Neupogen?

I have sle. My wbc count has been low for awhile, but my neutrophil count the lowest yet so far with my last bloodwork.  I am having surgery next month and so my doctor is having me get a couple injections of neupogen the next couple of weeks.  Anyone have any experience with this? Side effects?

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi!
Neupogen or filgrastim is used to treat neutropenia or low neutrophil count, as you probably now know. All drugs are chemicals, so will have side effects. One has to weight the benfits and harms, and if benefits are more, than it makes sense to take the drug. In case of Neupogen, the side effects are not the serious category ones, and usually involved body ache, muscle ache, nausea, vomiting, itch, hair fall (mild not the abundant type as seen in some anti-cancer drugs) etc. Compared to side effects of having low white count and neutropenia, these side effects are milder. Hope this helps. Take care!