Sx from Procrit?

[irishrayne]

I'm closing in on week 5 (did shot #4 last Friday) and my migraines seem to have gone away (for now. Still have my Imitrex handy tho). I had one start every morning for 9 days straight. Wasn't a great mommy last week!
But, I went for my 4 wk pcr's yesterday and my HgB was 10, so I have to go next week so we can run the blood work again and see if I need to start Procrit.
Are there sx from the Procrit I need to be aware of?
Also, a couple of weeks ago I asked about having dark urine in the mornings. Not many on here seemed to have had much issue with that but the doc said it was from my red blood cells dying off. So if any of you newbies out there notice your urine being dark make sure to mention it to your doc so they can check your stats.

[orleans]

Hey, nice handle, my daughters name is Judah Raine. About the migraines, I suffer them and have put off treating because of them. Did you get them before you started treatment? if so how often? how many mg imitrex do you use? I use it, cut 100mg to aprox. 40mg and works like a charm 99% of the time. Is it working with treatment? Are you on an AD? There has been a warning issued about combining imitrex with ADs. thanks, jerry

[sfbaygirl]

I was on Aranesp, a peg form of procrit. I liked it because I didn't have to do shots so often. I didn't seem to have sx from it. Of course I am now at risk for clots as I am on cumiden for life, but don't know if it has anything to do with the Aranesp. I have always had horrible migraines. I have 2 types and the shots for the WBC that I had to take on tx, really made those migraines unmanagable. It's good you can take imitrex. I can't take it as I needed it so often that I had heart palpatitations. Hopefully you won't need the Neulasta that put me in bed with migraines for 10 days every shot.

[jdwithhcv]

Jim has a chin?  All I see is a round purple Charlie Brown head in his photo!

I took procrit after an abrupt hgb drop had me hospitalized at about week 7 or 8 of tx.  I expect to go back on after my CBC tomorrow (which will be injection #22).  I had no sx the last time on procrit but did some advance research before I took it.  I learned that it can (rarely) cause deep vein thrombosis.  My doctor said not to worry, just that she would monitor to be sure my hgb did not get too high and put me at risk for clots.  Too high!  HAHAHAHAHA! no danger of that but it did get me back up above 10.  

jd

[nygirl7]

This keeps me stable at 10.3,

It is important to point out to you that in time your body DOES sort of acclimate to living at such a low hemo.  It's never really a pleasant thing but for some reason you don't notice it anymore.  So it sounds crazy for someone to say "stable and 10.3" in the same sentence but it's not.  I lived around 10.5 with the procrit and felt ok.  

Hey my mouth? You sayin' I got a big mouth or somethin'?! Fuggidabowd it!   :)

PS I love your name...it reminds me of a science fiction movie Blood Rayne that I saw on the sci fi channel when I was on treatment and it was about vampires.........that cracks me up because during treatment we have to make so many trips to the damn vampires that it's really a good name for someone with hepc!   ;)

[irishrayne]

Thanks for the imput. I like to know what I'm in for whenever something new is about to happen.
Anwar- thanks for your support! You're a sweetie.

Bill- Yes! A picture of your nose, Jim's chin, Forsee's hair, NYgirls mouth.... the face of hepatitis! We could become the poster child to finding a cure!!!  LOL

[GrandmaBRZ]

I am week 30 of peg/riba treatment.  I went on Procrit 4 months ago, started w/1 injection per week.  I am now on 1 injection every 2 weeks.  This keeps me stable at 10.3,  

I have had no side affects from procrit  and feel quite good.  I am able to actually have a productive life!!!

Best of luck to you with treatment.

Jenn

[Bill1954]

I'm going to take a picture of my nose and post it between 'irishrayne' and 'anwaar' so we can start to build a face.

I've heard anecdotely from here, as well as from the mfgr that Procrit can cause mild to moderate bone pain; but most of the folks here that use it say it helps them feel so much better, it's worth the trade off.

I've never required procrit, even though I've been on high-dose riba for most of the last three years (128 weeks total), so I can't tell you this with authortity, though :o).

Good luck with your treatment, best wishes--

Bill

[anwaar]

Hey you know I'm not on treatment yet, so I don't know about the Procrit.  Just wanted to say it was good to read your migraines seem to have passed.   I'm concerned about you - (we twins have to stick together lol).  Really, about the kids? From what my friends advised they are resilient.  Mommy has a bad day too... I know this is far beyond the bounds of normal and it is just not 'a' bad day.. but maybe the older ones can assist with the 4 year old .. I'm sure you've already start delegating.  And it is best to let off steam here. Hopefully, the Imitrex will just be on-hand and you won't find it necessary ~

[l-horn]

Procrit made me dizzy sometimes. But no serious sx that I encountered and I did 38 shots at the high dose, which I can't even recall what that was now.

[irishrayne]

'Are you right at 10.0? '
Apparently. The NP called me before I got home to tell me. I think she felt a little confused because when I went in to see her yesterday I was on a 'high' because my head didn't hurt. I do feel tired and sluggish, but with the holidays and all I've had going on I felt I could justify how I was feeling. I'm bad about hiding how I really feel. With a four year old there is no time to just lie around and succumb.
I started at 13 4 weeks ago and now it is 10.... not NEARLY as fast of a drop as you experienced. I will definitely pay attention to how I feel till next week when she checks me again.

[nygirl7]

I never had any sides from taking the Procrit at all - the only thing it did to me personally was raise my hemo to a tolerable level (one shot a week kept me at about 10.5, one shot every five days kept me at about 11.

There can be dreadful complications from the epogen that can lead to death but...that's not something you'll have to worry about as you probably won't be on it for that long or at that high a dosage.

Procrit will take from 2 - 6 weeks to work..........so I really can't imagine if you are at 10 why your doc doesn't just start you now rather than wait until it gets lower.  I had a lot of difficulty when I was at 9 with fainting and stuff (but I lost six points in just ten days so it was too hard for my body to handle the drop that was so fast and drastic).  

Are you right at 10.0?  That usually is when they start you.