is it true?
Thanks for clarifying that AK, cuz I tried to find the article too but to no avail. Revenire, thanks for finding that link. I too am on Procrit, with no bad side effects, brought up my counts nicely! Good luck to Mrbill, you do have great odds! OHC
Stick with the Procrit. The odds of it causing clots in a healthy person are very slim. The odds of hepc eventually wrecking your life are much greater. Do what you have to do to get through TX. With a viral load that low and being under age 40 you have a great chance to SVR. You only have 12 weeks to go so don't sweat things like procrit nuepogen or whatever else it takes to make it through. Good luck. Travis
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/27/business/27drug.html">Drug Company Halts Trials of Procrit</a>
If one reads the article, at least in my brain-fogged state, it isn't as black and white as it would appear.
A quote:
""There's nothing about any of these reports that would make use of erythropoietin in its current F.D.A. indications be considered dangerous," said Walter Curran, chairman for radiation oncology at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, who was involved in one trial that was stopped."
You may have to register at the NY TIMES to read the whole thing. The link ought to take you right to it.
If one reads the article, at least in my brain-fogged state, it isn't as black and white as it would appear.
A quote:
""There's nothing about any of these reports that would make use of erythropoietin in its current F.D.A. indications be considered dangerous," said Walter Curran, chairman for radiation oncology at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, who was involved in one trial that was stopped."
You may have to register at the NY TIMES to read the whole thing. The link ought to take you right to it.
You make a good point: If you don't raise the levels of your RBC the doctors will lower your dose of Ribavarin and that will lower the odds of a SVR (although I can't say how much etc.) and then if you fail ... who knows?
I look at this disease and the current treatment as a "damned if you do damned if you don't" thing. It is like in the movies when the doctor says to the guy "we're going to have to amputate a limb to save your life." How long would you think about it? CUT IT OFF DOC!!
I take Neupogen for my WBC counts. I used to take it once a week and then figured out my WBC counts couldn't drop from 6000 to dangerous levels in one week so I took it every other week and then the doctor said I could do it every 3 weeks. I was freaked out when someone said Neupogen, potentially, could cause leukemia.
I look at this disease and the current treatment as a "damned if you do damned if you don't" thing. It is like in the movies when the doctor says to the guy "we're going to have to amputate a limb to save your life." How long would you think about it? CUT IT OFF DOC!!
I take Neupogen for my WBC counts. I used to take it once a week and then figured out my WBC counts couldn't drop from 6000 to dangerous levels in one week so I took it every other week and then the doctor said I could do it every 3 weeks. I was freaked out when someone said Neupogen, potentially, could cause leukemia.
what choice do i have? if i dont take it, i take a chance of dying anyway from hepC. i rather take the chance of gettin blood clots.
Gee, I've been on procrit about 2 months now, no adverse side effects for me, knock on wood. However, in 1977, I had 2 episodes of pulmonary embolii and coded twice in the hospital, got thumped back to life and they put a "Greenfield filter" in my inferior vena cava to prevent more clots from coming up into my lungs. Take a baby aspirin once a day to keep your blood a little thin.
That article said they were using higher doses than normally used to treat anemia. They were trying to increase blood oxygen to see if it would make chemotherapy more effective in cancer patients, this was the study that was discontinued because of blood clots. Nothing was said about dose levels for treating anemia causing clots.
The New York Times reported today that Amgen and J & J have stopped ongoing trials of Procrit due to excessive occurance of blood clots. They indicated that the clots may be due to high doses of the drug. Thought you might be interested since you just started taking Procrit. Good Luck.
Hi. I'm happy for you that you are able to make it this far on your second try. From your past posts, I remember that you had a hard start the first time. Glad to know that you are moving forward. It can be common that the hepC meds lower your rbc count. Some on treatment have trouble with that, some others don't.
I've been on Procrit since week 7. My rbc also fell drastically low and lowered very quickly. My GI put me on the Procrit right away when my count got too low. He didn't even question me about taking it. He explained that this is what we needed to do (add another med to the mixture) and said that for me to take the Procrit would be the only way to keep taking the treatment meds.
