Neulasta

part of the reason i get it is because i have
part of the reason i get it is because i have rheumatoid arthritis which means i already have a compromised immune system. by adding chemo to my immune system, i am in danger of a very low white blood count. the neulasta shot plays havoc with my body - i already have lots of joint and muscle pain, but it keeps my blood counts up so i can continue with chemo. even with the shot, i was as low as your blood count could be on the day of my last chemo.

if your labs are in the normal ranges, there is no reason to subject yourself to another drug.

good luck with your chemo! i am going for my third on wednesday.

jo jo said:

I started off without the
I started off without the shot. It wasnt till the second round that they gave me the shot becuz i was having trouble with the chemo and it making me to sick and putting me in the hospital ect ect. For some i think its the doctors preferrence and some just protocal with the treatment or they dont give it to you unless you have complications with chemo.

I think it all depends if
I think it all depends if your chemo is weekly or every 3 weeks which injection you get. I was automatically given the Neulasta day after chemo(A/C) cause WBC dropped to 0.5.Neulasta is usually given if you are on a 3 week cycle. When I was on Taxol it was weekly and had to get daily Neupogen shots to get my white count up.
Deb

TraciInLA said:

Wait and see policy
My oncologist takes the "wait and see" approach that Claudia mentions, which I think is wise -- as Heidi said, why take another drug if you don't need it?

A co-worker of mine and I both did TC -- her white blood cell counts never dropped, and she never needed Neulasta. Mine, on the other hand, took a big nose dive about a week after the first chemo, so I did Neulasta after all the remaining rounds.

So everyone is different, and your oncologist will monitor your cell counts closely -- definitely ask him/her how your cell counts are when you go in for your next infusion, just to give yourself peace of mind.

Traci

Just part of my protocol...
Chemos were Friday, Neulastas on Sunday...

I was specifically warned before my first shot that I might experience pain in the chest due to the Neulasta, "It could feel as though you are having a heart attack, save the $100,000 visit to the ER. It's the Neulasta doing what it's suppose to do."

jakesgram said:

I also had neulasta when I
I also had neulasta when I was on A/C.Had a problem after a few days,with my back.Felt like back labor.

Part of my chemo cocktail - my Onc mentioned
neulasta shot up front .. and the benefits he found with his study groups of neulasta. I seriously had aches and pains from neulasta - some symptoms off set by bendryl.

I would ask next time you see Ono or his RN.

Like Miss Faith and Trust - I too ended up in the Local ER .. CAT Scans etc, EKG's thought I was having a heart ATTACK.. NOT a very pleasant experience to say the least - 7.5 hours in the ER ..testing and waiting -- an experience I will never ever forget.


Let us know ..


Vicki Sam

VickiSam said:

Part of my chemo cocktail - my Onc mentioned
neulasta shot up front .. and the benefits he found with his study groups of neulasta. I seriously had aches and pains from neulasta - some symptoms off set by bendryl.

I would ask next time you see Ono or his RN.

Like Miss Faith and Trust - I too ended up in the Local ER .. CAT Scans etc, EKG's thought I was having a heart ATTACK.. NOT a very pleasant experience to say the least - 7.5 hours in the ER ..testing and waiting -- an experience I will never ever forget.


Let us know ..


Vicki Sam

Neulasta was used....for a while
And like some of the folks mentioned I also had to go to the ER because I thought I was having a Heart Attack. My Oncologist said that my system had made much bone marrow because of the drug and took me off of it. I didn't have to use it again and was fine--

My oncologist
My oncologist told me I would be getting the Neulasta shot after each chemo(TC)treatment which I will be getting every 3 weeks. I have osteoarthritis and already experience bone & muscle pain so he also said I would be given pain medication.
Char

laurissa said:

Hi Tulsa
Good luck with the second chemo. I was also given Neulasta. I think thats what made the chemo treatment feel so bad. The aches were horrible, I had to take vicadin. But my bloodwork was great.

I took the neupogen shots (7
I took the neupogen shots (7 days in a row at home after chemo). It's the same thing as the neulasta. After the fifth day I woke up with the most horrible spasm back pain I've ever had. 15 on a 1-10 pain scale. I would've smoked crack if it would have taken the pain away. Three darvocet in 1/2 hour didn't touch the pain.

When I was able to call the doc, she said to take Motrin. By God, that worked! Took it two times and all back pain totally was gone.

Cindy

Mine ordered it up front
But only because I was still healing from skin cancer treatment and still had an open sore that she didn't want to compromise. Otherwise she would have just monitored and ordered only if my WBC counts were low or I had some other problem. I was fortunate and had very little pain with the Neulasta. Just a little pain in my knees for a day or two after the shot.

If you've been doing OK so far without it, I wouldn't worry about it, but you might just want to ask your onco about his/her thoughts and under what circumstances they would order it for you.

mvannie said:

neulasta
I just finished my T/C protocol. My doctor did not give neulasta after the first treatment.
I ended up in the hospital exactly one week after my first infusion with an infection and a very low WBC. Then they decided to give me the neulasta after each infusion. I did have a little low back pain for a few days but I think it was worth it to be protected.
Good luck, and remember everyone reacts differently.

Thank heaven for Neulasta...otherwise many of us would
have to stop our chemo to try to build WBC back up before we could go on. Maybe for some of us we would not be able to do that and would have to stop chemo altogether. As I have said before, there was no Neulasta for my Mom in 1984, she had to stop chemo and died. I was so sick with chemo, the Neulasta was hardly noticed. But my WBC was always 100%! I thank my doc everyday for not taking the wait and see approach and being proactive up front.

My back ached the first time and then after that my legs would be tingly achey for a day and I was taking Claritin (for my nose but it mite have helped) and Tylenol and of course my Ativan and I slept a lot. I felt the Neulasta was the easiest part.

Hugs, Judy :-)