Procrit?

[YorkieMom1]

Is anyone taking Procrit. If so, is it helping after 12 weeks?

Thank you

[Herkidney]

I used to take Procrit (pre-transplant) and I did feel that I had more energy afterwards. Also, my lab results showed an increase in red blood cells. Best of luck!

[WYOAnne NKF Ambassador]

Pre-transplant I also took Procrit. I started out once a week, but needed to take several times a week. It did give me more energy and did help with my blood count when doctor ran my labs. Talk with your doctor if you feel it is not helping. You may need to use more often, like I did to get the full benefit from it.

Good luck!

[JimVanHorn]

I am in stage 4 and I get 20,000 units of Procrit every 3 weeks. Without it my hemoglobin goes down to 9.6 , and with it I am at 10.6 . You probably know this, but I am telling others on the site what Procrit does. A healthy kidney gives off a hormone called erythropoetin when there are not enough red blood cells in the blood stream. When this hormone reaches bone marrow it triggers RBC's to mature and be released into the blood stream. An unhealthy kidney may not release this hormone and a synthetic hormone (Procrit) can be injected to bring the RBC's above 10, but under 13.6 . It has been observed that if Procrit raises the RBC's above 13.6 strokes may occur. In order for Procrit to work properly the patient must have enough iron stores, so it is common to give 4 or 5 iron infusions I.V. to build up the Iron. Notice that taking iron tablets can not increase the iron storage enough for Procrit. For some people Procrit may be stopped after a short term, and in others they need injections about every 3 weeks or so. Many physicians and oncologists forget about Procrit and diagnose the problem as "anemia" and give Vitamin B 12 which does not help unless you also have a Vitamin B 12 deficiency. Thanks for the question.

[YorkieMom1 in reply to JimVanHorn]

Thank you for that educated & informative info! I have so often found this difficult to explain. One clarification. Did you mean RBC’s or HGB on your 10 & 13 range reference.?

[JimVanHorn]

I really meant hemoglobin level, thanks for catching that.