Neulasta

[Joan S.]

Hi! You guys are a wealth of information.
My white blood cell count has been hovering around 2.9-3.1 lately. I was reading an article about Dana Farve(Green Bay Packer's wife) who survived breast cancer. She was saying that everyone gets a shot of Neulasta after chemo. I haven't had this med. Can anyone tell me if they have and what are the side effects you had? Would you recommend it?
Thanks!!!

[Susan66]

Hi Joan,
I had the Neulasta but I did dose dense (every 2 weeks) chemo instead of the every 3 weeks. I don't think it's standard with every 3 weeks schedule (if this is what you're on). I had no side effects at all with the shot.
Susan

[Yorkiegirl]

I had Dose Dense A/C and had the Neulasta Shot. It did give me bone and joint pain for a few day's.

Now when I had the Dose Dense Abraxane I had the Procrit Shot (red Blood) and I have the same side effects with that.

[nitewind]

Hi Joan
When I did a/c, I always had to go back the next day for a Neulasta shot, they insisted that I go within 24 hours of the chemo. The shot wasn't bad and I didn't get the joint and bone pain until three days later. It was tolerable thanks to my vicodin but it didn't last long.
You'll do fine.
Hugs

[mke]

I had dose dense chemo with neulasta. It is very expensive over $2000 per shot if memory serves (and memory often doesn't these days). I don't think it is standard treatment for the 3 week chemo cycle.

I found it rather hard with fairly severe bone pain for several days after. Later I switched to neupogen which is an older form where you have to have a shot every day. That is cheaper and I found it somewhat easier on me.

[Mary Jo]

Hello,

I, too, did dose dense A/C and Taxol (every other week) and received a Neulasta shot 24 hours after that day's chemo. I never experienced low counts and could always take my chemo on schedule. Also, I stayed healthy throughout. I believe other factors played into that as well, but I believe the Neulasta helped. I did experience shoulder and neck pain from the Neulasta but would still recommend it.

Although, another member of this site (who may post a reply when she sees your post) would recommend Leukine (I think that is the spelling but Becky please correct me if I'm wrong). It works on the same order as Neulasta although better. Becky can further explain.

Good luck to you. God keep you safe and protected throughout chemo.

Mary Jo

[Alice]

Hi,
I only had 1 neulasta shot and I don't recall the side effects. I'm not sure that I could have diferentiated them from the chemo at the time anyway. After that I was on a study for Leukine. Both as I recall are expensive and some insurances don't cover the Leukine. After being done with chemo for 2 years my counts still linger between 1.9 and 3.2. My onc says that the chemo was hard on me and this is where I will probably stay. Fortunately I am more often closer to 3.0 than to 1.9.
Alice

[Becky]

I took Leukine instead of Neulasta but had to go every day for 10 days as Leukine doesn't lasta:)

[dhealey]

I had nuelasta shots when I did A/C treatments. My white count would get as low as .6. I never had any side effects from it, but my counts never really rose until the day before the next chemo ( I was on an every 2 week schdule). My shots cost $6000 per shot and were paid for by my insurance.

[sassy]

I had dose dense A/C and Neulasta. Had some bone pain--mostly in my sternum and upper legs, but it was tolerable. It certainly kept my white counts high.

[Sherryg683]

My white counts got as low as .4 one time on chemo and would usually be around .5 after the second week. My oncologist never gave me a shot for this. He wanted them to increase on their own on the week I was off of Xeloda, which they always did. So no, I never had one. I had the one for red count several times and found they didn't give me any more energy at all, they didn't work too well for me..sherryg

[weezie1053]

I too had the Neulasta following the AC/Cytoxin cocktails. I had some joint pain which I compared to "charley horses," but they were tolerable. I had very low white and red counts so I needed the boost. Only missed one chemo treatment due to illness, so I would say it was worth it.

Louise

[tousled1]

Joan,

When I was on A/C I got the Neulasta shot the day after chemo. I experienced a lot of bone pain as a side effect. I'm now on Taxol, Carboplatin weekly with 3 weeks on 1 week off so I can't get the Neulasta shot. I now do the Neupogen shots. I give myself the injection starting the day after chemo for 3 days. I don't have as much bone pain with the Neupogen as I did with the Neulasta.