procrit and kidneys

[lynne]

I had 12 weekly injections of Procrit,and my hemoglobin went from 9.1 to 10.6(one week it was as high as 11). When I went to see my hemotologist yesterday he decided to take me off the Procrit injections for awhile. He said that it could effect the kidneys downline if you stay on it indefinitely. Comments????

[Neil]

Hi Lynne,
The dosage is the factor most docs are concerned about. Believe 60,000 is what conventional wisdom dictates to be the maximum.
There is a risk of heart attack IF the dosage gets too high. Have never been able to find out what is considered too high. There was a flurry of activity about 2 years ago when some patients developed heart difficulty when given very high dosages on a clinical trial. None of them were MDS patients.
I have been on Procrit for 27 months. Currently at 40,000 every other week. No liver problems at this time.
We adjusted my dosages and frequency as my counts changed. Was on weekly shots, then went to every other week and dosage moved up as counts decreased.
You might want to plug Procrit into a search engine and read over the side effects.

[Jerry]

Lynne …

I have been on 60,000 unit for over a year and had no side effects that I know about. However, my kidneys are failing anyway so maybe they have taken that into consideration. About 2 or 3 months ago the Dr’s at Cleveland Clinic upped me to 80,000 units a week. My hemoglobin is now at 13.9 … the highest in 3 years … don’t know that this helps but good luck …

Jerry

[patti]

Whoa! Jerry, that is high. I also read that 60,000 units was the highest one should go.

Lynne, procrit tries to force the kidneys to produce EPO. Anytime you do something forcefully to your body, the organ(s) involved are going to experience some affect. My MIL was on procrit for 9 months. It did nothing for her (not sure why it took us so long to tell the doctor we were going to stop it) but it did affect her kidneys. She does not have kidney failure but they are weaker then they were before the procrit. Is that a result of the disease or the procrit? That’s a million dollar question. However, if you can use the procrit only as needed (ie. when your HGB falls too low) that would be preferable to weekly. One thing that most people forget is that ANY drug that you put into your body is going to affect something. Regardless if the drug supposedly has no side effects. There will always be unintended consequences because our bodies were not made to have drugs in them. It’s a delicate balance between finding the right dose that won’t do damage and enough of the drug that it will help. Does that make sense?

I think your doctor is using some wisdom. I would trust his judgement on this one.

Best wishes,

patti

[lynne]

Patti………………..your reply was “right-on”…you are very good at explainig it,and I realize now that that is what my doctor is talking about….Thanks for your reply!……………Lynne

[lynette]

Lynne,
Procrit is synthetic EPO. It replaces the hormone that the kidney naturally produces. A side effect of Procrit is hypertension. This in turn can affect the kidney. When a patient has hypertension, there is usually diminished blood flow to the kidney. Hypertension is a common cause of renal insuffiency. Interestingly, one of the target groups for Procrit was end-stage renal disease patients who were on dialysis. Their kidneys were no longer functioning anyway! Perha

[lynette]

Hi Lynne,
Procrit is an interesting drug. It was originally developed for anemia related to end stage kidney disease. When positive results were discovered, other patients were given the drug. It is used for cancer patients, HIV patients, and patients with Rheumatoid athritis.
Procrit is synthetic Erythropoietin, a hormone naturally made by the kidney. However, it does not work on the kidney. Rather, it works on the erythroid tissue in the bone marrow, where natural e-poietin would work. The drug stimulates the formation of RBCs.
Although there is no known direct harm to kidney, Procrit can cause side effects. It can cause hypertension. Prolonged hypertension can lead to kidney disease. Also, Procrit can increase the body’s levels of BUN, creatinine, uric acid, and potassium. This can be harmful to the kidney.
For most patients however, the benfits of Procrit have outweighed the risks.
Hope this was helpful!
good luck, Lynette

[lynne]

Lynette….Thanks for your reply! I noticed that on my lab request that my doctor filled out for my next lab work that he is requesting that all of those things you mentioned be tested. I think in my case because I am fortunate to not have an exceedingly low hemoglobin count that he does’nt want me to continue on the Procrit unless it gets onw into the low 9’s again..Lynne

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