Procrit Injection. How often & what dosage? At home?

[Rognoni]

Lack of energy, feeling very tired. Procrit helps for a short period of time. My doctor insists that I should go to him once a month for the injection but if my hemoglobin level is higher than 10 he won't do it. He wants to do blood work every month. He gave prescription to do it myself, insurance denied covering the cost unless the doctor appeals that decision. It appears that he doesn't want to fill put the appeal form. Any suggestions? Thank you.

[orangecity41 NKF Ambassador]

I am on Medicare and have similar issues on getting approval for Procrit. My HCT must be 36.

[Herkidney]

I used Procrit for approximately a year before my transplant. I think the change in the frequency of the injections depended on my lab numbers. I do remember having to do labs on a monthly basis. Best wishes!

[BMC46]

My wife had Procrit and had it done at clinic at Hosp. Yes they need to check HGB prior to but it’s a finger stick.

[Darlenia]

There are apparently a lot of side effects with this form of therapy as it can produce blood clots, high blood pressure, etc. My husband wasn't given Procrit, probably due to his cardiac profile, but was directly infused with iron as soon as he was put on hemodialysis. Iron infusions improved matters quickly.

[steve680]

Once you're on dialysis, this gets taken care of automatically as part of dialysis. If you're not yet on dialysis, it's a little bit harder to get them due to the health insurance companies. For instance, I had to get several iron infusions before the health insurance would pay for injections. These injections are very expensive.