What is the Drug Neulasta? What Does it Do? Will it Make My Hair Fall Out?
Some of you “tweeters” out there have had questions about the drug neulasta—mainly, what does it do, and what side effects can it create?
We love answering your questions, so keep them coming! As to this one, here’s some info for you.
When you’re going through chemotherapy, your white-blood-cell count can take a nosedive, which can make you more vulnerable to infection. Neulasta is one of the most common drugs used to support the immune system by boosting the production of white-blood cells.
It’s actually a synthetic form of a hormone your body normally makes anyway to stimulate bone-marrow production of neutrophils. Neulasta is usually administered about 24 hours after your chemo treatment, with a needle inserted just under the skin in the upper arm, abdomen, middle thigh, or buttocks. Usually, you’ll receive it once every 2-3-week chemo cycle.
As to side effects, bone pain was cited most often in studies, usually described as mild to moderate, or flu-like. Over-the-counter pain relievers should help. Headaches and joint pain also occurred in about 15% of the participants studied, as well as vomiting and constipation in around 10%. Rare side effects include enlarged or ruptured spleen and difficulty breathing, which indicates an allergy. (If you have trouble breathing, suffer hives, or have unusual pain in the upper left stomach area or left shoulder tip, see your doctor immediately).
Some people have asked about hair loss, but so far, it hasn’t been associated with neulasta. Most likely, any hair loss that occurs is the result of the chemotherapy itself.
Things to be careful of—just because neulasta protects against infection doesn’t mean you can immerse yourself in a pool of germs at the mall, airport, or big party. The drug isn’t foolproof against all infections, so continue to safeguard yourself with frequent hand washing, clean linens, and immune-boosting supplements like vitamin C and zinc. (Read our post about avoiding infection.)
Other tips from fighters: stay “ahead of the pain” by taking Tylenol or Ibuprofen before and during your neulasta treatment, and hang in there—the drug does keep white blood cell counts up, which means you can finish your treatment. “The good news,” says fighter Judie, “…is that we don’t have to miss any of our treatments b’cause our counts are where they should be.”
Have you taken neulasta? What was your experience?
Photo courtesy of caboosezine via Flickr.com.
This drug is a $6500 injection. Though my insurance paid a good portion of it, I was still left with a $450 copy every two weeks. It just about wiped me out. Then I discovered that the drug company that produces it (Amgen) has a copayment assistance program called Neulasta First Step. If you qualify, they’ll cover your entire copay. If you have a hefty copayment with this drug, you may want to look into it.