It took about 2 weeks to kick in. My rbc has always stayed in the level that is acceptable. The only side effect that I believe that came after taking the Procrit was that I got my energy back and felt so much better. I could do miraculous things like breath normally and climb up and down my stairs in my house. I had leg pain in my hips and knees really bad about the 3rd week after the Procrit got into my system, but it went away just as soon as it came.
I'm on hepC treatment week 31 and I'll need to do 48 weeks and possibly extend the 48, adding another 6 weeks. We'll see how things look at 48 weeks and my GI will more than likely ask me how I feel about the extension at that point. I'm 1a genotype and because of the damage to my liver tissue, my GI would like to up my odds of staying undetectable with that extra 6 weeks.
There are others on this forum who have to take Procrit as well. I've never heard anything negative with bad sides from taking this medicine. I believe it is a good medicine that they came up with in order to assist chemo patients. I'm glad that someone realized that it could also work to combat the rbc low levels for us on hepC treatment too.
Don't try and guess too much about your PCR results will be. They will be what they are going to be. You worrying about the results will not change the results. There are huge studies out there with statistics for all genotypes regarding if you clear at a certain time, if you don't clear at a certain time, when you clear at a certain time during treatment what your chances are to stay clear, relapse stats, etc. It has always been really too much me to consume or absorb. My concentration has mainly been on taking my medicines each and every day. Keeping the commitment to myself that I started out with which is, take my medicines so that I may give myself a chance to get rid of this disease.
We are all pulling for you Bill!
I've been on Procrit since week 7. My rbc also fell drastically low and lowered very quickly. My GI put me on the Procrit right away when my count got too low. He didn't even question me about taking it. He explained that this is what we needed to do (add another med to the mixture) and said that for me to take the Procrit would be the only way to keep taking the treatment meds.
It took about 2 weeks to kick in. My rbc has always stayed in the level that is acceptable. The only side effect that I believe that came after taking the Procrit was that I got my energy back and felt so much better. I could do miraculous things like breath normally and climb up and down my stairs in my house. I had leg pain in my hips and knees really bad about the 3rd week after the Procrit got into my system, but it went away just as soon as it came.
I'm on hepC treatment week 31 and I'll need to do 48 weeks and possibly extend the 48, adding another 6 weeks. We'll see how things look at 48 weeks and my GI will more than likely ask me how I feel about the extension at that point. I'm 1a genotype and because of the damage to my liver tissue, my GI would like to up my odds of staying undetectable with that extra 6 weeks.
There are others on this forum who have to take Procrit as well. I've never heard anything negative with bad sides from taking this medicine. I believe it is a good medicine that they came up with in order to assist chemo patients. I'm glad that someone realized that it could also work to combat the rbc low levels for us on hepC treatment too.
Don't try and guess too much about your PCR results will be. They will be what they are going to be. You worrying about the results will not change the results. There are huge studies out there with statistics for all genotypes regarding if you clear at a certain time, if you don't clear at a certain time, when you clear at a certain time during treatment what your chances are to stay clear, relapse stats, etc. It has always been really too much me to consume or absorb. My concentration has mainly been on taking my medicines each and every day. Keeping the commitment to myself that I started out with which is, take my medicines so that I may give myself a chance to get rid of this disease.
We are all pulling for you Bill!
Hi Bill,
Yeah, your chances -- by the statistics -- are up in that range.
The link below is from a French study presented at the most recent AASLD conference, earlier this month. It was done using PEG-Intron, not Pegasys. I believe Pegasys has a slight edge over PEG in that its half-life is longer.
<a href="http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hep_c/news/011303b.html">Response at Week 4 to PEG-Intron + Ribavirin for HCV Is Predictive of Sustained Response to Treatment</a>
Happy Thanksgiving!
Yeah, your chances -- by the statistics -- are up in that range.
The link below is from a French study presented at the most recent AASLD conference, earlier this month. It was done using PEG-Intron, not Pegasys. I believe Pegasys has a slight edge over PEG in that its half-life is longer.
<a href="http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hep_c/news/011303b.html">Response at Week 4 to PEG-Intron + Ribavirin for HCV Is Predictive of Sustained Response to Treatment</a>
Happy Thanksgiving!
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