kimmek Posted October 24, 2004 Share Posted October 24, 2004 Hi All Has anyone experience severe pain from these shots? The doc told mom this was to be expected and she could expect to notice pain in her lower back and in the rib cage kind under the breast across her front. she has had 1 or 2 of the shots, but she was just borderline with her counts. The last visit though her RBC was down a bit more (I cannot remember the exact number) but she wanted her to get the shot every week during the 3 weeks in between chemo. She had her second one this past wens. She really never had much pain before But today it has been really bad, I can actually say as well as she that this is the worst pain of anything she has experienced since starting her treatment. I have given her 10mg oxyIR every 2 hours as well as a xanex to calm her down (she panics bad when she doesnt know why she is hurting). This has eased it up some, but if she coughs the pain in her rib cage all across her entire front and thru to her mid back is bad. She has not moved in almost 3 hours afraid if she does the pain will come back bad again. Does this sound familiar to anyone here? I asked her if she wanted to go to ER, and Mom hates that worse than anything, but she said she could not live like this all day and if it didnt get better we could go. But if the pain is from the shot she can handle it, Its the not knowing where its coming from that scares us. Thanks all for any input on this God bless Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ry Posted October 24, 2004 Share Posted October 24, 2004 Don't know what to tell you except that I've never read of anyone else having pain as bad as you describe. Doesn't mean it hasn't happened though. At least call her doctor. Good luck. Rochelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addie Posted October 24, 2004 Share Posted October 24, 2004 Kim, I had an Aranesp shot AND a Neulasta at the end of each chemo cycle and fortunately tolerated both just fine. I recall the nurses saying I might experience some "long bone pain" with the Neulasta....but there was no such warning for Aranesp. Jen (jcawork) had pain from Neulasta mainly. I think she tolerated Neupogen better....and she hasn't mentioned any pain either re: the shots to boost RBC's (ie: Aranesp). But I know the pain she had from the WBC booster shots was troublesome to her. Does your Mom get Neulasta or Neupogen shots too? If so....you might want to fire off a PM to Jen...as she can give you more details on her reaction. Hope this helps a bit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloesmom Posted October 24, 2004 Share Posted October 24, 2004 For me, that aranesp shot hurt going in--the pain at the injection site was amazing, but once it was over, the nurse rubbed the area for a few minutes and the pain went away. I never had anything residual because of the injection painwise, but I'm sure all kinds of things can happen with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimmek Posted October 24, 2004 Author Share Posted October 24, 2004 Thanks for the info. Moms pain has eased up some and she finally slept a bit (sitting up at her pc) and when she woke she said it was much better. I will be calling her dr, first thing in the morning unless it gets bad again tonight and we will go to the ER. She has a fairly large hiatial hernia in this same area, and it has never given her any trouble so drs never wanted to put her or her lungs thru the surgery and this was before the lung cancer. I looked up hernia and found nothing there either that described pain like she was having. If I learn anything Ill let yall know. and many thanks again Also this is the only shot mom has ever gotten for anythin related to the chemo or radiation Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
close to the edge Posted October 25, 2004 Share Posted October 25, 2004 I think i had the neulasta (SP) the onc nurse suggested to me to take up to 3 extra strength tylenol at first i didnt take the tylenol and the bone pain was awful i felt like i was 100 years old so i began to take them evry 4 to 6 hrs so there would be no break thru pain it seamed to work i also spoke to a nurse friend of mine who said the pain is usally in the spine neck & hips mine sure was also found that certain movements felt worse than others if it makes you feel better it was only temporary heres hoping she feels better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addie Posted October 25, 2004 Share Posted October 25, 2004 I just remembered too, Kim....that I only got the Aranesp every TWO weeks....not EVERY week or just once every cycle. I wonder if your mom would have less pain if she only got the shot every two weeks? My understanding was that they wouldn't GIVE the shot weekly, as it would be too much! Sorry I didn't remember this earlier. The Neulasta shot was once every chemo cycle....on day four. But the Aranesp - from the beginning - I was told I would get it every two weeks "if needed"...but no more often than that! You might ask about why your mom is getting it weekly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Wood Posted October 25, 2004 Share Posted October 25, 2004 Kim, Lucie says they told her she might have some bone pain from the Aranesp, but she tolerated it just fine. However, she is on morphine, so that would tend to mask the pain. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Cheryl- Posted October 25, 2004 Share Posted October 25, 2004 KIm, The injection itself hurt like He**! I also have some pain in my joints and bones. I am not sure if it is from the chemo I am doing or the aranesp shots. I take tylenol, and if really bad, hydrocodone works for me. The Flu shot ached like you described though. Hope your mom is better. Cheryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimmek Posted October 25, 2004 Author Share Posted October 25, 2004 Hi all Again thanks for the input. Ive had mom for a chest exray this afternoon and a bone scan Thurseday am. This is what dr ordered after hearing what i describe the pain to be and where. I would have thought a MRI or CT, but i am not the dr. I did just now thought after reading thur these last posts and all of them again,put a call back in the nurse..... thinking WHY is she getting this every week, when no one else has even heard of it like that? This kinda spooks me. Also please what are the Nuelasta and Nuepgen shots for? The Arenesp is th eonly shot Mom has had.....once a while back for borderline anemia once, maybe twice, during the latter part of her 6 weeks of chemo on the low dose. and then these last 2 weeks. Man I love this dr and her staff. 5 minutes and the nurse is calling me back. Ok her answer to the weekly shot is that since she had not really been taking it, they started with low weekly dose to build her up to the every 2 weeks routine. She also said the the pain from the shot would be more in the legs,neck, and lower back and certainly not as severe as I described. So, guess we shall go back to the waiting game and see what xray shows and do the bone scan Thursday and since we are going early in the am, maybe just maybe we will have result later that day or early friday morning. (wishful thinking) Thanks again its wonderful being able to get feedback, prayers and everything else i love about this site, just right at your fingertips and sometimes almost immediatly. Thanks for being here!!! Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faith2000 Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 Hi Kim, My mom is getting the same shot and the one for the white blood cells. And she is experancing the same amount of pain!! It is mainly in her chest and the pain goes up her chest to her back on the sameside where her port is located. (The nurse did say that the chest bone would hurt since it is a large morrow producing bone.)The pain is soooo horrible! She takes oxycotin 40mg for her bad back and that is the only thing that takes away the chest pain. Buy the way, my mom too, has a hiatial hernia and pretty much is on the same chemo treatment as your mom. I don't know if that has anything to do with it? Did your mom have a port put in? I was thinking maybe it was the port also. I sure do hope your mom starts to feel good soon! God Bless, Terra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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