Starting Neupogen, any info?

[amberb]

My Dr is going to start me on Neupogen injections next week to boost my white count since it has continued to drop these last few weeks. Does anyone have any experience with this drug? I'm nervous about the side effect of bone pain. I started out real tough, but over these past months of treatment and not feeling well, I'm turning into a baby!

[Birgitta-A]

Hi Amberb,
Not every patient gets bone pain from Neupogen. I have taken that drug during more than 4 years - when I once had to take Neupogen daily during 9 days I got bone pain.

Hope you will have a positive effect and no adverse reactions!
Kind regards
Birgitta-A

[dfantle]

Hi, I've been having GCSF ( nupogen) injections regularly for 8 months and really haven't experienced any pain or other side effects. Even though I now give myself the injections every other day. It's different for everyone.

Good luck.

[franko]

Hi.

My mother is hospitalized with AA for 2 weeks now, and also developed a lung candida infection.

Is it recommended/common to use Neupogen ( or other g-csf) for the treatment of AA in general and lung candida in particular? (she is now treated only with voriconazole against her lung infection. is that enough?).

or is Neupogen only recommended as an MDS treatment?

The doctor says most studies shows its not recommended. is that true?
i read the opposite on the internet.

Thank you very much!

[Marlene]

It depends on what her anc count is. If it's below 500 then it could be helpful.

[ssdavi71416]

For me it was a dull pain for a little while after the injection. Not that bad in comparison to other parts of AA treatment. Not as bad as an IV needle insertion.

[NLJabbari]

Hello Franco,

If your mother does not have enough WBC's/high enough ANC (at least 500) to fight this infection in her lungs--Personally, I would certainly try to get a boost from Neupogen.

Sometimes you have to make decisions based on the lesser of two evils...

As far as Neupogen being an MDS drug--no, it is not specific for MDS. It is a drug that boosts your White Cell production. Sometimes it is given to Bone Marrow Donors to produce extra cells for donation.

When my son was on it for about 4-6 weeks. He said the only thing he felt different was that his calves felt a little heavy.

Hope your mom feels better soon and that she can beat this candida out of her lungs!

[CordeliaChase]

I started taking them every 14 days about 4 months ago and I had problems. About 12-15 hours after I injected myself I would start to feel like i was coming down with the flu-achy, even more tired than usual, and feverish, then the dull awful ache in my back, legs and hips would start-and last for about 2 days. It has gotten better, I feel "funky" and "achy" for about a day after my injection and it passes.

[MDSPerth]

Amber, my partner injected with neupogen twice weekly for eight months prior to transplant. He was also using EPO at the same time. Both these injections managed to keep him a symptomatic and healthy and raised his WBC, neutrophils and HGb from a dangerous level into the healthy range in the lead up to a MUD.

Regards Sandi