Procrit

[Laura Ann]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has any experiences or opinions about Procrit injections. My mother has had them in the past and I am not sure if they really help.

Thanks,

Laura

[Mr Ry]

Laura,

I had several injections of procrit. At one point I was giving myself injections of it. Yes it did help. It was not like the commercial, where you are playing with the kids and going back to work. I had it when I was getting low dose chemo and radiation. It did pick me up a bit. When my levels got really low it could not tell a difference, except that my counts did come up some.

John

[daggiesmom]

Laura,

Yes, Procrit helped me. I had weekly shots for about 6 weeks to bring up my red cell count as I was anemic, which caused alot of weakness, tiredness, etc. I believe many chemo patients with low red cell count receive them as a boost. Hope this helps.

Joanie

[Jackson]

Hi,

My mom was having low red counts and now she gets a Procrit shot every other week. Since she's been getting them she has not had any problem with low red counts. I think it helps her energy level a little bit too.

[john]

I think it should help. The chemo kills a lot of red blood cells. The procrit basically allows the body to build the red blood cells faster.

One line in the study below says that it did not help around 18% of the people that took EPO

http://www.moffitt.usf.edu/pubs/ccj/v5ns/article6.html

Pro cyclists use it illegally to boost their endurance

This study shows a bigger initial dose may work better

http://www.asco.org/ac/1,1003,_12-00263 ... 715,00.asp

There are different kinds of EPO, EPO-alpha, EPO-beta, and Aranesp (darbepoetin)

Talk to the Dr about your concerns that the Procrit is not helping.

There was a recent FDA advisory about the use of EPO in cancer patients!

http://www.fdaadvisorycommittee.com/FDC ... anespA.htm