Nulastin?

inquiring
inquiring Member Posts: 12
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I believe that is how you spell it. Any thoughts, suggestions or reactions that you are willing to share... I am told that because my levels are low that there is no way to avoid taking this during my second treatment.

Thank you for your time and assistance.

Comments

  • Jadie
    Jadie Member Posts: 723
    #2
    Hi inquiring and welcome
    I believe you are talking about Nulasta. It is given in a shot usually the day after treatment to "boost" the bone marrow into making more blood. I had one after every treatment (8). It is very common. It can cause bone pain. Having it so close to chemo I didn't know if it was the chemo or the Nulasta causing the side effects. Probably both.

    Hope this helps a little
    Jadie<3
  • inquiring
    inquiring Member Posts: 12
    #3
    Jadie said:

    Hi inquiring and welcome
    I believe you are talking about Nulasta. It is given in a shot usually the day after treatment to "boost" the bone marrow into making more blood. I had one after every treatment (8). It is very common. It can cause bone pain. Having it so close to chemo I didn't know if it was the chemo or the Nulasta causing the side effects. Probably both.

    Hope this helps a little
    Jadie<3</p>

    Nulasta
    Thank you for your resonse and the correction on the spelling.

    I had refused the injection during the first treatment because I wanted to see how my body would handle it. they ended up putting me on an antibiotic.
    How long after the treatment did you experience the bone pain? Were you ever given any other options?
  • tommaseena
    tommaseena Member Posts: 1,769
    #4
    inquiring said:

    Nulasta
    Thank you for your resonse and the correction on the spelling.

    I had refused the injection during the first treatment because I wanted to see how my body would handle it. they ended up putting me on an antibiotic.
    How long after the treatment did you experience the bone pain? Were you ever given any other options?

    Neulasta
    It is actually Neulasta. I had it after every one of my A/C treatments to build the WBC(White Blood Cell) count up. My oncologist suggested to take Claritin for the bone pain and it does work.

    Hope this helps.
    Margo
  • inquiring
    inquiring Member Posts: 12
    #5
    tommaseena said:

    Neulasta
    It is actually Neulasta. I had it after every one of my A/C treatments to build the WBC(White Blood Cell) count up. My oncologist suggested to take Claritin for the bone pain and it does work.

    Hope this helps.
    Margo

    Neulasta
    Thanks for your response.
    Were you monitoring your WBC? How low did you get and how quickly did it increase.

    I dropped to 1.5 and that is when they put me on an antibiotic and then increased to 2.5 in a week.

    I was told that my counts in general will be fine for the next treatment. If this is the case I just do not see the sense in introducing another drug into my body.

    Thanks again for your time.
  • tommaseena
    tommaseena Member Posts: 1,769
    #6
    inquiring said:

    Neulasta
    Thanks for your response.
    Were you monitoring your WBC? How low did you get and how quickly did it increase.

    I dropped to 1.5 and that is when they put me on an antibiotic and then increased to 2.5 in a week.

    I was told that my counts in general will be fine for the next treatment. If this is the case I just do not see the sense in introducing another drug into my body.

    Thanks again for your time.

    Welcome
    Inquiring--welcome to this site.
    The oncologist automatically gave me the Neulasta shot because the A/C does seem to drop the WBC. I was given this so I could have my treatments every two weeks and there would not be a delay. My WBC were always 10 or more. Now that I am on Taxol my WBC is between 10-14.

    My WBC count was only taken when I had blood drawn on the days that I had my treatment so I don't know if they increased immediately.

    Margo
  • inquiring
    inquiring Member Posts: 12
    #7
    tommaseena said:

    Welcome
    Inquiring--welcome to this site.
    The oncologist automatically gave me the Neulasta shot because the A/C does seem to drop the WBC. I was given this so I could have my treatments every two weeks and there would not be a delay. My WBC were always 10 or more. Now that I am on Taxol my WBC is between 10-14.

    My WBC count was only taken when I had blood drawn on the days that I had my treatment so I don't know if they increased immediately.

    Margo

    neulasta
    Thank you again for your time and information.

    I will be getting my bloodwork again before my next treatment and will learn more about my levels.

    Good luck with your treatments.
  • cats_toy
    cats_toy Member Posts: 1,462 Member
    #8
    Neulasta
    Welcome Inquiring, I had one shot of the Neulasta because my first chemo dropped my WBC to 4. Had to wait an extra week for the next treatment, and they gave it to me then. The WBC came up on it's own anyway, but if you do have a problem with that, it does help.
    I never had reactions to it that I could tell.
    Good luck with the rest of your treatments!

