The recommended starting dose of Neupogen is 5 mcg/kg/day‚ administered as a single daily injection by SC bolus injection, by short IV infusion (15 to 30 minutes)‚ or by continuous SC or continuous IV infusion. A CBC and platelet count should be obtained before instituting Neupogen therapy‚ and monitored twice weekly during therapy. Doses may be increased in increments of 5 mcg/kg for each chemotherapy cycle‚ according to the duration and severity of the ANC nadir.
Congratulations on being UND since week 4...that is a huge success! As far as your white blood cell count, is the injection that your doctor is giving you Neupogen? When the white count goes low to a certain point, the options are to reduce the treatment meds (which you don't want to have to do) or add an injection (Neupogen). If Neupogen is what your doc is giving you, then you are on the right track.
Did you get an injection of Neupogen? If so, that's not at all uncommon for people on TX to have to take that to keep their WBCs up.
My white cell count is at 400. I get a second dose of neupogen tomorrow. If it doesn't boost it back up doc says treatment stops. Then what...Still working but im sooo tired. can i get disability? Im also bi-polar. I take over twenty pills a day including supplements...
These drugs do not come without risks, and not everyone will need them, so that is one important reason, other than cost.
That said, if you already have a history of let's say tanking hemoglobin per previousx treatment, taking Procrit (epo) prophylactively seems to be a reasonable strategy. It also might be part of a high-dose ribavirin strategy outside of SOC if that's what you and your medical team decide on.
So the doc finally agreed to a neupogen shot, after many delayed shots of pegasys. I was supposed to do a shot tuesday, however got bloodwork done today and anc is 620, Doc says to take neupogen tonight (I did, the neupogen is 300mcg, im ~130lbs) and get more bloodwork done on thursday, and then he'll call friday with whether or not to take the shot or not. So here I am, waiting, again. Arggg!
My experience with Neupogen was 1 injection per week initally, then 2 and several times I was reduced to half dosage or skipped several weeks because my WBC was high. It's a balancing act and usually those on Neupogen require more blood draws than those who are not taking it.
I thought it was some nasty stuff. Caused bone pain and fevers but it kept me from being dose reduced or taken off treatment.
My Anc was at 280 last week. They reduced my pegintron and I am taking one injection of neupogen a week for now. I don't blame you for not skipping. I am not too happy about the dose reduction either. I know it's different with everybody, but how much did the neupogen improve your anc? The trial requires mine to be at least 750 to not reduce the peg.
How low are your counts. The most important red blood cell to watch is your hemaglobin and the most important white blood cell count to watch is your ANC (absolute neutrophil count a/k/a granulocyte count).
Why will your doctor not prescribe you any rescue drugs such as Neupogen for your white count or Procrit for your red count? My hgb went in the tank very early on in treatment and I was prescribed Aranesp injections every 2 weeks.
I was on Neupogen from the 4th week of peg injection(48 wks) and I was instructed to do the Neupogen on Wednesday and Friday night was the Interferon. My 24 hour hotline nurse told me 48 hours to avoid interaction and the boost for WBCs 2 days before. It takes 24 hours to raise the WBCs and they peak at the 4-5 day which is the when the interferon lowers them. hope this helps. :)
Many blessings,
proud48.
Do I take it the same in the stomach or thigh the I take neupogen and interferon? I I took my INF yesterday, is it okay to take the procrit today? How long does it take to work, I've heard 2 weeks. My hgb was 7.7 on friday when they took blood.
Thanks for advice!
I had itching & rashes which last for not more than 30 min and comes only once in a day, after 3-4 days of stopping neupogen. It's very mild and goes away quickly. Should I consult to doctor or it will goes away by time. Need your suggestions.
FWIW my ANC dropped to .320 and I remained on full-dose Peg without Neupogen. A couple of weeks later my ANC was over 1, all by itself. The reason for the concern re ANC has to do with cancer patient studies that showed higher infection rates with low ANC. Some newer Hep C tx specific work found no correlation between interferon-induced low ANC and higher infection rates on tx -- therefore why some docs like mine rarely dose reduce based on low ANC or rarely use Neupogen.
I take my chemo treatment on Friday morning and do not get the Neulasta injection until Mon. morning. Is there a problem by waiting this long for the injection?
I have taken 1 dose of interferon along with 6 caps.of Ribavirn,on March7.i am still continuing with ribavirin but my wbc count is not improving due to which my second dose of interferon is getting delayed.my wbc count is2.1 so how can i improve my wbc count? can i take some nutrilite food supplements? will it have any side effects?
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