Ann Cronin Posted April 6, 2018 Posted April 6, 2018 Hi, All, Has anyone been given Neulasta after chemotherapy treatment? As I understand it, it's to boost your white blood cells. I'm going to ask at my chemo teaching session but I've not seen anyone mention this drug. My co-worker went through nclc treatment last year, she said she was given the drug 24 hours after each treatment. Thanks, Ann
Leo Posted April 6, 2018 Posted April 6, 2018 I have/had SCLC currently NED . I had concurrent Radiation (30 treatments over 6 weeks) and Chemo (4 rounds) . My Radiation & Chemo were concurrent during my 1st 2 Chemo rounds and I could not have Neulasta due to impact on Radiation treatment. My Radiation treatment ended Dec 26/17 and was given Neulasta following my 3rd Chemo (ended Dec 28) and 4th Chemo (ended 17 Jan/18) rounds. It does boost WBC count. Happy to answer any other questions you may have about my experience with Neulasta
Robert Macaulay Posted April 6, 2018 Posted April 6, 2018 Intresting I asked why I get scheduled for blood work on the day of my chemo. The reply was if your blood count was abnormal your Chemo would be cancelled. Red versus white.
BridgetO Posted April 6, 2018 Posted April 6, 2018 I had Neupogen.It is basically the same drug, but Neulasta is the long lasting form. I started getting it after chemo infusions because I developed febrile neutropenia from Carboplatin and Taxoterre. This means that I developed a fever because my neutrophils (white blood cells that deal with infections) went too low and I was having some sort of infection although they never identified what it was. I had antibiotics and recovered. Neutropenia is serious and can be lethal since there's nothing to resist bacteria. The Neupogen I had to give to myself as a series of several once-daily injections in the abdomen beginning, I recall, a day or two after the chemo infusion. It wasn't hard to do, probbly similar to what diabetics do with insulin- little short needle. Neulasta requires only one shot, so you don't have to give it to yourself. Actually, I suppose you could go in and get the nurse to give you the daily Neupogen. Both of these drugs are really expensive, but a series of Neupogen is a little less so than one Neulasta. Some people have bone pain as a side effect of these drugs (maybe because they stimulate the bone marrow to produce white cells?) but I didn't have any side effects at all and my neutrophils didn't crash again. My red blood cells did crash, causing severe anemia and I had a transfusion of red blood cells. I hope this is helpful Bridget O
Ann Cronin Posted April 7, 2018 Author Posted April 7, 2018 Quote Thanks for the replies, all! Being that chemotherapy tends to bring those white cells down, I would think it would be standard to give the Neulasta (or Neupogen) instead of waiting for a potentially dangerous situation. I'll be inquiring next week.... Thanks, Ann
Tom Galli Posted April 7, 2018 Posted April 7, 2018 Ann, Oh yes, I've had many Neulasta injections. I had a total of 18 infusions and likely about 10 total Neulasta shots in my treatment history. It is a very painful shot and it caused pain in my long bones - legs & arms because it kick-starts the body on making white blood cells. My infusion day was a Wednesday and each following Friday after infusion, I reported to the clinic for a blood test. If my white cells were below a certain level, I'd get Neulasta. If my red cells were below limit, I'd get Procrit. Sometimes, I'd get both. Stay the course. Tom
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