Hepatitis C Support Group

Monkey pee? Hahahahaha. The ole'man takes Procrit and it's clear. Is monkey pee clear?
Anyway, the ole'man dropped just like al11's, from 15.9 to 9.something, at about a month or two into tx, and they started Procrit. He's in the eleven range and says he feels better.

Hey, has anyone else heard that the FDA was considering limiting the use of Procrit? I read an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer to that effect in March.

Anyway, the ole'man says feeling better is worth the additional weekly injection. He says go for it. Good luck.

i didn't read anything on the fda, but after seeing a commercial for some med re low hemo i decided to read the sides for procrit, nurse practitioner never mentioned anything when he prescibed procrit. very scary, i kindof started flipping. asked nurse pract at next appt and he said once hemo gets to 12 then my husb would do procrit every other week. you don't want your hemo to get back to normal w/procrit that's when risk of stroke, etc kicks in, apparently. he also said that at 12 the ins probably wouldn't pay for procrit anymore. not sure how you would go to e/o wk if you can't get it paid for but we haven't had that problem yet. husb had last blood test today for hemo b4 end of tx blood test. by the way he feels don't think it's above 12. so the procrit allows him to participate in life to a certain extent but definitely not "normal" or pre tx. man i was long winded on this one, sorry.

Pearl,

I mentioned the fatigue and shortness of breath to my doctor during a follow up visit for my treatment. He was already taking blood anyway and noticed the drop in my RBC. I am to mull it over (Procrit) and let him know. For now I am just taking it easy and not doing too much, easy to say while working 60 hours a week...

al, skeeter and Missy, thanks for sharing. I will explore all my options but I'm hoping by next month my RBC goes back up

I've heard about the rucus the FDA is causing over the prescribing of the epo drugs. My PCP is VERY unhappy about it. FDA needs to stop and think that it is a heck of a lot more costly and dangerous to do too many tranfusions and then have to treat heppers for iron overload.

Mouse

I became anemic immediatley on tx. I did my procrit soon after that, and I ended up with a transfusion, I dont think they caught it soon enough. Do what the doc says. The shot goes in the arm, and they give it to ya, otr thats how it was for me...

I have been struggeling with low blood cells and have been able to get them back up without meds by increasing protien in my diet. My dr told me that was the best method in fighting low blood counts due to the use of protien to make blood cells and having hep c makes our bodies lack protien. I find with my little appetite I couldn't get enough protien and drinking a protien shake makes all the difference and has helped me! (I use milk to mix them otherwise they are just yuck!) It gives me more energy too. Good luck to you, and I can understand!

I am 34 weeks into tx, type 1a, vl 29,000,000 to start, und at week 4 and ever since. Began Procrit at week 12, started at 20,000 iu's, 4 weeks later went to 40,000 iu's and at week 20, was upped to 60,000 iu's. Then I fell and broke my hip!! I had to wait for 48 hours to be transfused and have platlets before surgery. My point is, how much good is the Procrit doing even at such a high dose? The sides and the burning injections (2 shots) were not good and if my levels were sooooo bad, what's the diff??

I'm prescribed testosterone injections for low testosterone. Been doing this for a couple of years. When I double my normal dose(from 100mg weekly to 200 mg weekly, I notice my red blood cells and platelets jump up in #'s. I also added injectable vitamin B-12 to the syringe since the start of tx to help in the production and facilliation of red blood cells. I told my G.I. what I was doing and she's fine with it. The wierd thing is that my red blood cells have stayed in the normal range since before I was even on tx, but only my white blood cells have fallen from the riba's. And my ALT's and AST's aren't affected by doing this at all and neither has the success of my tx been affected at all. Next blood test maybe you could tell them to add a free testosterone and bound testosterone test to your regular blood work. If you are low, then you'll have a script and begin to feel better mentally and physically. It's not just O.K. for women to take hormones for menopause. It's good for men too. Testosterone has just gotten a bad rap in the last couple of years with all the media hype(most of which is false and unproven.) Testosterone is involved in many bodily processes and shouldn't be ignored.

Hi I am on shot 14 and My Dr told me Wed my blood is too low...my next appt whichis in four weeks he will want to give me procerit...I am like you I have always been very healthy etc...its odd last week I had an asthma attack. I dont usually have that both of my Dr's didnt seem to think it was anemia even though I am anemic...hum..I will do what he says and he says I will actually feel better.....Its odd though that Im waiting four more weeks if its so low now...........let me know anything you find out thanks....