And are you saying Dengue fever? It would be a surprising though perhaps not impossible use of filgrastim. Dengue is usually treated by pain managers and sometimes hospitalization and a blood transfusion.
Anyway, if you have a legitimate prescription from a doctor, you should be able to fill it in the United States.
The PEG can stay pretty steady for 7 days, but depending on when your bloodwork is taken in relation to shot, wbc may start to come up before next shot, when it is beat back down. Interferon is an amazing drug with lots of far-reaching effects. It may be unpredictable with wbc, but as long as levels stay within safe ranges, you ought to be okay, in my opinion.
4 They put me on Levaquin. My question, because their office is closed... what are they measuring?... I was feeling pretty yucky & neglected to ask.
Filgrastim is also prescribed as pegfilgrastim (called Neulasta). My doctor used the 500 neutrophill count as a cut-off, so every time I got down around 500 I used Neulasta. The interferon drops neutrophils and platelets. Some people can do okay with low neutrophils but just as many end up with kidney and sinus infections, etc., that make you even more miserable.
Interferon can cause a condition called ‘neutropenia’ or the suppression of white blood cells necessary to fight infection. In some countries, the drug Neupogen (filgrastim) is available to combat this, and to keep patients on full dose HCV meds.
Filgrastim and PEG-filgrastim are relatively expensive; and they might not be available in all areas.
I guess you will know it is working if you don't get an infection.
On the product insert it says:
Neulasta® (pegfilgrastim) or NEUPOGEN® (Filgrastim) may reduce your chance of getting an infection, but it does not prevent all infections. An infection can happen anytime your neutrophil counts are low. Look for signs of infection, such as fever, chills, rash, sore throat, diarrhea, or redness, swelling, or pain around a cut or sore.
You can discuss ‘Neupogen (filgrastim) with the doc; this is a GCSF drug that stimulates bone marrow production of white cells. It is generally initiated when absolute neutrofils reach .500 or that vicinity; some docs allow closer to .350, depending on occupation and other matters.
Hi everyone. Hubby's WBC count is low, so Hepatologist wants to put him on Neupogen. Have any of you used it? Any info you can share?
Neulasta is a peglated version of Neupogen which is also know as filgrastim. It's used to stimulate production of neutrophils, a component of whilte blood cells. It can be taken less often than regular 'ol Neupogen. I found it rougher than Neupgen in that it had some side effects, mainly bone pain. I found Neupogen to be side-less.
Aranesp is Darbepoetin Alfa which is like Procrit (epo). It is also taken less often than Procrit.
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