    Cat
  • dmc_emmy
    dmc_emmy Member Posts: 549
    #9
    inquiring said:

    neulasta
    Thank you again for your time and information.

    I will be getting my bloodwork again before my next treatment and will learn more about my levels.

    Good luck with your treatments.

    A warm welcom from me, too
    As for the neulastin, I had it also after every treatment. I had few challenges with it, for the most part, (a little achiness) and I took motrin for settle the pain. I had one bigger problem, due to the fact that I cannot handle any kind of drug well, and that was a blood clot (I'm prone to them anyway) and that put me up for awhile. My onc, my former one who never listened to me about anything-including my reaction to meds, just reduced the amount that I was given and it never happened again. I guess this would be my only caution about taking this med.

    Good luck with your treatments.
    dmc
  • Jadie
    Jadie Member Posts: 723
    #10
    tommaseena said:

    Neulasta
    It is actually Neulasta. I had it after every one of my A/C treatments to build the WBC(White Blood Cell) count up. My oncologist suggested to take Claritin for the bone pain and it does work.

    Hope this helps.
    Margo

    Oh forgive me master Margo
    Oh forgive me master Margo for the bad spelling. LOL
  • Jadie
    Jadie Member Posts: 723
    #11
    inquiring said:

    Nulasta
    Thank you for your resonse and the correction on the spelling.

    I had refused the injection during the first treatment because I wanted to see how my body would handle it. they ended up putting me on an antibiotic.
    How long after the treatment did you experience the bone pain? Were you ever given any other options?

    Bone pain
    I wasn't given any other option. I pretty well just did as my onc suggested. I figured he knew a little bit more than me. I noticed the pain just a couple of days after injection.
  • tommaseena
    tommaseena Member Posts: 1,769
    #12
    Jadie said:

    Oh forgive me master Margo
    Oh forgive me master Margo for the bad spelling. LOL

    all
    All I did was get the spelling off from the prescription refill that I have.
    Spelling is not a prerequisite for this site.

    LOL
  • dyaneb123
    dyaneb123 Member Posts: 950
    #13
    inquiring said:

    Neulasta
    Thanks for your response.
    Were you monitoring your WBC? How low did you get and how quickly did it increase.

    I dropped to 1.5 and that is when they put me on an antibiotic and then increased to 2.5 in a week.

    I was told that my counts in general will be fine for the next treatment. If this is the case I just do not see the sense in introducing another drug into my body.

    Thanks again for your time.

    Hey There
    My white count
    Hey There
    My white count went really low the week after my first chemo, but the next week it was back up to over 15! It was down again this time and I'll see tomorrow if it has gone back up. I'm supposed to have n echocardiagram so they put me on antibiotics too. Dont want any infections.
    Dee
  • Kayla1
    Kayla1 Member Posts: 101
    #14
    cats_toy said:

    Neulasta
    Welcome Inquiring, I had one shot of the Neulasta because my first chemo dropped my WBC to 4. Had to wait an extra week for the next treatment, and they gave it to me then. The WBC came up on it's own anyway, but if you do have a problem with that, it does help.
    I never had reactions to it that I could tell.
    Good luck with the rest of your treatments!

    Cat

    Welcome Inquiring,
    I am glad
    Welcome Inquiring,
    I am glad you brought up the Neulasta question because everyones input helped me with my questions. Blood work last week results were that my wbc was slightly low, I'll have to ask about the numbers next time. I guess it was not low enough for Neulasta.

    Margo, Why the Claritin, what does it do?

    K
  • crazylady55
    crazylady55 Member Posts: 92
    #15
    Kayla1 said:

    Welcome Inquiring,
    I am glad
    Welcome Inquiring,
    I am glad you brought up the Neulasta question because everyones input helped me with my questions. Blood work last week results were that my wbc was slightly low, I'll have to ask about the numbers next time. I guess it was not low enough for Neulasta.

    Margo, Why the Claritin, what does it do?

    K

    I took Neulasta 48 hours
    I took Neulasta 48 hours after each of my 6 rounds of TAC chemo. 48 hours after the shot, the bone pains started. They were uncomfortable but I usually controlled mine with Motrin and Tylenol and bed rest. The pain only lasted about 24 hours for me, then it was general achyness from the chemo.

    Claritin or other antihistimines are used for the bone pain. I did not take it because they all knock me out and I was already so tired.

