Reviewer: webjetter, 45-54 Female on Treatment for 1 to 6 months (Caregiver)

Comment:
My husband has CLL and a wonderful oncologist. I appreciate the doc even more after reading these reviews. It prompted me to add our experience. Tony had a WBC of 80k and a spleen the size of a football at the start of chemo. He was put on an aggressive plan of fludarabine and rituximab. The first treatment he did NOT get the Neulasta. I assume there was a risk of spleen rupture. The next month he ... Show Full Comment

Comment:
My husband has CLL and a wonderful oncologist. I appreciate the doc even more after reading these reviews. It prompted me to add our experience. Tony had a WBC of 80k and a spleen the size of a football at the start of chemo. He was put on an aggressive plan of fludarabine and rituximab. The first treatment he did NOT get the Neulasta. I assume there was a risk of spleen rupture. The next month he had his weeklong treatment and the doc told him to start taking Claritin on Thursday to prepare for the Neulasta shot on Monday (Chemo was Monday-Friday). He went back to the doc to get the shot Monday and prepared for the worst. He did get achy, but it really never progressed beyond a pain level 2-3. Like a flu, he said. The next round we repeated the same process with the Claritin, a 3 day break from all treatment, then the shot. This time it was a bit more troublesome, maybe a 4-5 on the pain scale. No pain meds were ever prescribed and my husband never felt he needed them, really. 4th round of chemo, we told the doc that the pain was significantly more the 2nd time and he cut the dosage of Neulasta to half, still took the Claritin for the 3 days leading up to the shot and for a week afterwards. No problems with that round at all. It really helped his WBC recover after therapy and since he works at a school, we were thankful that there was some reduction in his chance of getting sick. He did not get sick during the entire 5 months of chemo that occurred Jan-May 2015. Not even a cold! We will always be worried when he gets Neulasta as we believe it could 'turn on' him at any time. I am so sorry for all of you that have had terrible experiences. It seems that some of you should change oncologists. Ours was very deliberate in the way he approached these medications. Tony got full exams and a thorough 'how are you feeling' discussion before it was administered. We are on Tricare, which covered the cost of the drug, too.
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Reviewer: NC Lady with Stage 4 Lung Cancer, 65-74 Female on Treatment for less than 1 month (Patient)

Comment:
After the Neulsta shot, all OK for about 2 days, then intense bone pain all over. Called Doctor on a Friday evening and he said it was likely caused by the Neulasta shot. Since I had some Norco-5 left over from gall bladder surgery just 2 weeks before I started Chemo, he said I could take some of those. It barely took me from a 10 to maybe an 8 on the pain scale. After two days hovering in int ... Show Full Comment

Comment:
After the Neulsta shot, all OK for about 2 days, then intense bone pain all over. Called Doctor on a Friday evening and he said it was likely caused by the Neulasta shot. Since I had some Norco-5 left over from gall bladder surgery just 2 weeks before I started Chemo, he said I could take some of those. It barely took me from a 10 to maybe an 8 on the pain scale. After two days hovering in intense pain, my husband read on line that some folks were taking Claritin for the side effects. He gave me a Claritin 12 and within a half hour the pain subsided almost entirely. What puzzles me is that the doctors don't seem to know much about this, but the nurses do. When I went in for my blood work between chemo treatments, I mentioned it to the nurse, she said of course, either Claritin or Zyrtec would work for some folks. Four days of intense pain could have been avoided if the Doctor had a clue. I think Neulasta should be advising that if their is intense bone pain, patients should already be equipped to deal with it. I had to do my own research, there's nothing in the literature from Neulasta that I could find that offered this suggestion.
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Reviewer: 35-44 Female on Treatment for 1 to 6 months (Patient)

Comment:
After 5 of 8 rounds of chemo, I am feeling side effects of this drug. On day 2 after chemo treatment started feeling flu like ache in my legs and abdomen. The worst overall is the stomach cramps. I've been taking Clariton every 12 hours and ibuprofen every 2-3 hours. Now 4 days since symptoms started, feeling better but not 100%. My advice is to be prepared-have Clariton and ibuprofen on hand. ... Show Full Comment

Comment:
After 5 of 8 rounds of chemo, I am feeling side effects of this drug. On day 2 after chemo treatment started feeling flu like ache in my legs and abdomen. The worst overall is the stomach cramps. I've been taking Clariton every 12 hours and ibuprofen every 2-3 hours. Now 4 days since symptoms started, feeling better but not 100%. My advice is to be prepared-have Clariton and ibuprofen on hand. There may be side effects that may appear after several treatments. In the futute I will be taking Clariton the day before I get the Nuelasta injection.
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Reviewer: tinac, 55-64 Female on Treatment for 1 to less than 2 years (Patient)

Comment:
I go for chemo every 3 weeks., for 3 days chemo and shot 4th day... First shot, fine for about and hour, then ,I could not breathe went to ER... Second time, we figured I may need more fluid... That seemed to work..No problems...Then there was a break in treatment because of holiday, got shot,passed out. after 15 min. fine..... Today, had 600 liters of fluid, had shot, almost done with fluid and h ... Show Full Comment

Comment:
I go for chemo every 3 weeks., for 3 days chemo and shot 4th day... First shot, fine for about and hour, then ,I could not breathe went to ER... Second time, we figured I may need more fluid... That seemed to work..No problems...Then there was a break in treatment because of holiday, got shot,passed out. after 15 min. fine..... Today, had 600 liters of fluid, had shot, almost done with fluid and had passed out at the center... they sent me to er.... no one knows why this is happening...They can not figure it out... alll perplexed... I can take the chemo fine, like one nurse told the Dr.. she takes chemo like it is water.... Anyone else have this kind of reaction.
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Reviewer: calgary girl, 35-44 Female on Treatment for 1 to 6 months (Patient)

Comment:
I have done 3 rounds of 6 of chemotherapy and I take a shot of neulasta the day following my treatment. I have had no side effects to speak of. Around the 1-2 week mark I get some mild elbow joint discomfort and some inter muscular type sensitivity in my ribs, but nothing that prevent me from going about my day. For the record I am 42 years old, female, 160 lbs, 5'9". I have a fairly good ... Show Full Comment

Comment:
I have done 3 rounds of 6 of chemotherapy and I take a shot of neulasta the day following my treatment. I have had no side effects to speak of. Around the 1-2 week mark I get some mild elbow joint discomfort and some inter muscular type sensitivity in my ribs, but nothing that prevent me from going about my day. For the record I am 42 years old, female, 160 lbs, 5'9". I have a fairly good diet, don't drink or smoke and go for walks daily. I have been told I may experience more of this bone pain on my next 3 rounds, as the cocktail is changing. I guess that's why they gave me the codeine, just in case. I wish for a speedy recovery for all of you that are experiencing this in a painful way and for a healthy cancer free future.
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