Procrit Injections

[lynne]

I was diagnosed over 4 years aago with MDS-RARS,and my hemoglobin just fell below 9 (8.6),and my doctor wants me to consider Procrit injections once a week…I know only a small percenatage of MDS patients respond to procrit,but I’d like to hear from you who have tried it. Thanks…………Lynne

[JulieMarie]

Lynne,

My mother has been on Procrit for a year now. until recently it has helped her hemoglobin to stay in the 10.0 to 11.0 every once in a while we got it to be 12.0. For the past 6 weeks the procrit she’s not responding as well to the procrit. Since we have a few doses left we’re going to finish out with them, before switching to other drugs. My mother gives these shots to her self, and well at first they left a little bruise, but now you can hardly tell. hope this helps you out.

[PhyllisA]

Hi Lynne

I did procrit injections once a week in spring of 2003 with no luck Now I am going to a differant Dr and he started me @ 10M for 30 days and now I am doing 20M a day But still getting TXs appx every 3 weeks like they everyone reacts differantly GOOD LUCK to you
Ron from MI

[Jerry]

Hi Lynn ….

I take 3 20K Prokrit shots a week and my hemoglobin is holding near 11. It has been as low as 7 at one time and 9 another. So, for me, it seems to be working. I have never heard of any negative side effects, so maybe it would not hurt you to try it. It takes about a month for you to realize any benefits from it. Good luck.

[eve]

my dad took procrit injections when he was first diagnosed – they worked for a short while

he then stopped the shots because they became ineffective

he is now on vidaza treatments – procrit shots were added to the regimin – the hemodoc seems to feels that in conjuction with the vidaza the procit is beneficial

eve

[Caroline]

Hi Lynne,

My Dad started Procrit recently. We were told that it would take 4 shots until he feels any different, if the shots help at all. He has only had 2 shots so far but I can swear that he seems stronger already. He is definitely eating more. He just left here after our Thanksgiving Dinner and he had 2 plates of food and he even ate some pie for dessert and coffee. This may not sound like much but a month ago, he was here for another celebration and he ate a small piece of meat and only a spoon of vegetables. No dessert and no coffee. Also, Dad normally sleeps about 18 hours a day. Today he got up at 8am and never laid down once until he went to bed at 10pm tonight. I cannot remember the last time he stayed up all day. Nothing else has changed for him except that he began Procrit shots. We have a Dr. appt. on Wednesday. We will find out if the shots have made any difference by his blood test results. I will let you know.

Caroline

[Terri]

Bob is on Procrit weekly, They tried changing to the arnesp and he had side effects back on the procrit. Seems to be working for him, tx free since dec 03

[lynne]

Are the procrit shots in the arm or stomach? For some reason Ihad always heard the stomach,but now they are saying it will be in the back of my arm..Lynne Sylvester

[Jerry]

Debbie gives me mine in the arm … you MUST let the Procrit warm to room temp before injecting it … it does not hurt so much that way ..

[eve]

dad gets procrit shots in the arm

he takes most of his vidaza shots in the belly – he says it hurts less

eve

[Neil]

Hi Lynne,
Have a couple thoughts for you to discuss with your doc.
Procrit is a synthetic erythropoietin. A substance produced in ones kidneys that stimulates bone marrow to produce red cells.
If your doc checks your current epo and iron levels you will get an indication of how successful Procrit might be. If your epo level is low and iron is normal chances are it will work. Procrit needs iron to work. Those with low iron take iron supplements to increase success.
When I started on it my HGB was in the low 10s RBC in low 3s and had been trending downward for a few months. Fatigue was becoming a factor, particularly at the end of the day. Very tough to get up the stairs.
My doc started me on 20,000 units a week (Nov.2003). His reasoning was, lets see what 20,000 does. We can always increase it if and when necessary. This might also allow us to increase the effective time
I could be on Procrit.
I had a very quick response. My counts improved in a weeks time. HGB went up to 12 and RBC went to 4. There were a few weeks I had to skip a shot since my HCT was over 37. Medicare will not pay for Procrit on a patient with HCT over 37.0.
We then went to 20,000 units every other week. Counts slipped a bit, but I felt great. With more time my counts slipped a bit more so the dosage was increased to 30,000 every other week. Am still at 30,000 with HGB 11.5 – 11.9 RBC 3.5-3.8.
Another “side effect” I experienced was my WBC and Platelets increased. Seems the epo triggered my marrow to increase WBC and Platelets also. Not much, but any increase is great. I had occassion to have CBCs between shots ( at the 7 day point) and my WBC was over 2 vs a “normal” of 1.2 – 1.7. Platelets jumped to 18,000 to 20,000 vs my regular 10,000. A great side effect that occurs very infrequently.
No adverse side effects at all. Energy levels are great.
I realize that at some point Ptocrit will wear off. But I have had 2 great years on it. When my counts begin to decline —after we are at 60,000 per week, the plan is to go to Aranesp,(Darbopoietin) (sp). A drug similar to Procrit but lasts longer. Many patients that were non-responders to Procrit responded to Aranesp.

[lynne]

Neil……does he check my EPO level through a blood test? The last time I had it done it was “41 IU/L”…is that good or bad news? My iron “numbers” were normal a few months back,but he is having those checked again this coming week. Do you have your procrit injections in your arm? Someone else said that you should have the procrit get to room temperature before the shot so it wont hurt as much.comments?….Lynne

[patti]

Lynne,

My MIL gets her shots in her stomach. I guess she figured there is more surface area for the long haul (she’s fairly slender). I think getting shot after shot in the arms would be hard personally. Also, her medical assistant does warm the shots a little by taking them out of the fridge ahead of time before she gets them but the main thing that seems to matter is that she puts it in sloooowwwwwlllllyyyy. When they push it in real fast she said it burns pretty good.

Patti

[Caroline]

Lynne,

Home Care has been going to my Dad’s to administer his Eprex/Procrit weekly for the past 3 Thursdays. Today my Mom and I had an actual lesson. This nurse told us that we should put the needle in where there is the most meat. We are using Dad’s arms alternately each week. The needle has to be plunged in very slowly and then once it is all in, we have to count to 10 to allow the Eprex to distribute evenly before we remove the needle. Also, she stressed the importance of having the Eprex come straight out of the fridge and not letting it get warm or even room temperature. I mentioned that I know some people who allow the drug to warm up and she said that she was not taught that way. I will ask the nurse again next Thursday when she comes. They always send a different nurse so they probably all have different schools of thought.

Caroline

[Caroline]

Lynne,

I forgot to mention something. When Dad had his blood checked yesterday, his hemoglobin had risen from 99 to 102 after only 2 shots of Eprex/Procrit. Dr. said that he hadn’t really expected much of a result at all since it is still too early for any substantial changes to take place but that it seems to be working because the hemoglobin didn’t decrease. My Dad is 70 years old.

Caroline

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