    Good luck.
  • inquiring
    inquiring Member Posts: 12
    #16
    crazylady55 said:

    I took Neulasta 48 hours
    I took Neulasta 48 hours after each of my 6 rounds of TAC chemo. 48 hours after the shot, the bone pains started. They were uncomfortable but I usually controlled mine with Motrin and Tylenol and bed rest. The pain only lasted about 24 hours for me, then it was general achyness from the chemo.

    Claritin or other antihistimines are used for the bone pain. I did not take it because they all knock me out and I was already so tired.

    Good luck.

    Thank you all for your feedback on Neulasta
    I went on line and had done some research and was frightened to hear about some severe reactions that some people experienced, ie. spleen ruptures and weeks of pain that required hospital visits..

    Needless to say, everyone's case is different and it helps to hear more comments to get a clearer picture of how people react to the medication.

    Thank you also for welcoming me. I am so glad that this resource exists and that people are willing to share their experiences.

    Felicina
  • Jadie
    Jadie Member Posts: 723
    #17
    inquiring said:

    Thank you all for your feedback on Neulasta
    I went on line and had done some research and was frightened to hear about some severe reactions that some people experienced, ie. spleen ruptures and weeks of pain that required hospital visits..

    Needless to say, everyone's case is different and it helps to hear more comments to get a clearer picture of how people react to the medication.

    Thank you also for welcoming me. I am so glad that this resource exists and that people are willing to share their experiences.

    Felicina

    On line
    Felicina we always tell new ones to stay off the internet. You don't need too much info for now. You have so much to learn about your dx and treatment. Learning about cancer is like learning a new language. Too much info can overwhelm you. Take it one day, one step at a time. We are here to help you through everything.

    Best of luck with everything
    Jadie<3
  • mimivac
    mimivac Member Posts: 2,143 Member
    #18
    inquiring said:

    Thank you all for your feedback on Neulasta
    I went on line and had done some research and was frightened to hear about some severe reactions that some people experienced, ie. spleen ruptures and weeks of pain that required hospital visits..

    Needless to say, everyone's case is different and it helps to hear more comments to get a clearer picture of how people react to the medication.

    Thank you also for welcoming me. I am so glad that this resource exists and that people are willing to share their experiences.

    Felicina

    Welcome, Felicina
    I also had Neulasta after every chemo treatment (6 times total). My WBC was never low, but I was given the shot to prevent it from dropping and possibly delaying treatment. I had quite a bit of achiness either the day of or the day after the shot. The pain only lasted about a day or so. I took extra strength Tylenol. Many ladies here swear by Claritin. It didn't work for me, but is often used and works for many. As for the side effects you mentioned, they are extremely rare. Most people have no problems with Neulasta other than bone pain.

    Let us know how things are going.

    Mimi
  • inquiring
    inquiring Member Posts: 12
    #19
    Jadie said:

    On line
    Felicina we always tell new ones to stay off the internet. You don't need too much info for now. You have so much to learn about your dx and treatment. Learning about cancer is like learning a new language. Too much info can overwhelm you. Take it one day, one step at a time. We are here to help you through everything.

    Best of luck with everything
    Jadie<3</p>

    Thank you for that advice.
    Thank you for that advice. I unfortunately am a bit of a "control freak" and getting information is one way to feel as though I have some input in my life at this time.

    I had an unpleasant reaction during my first treatment and what should have taken 2-3 hours ended up taking 61/2 hours. I am doing everthing in my power to avoid another reaction from ocurring.

    There are so many brave souls on this site, just reading others' comments is empowering.

    Thank you again.
  • inquiring
    inquiring Member Posts: 12
    #20
    mimivac said:

    Welcome, Felicina
    I also had Neulasta after every chemo treatment (6 times total). My WBC was never low, but I was given the shot to prevent it from dropping and possibly delaying treatment. I had quite a bit of achiness either the day of or the day after the shot. The pain only lasted about a day or so. I took extra strength Tylenol. Many ladies here swear by Claritin. It didn't work for me, but is often used and works for many. As for the side effects you mentioned, they are extremely rare. Most people have no problems with Neulasta other than bone pain.

    Let us know how things are going.

    Mimi

    Thank you.
    Pain I can usually tolerate and the more I hear people's experiences the more I feel that the side effects are limited to bone pain. Not to minimize this pain. I still am going to attempt to have a conversation with my oncologist prior to my next treatment so that he knows what is going through my head.

    Thanks again.

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