Tuesday, November 18, 2008

What Procrit Injections Have Done For Me

I have noticed a great deal of hits on this blog for Procrit Injections....so I thought I would write a post on my personal experience with this drug. Procrit or Arnasep is a man-made drug that comes from human plasma. This is why it can be costly.

Epoetin (eh-POH-ee-tin) is a man-made version of human erythropoietin (EPO). EPO is produced naturally in the body, mostly by the kidneys. It stimulates the bone marrow to produce red blood cells. If the body does not produce enough EPO, severe anemia can occur. This often occurs in people whose kidneys are not working properly. Epoetin is used to treat severe anemia in these people.

I use it for the obvious end stage renal disease I am going through. I know many cancer patients on chemotherapy take it as well. I will list the pros and cons that I personally have come across.

PROS
1) I feel like a new person.
2) Procrit lets me play with my kids.
3) I can hold a normal 40 hour job still that I love.
4) It makes me feel like a super hero at times.
5) ENERGY BOOSTER

*** As you can see all these relate to a better quality of lifestyle.

CONS
1) Procrit is costly. Having good health insurance is essential.
2) It took about 5 injections (5 weeks) before I started feeling great.
3) Procrit stings when entering the body, BUT if you warm it to room temp just before injecting it...it is not bad at all.
4) I vomited twice initially when I got the first few injections, but now I have no problems.
5) It is an injection with a needle just under the skin and I HATE needles. I will say that honestly as scared as I am about needles it really isn't bad. In fact, most of the time I don't even feel the needle going into my lower belly, it is the procrit I feel.

Despite the cons, my overall assumption is that Procrit is my life line and it is an unbelievable drug that has given me my life back. If you are getting ready to start procrit injections educate yourself and take a deep breath. In a few short weeks you will feel much better.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I'm glad your experience is positive but I must say that mine is not. Initially I felt better but it was not doing enough so the doctor increased it to twice monthly. That was about 5 weeks ago. Now my fluid retention has gotten much worse, I have more headaches and the mood swings I am experiencing are through the roof since my last shot on Friday. I am not sure that Procrit causes mood swings but it could be all this fluid retention is messing with my hormone or other body chemestry levels. Whatever the cause, I can't live like this forever. I want off this drug.