Without Procrit I would have had to stop treatment without a doubt. That is indeed why you are fainting. My doc said "oh you have ringing in your head maybe you need a ear nose and throat guy" I was like what? Then he said you can't breath let's send you for a chest exray? Again - what?
Finally I said to him uh I've read all about patients having hemolytic anemia so why don't you run a quick CBC on me and then give me Procrit.
So, if your doctor isn't too responsive right away do NOT GIVE UP. This is a VERY common thing during treatment and anything under 9 is misery.
ANC can go up and down and up and down so it's right not to get too carried away but the neup is also a fast acting drug. Procrit has to get into your bone marrow and then grow you some new red blood cells...........it can take from 2 - 6 weeks. But the good news is once you stop going down and start to go up even alittle - the mid 10s seems perfectly fine. it's not like you feel on the way when it goes down....but you gotta get it for it to work.
Nobody wants to take more meds than possible but you need it now to make it all the way through. Plus if it gets even lower you'll need transfusions - that to me is way way worse!
The spells are because you don't have as much oxygen in your blood as before - they should go away once you start to climb up so track that doc down now and go tomorrow but be careful on stairs and driving and stuff in the meantime...........it's dangerous stuff fainting and even turning my head too fast made me very very dizzy. You don't want to get hurt even more (or hurt anybody else either).
GOOD LUCK!
Agree with the others but it just may be the meds themselves or other meds you are taking in addition to. Both the Inf and Riba have dizziness listed as sx’s and would think the riba more so because you are taking it three times a day and if not taking it with food or light food the effects hit really fast as you have mentioned. If you’re working, as you are “Congrats!” some times we don’t take the proper intake of food at pill time. I had several occasions where this had happened but learned. Hope you feel better.
jep
Thanks for your responses.
Had lab work done yesterday. Hgb was 9.6 (Was 9.9 a few weeks ago and 9.8 a couple of weeks before that.) The weird thing is that I was having some of these "spells" back in the first couple of months of treatment when my Hgb was still in the 11s and 12s.
Discussed these "weak spells" with the nurse practitioner back then and she told me to get my blood pressure checked when it's happening. (BP is always fine, as is blood sugar.)
So, you guys think Procrit will really help me feel better?
Have been resistant to using any rescue drugs if I don't absolutely have to. NP ordered Neupogen previously (WBC has been as low as 1.6 & 1.7 with ANC of 630 and 580) but Dr agreed with me to wait and see if it would come back up on it's own. 3-4 weeks ago WBC was up to 2.2; yesterday - back to 1.5. No ANC was done yesterday.
Guess I need to make an appointment with the Dr to discuss all these issues. He has a couple of different offices and is only in my town 2 days a week, so his office likes to schedule me to see the NP.
Agrees with the other guys. When my hemo dropped drastically I fainted in the shower one day. I never realized that getting faint was actually painful - my head got so heavy and then it would just get blacker and blacker like tunnel vision and then, bam.
Is it like that? Even if it's not you should definitely check your CBC look for HGB that is hemoglobin. If it's over ten then there isn't too much you can do but if it's around/under ten the doctor can prescribe you Procrit but it takes a few weeks to work so you want to get on it right away.
This is one reason we always suggest getting copies of every test result....that way you can track things like that. Doctors care but not as much as you do!
I agree with James. Definitely get your hemoglobin checked. Do you have any shortness of breath with the dizziness? Usually the anemia makes us dizzy, fatigued and short of breath on the slightest exertion.
If your hgb level is dropping, ask your doctor about the rescue drug, Procrit. It helps a lot, saved treatment for me.
Good luck, and please let us know what you find out.
jd
HB by any chance, you need to talk to your doctor overseeing your tx