neulesta shot is a bummer

debbie6122

Well, my first couple of days were good, and i thought i had it aced, that is untill i got the neulesta shot, all i have done in the last couple of days is cry, this pain is so intolerable, i cant get out of bed, im weak, nauseas, pain in port still hurts, every bone in my body hurts, dh finally went to get the clairitan for me, when he gets back i will take it, hopefully it works, the pain meds do nnont seem to help, i wake up like every 1/2 hour, i know every one is different and some dont get any pain at all to the shot, but i guess it had my name on it, its day 4 since chemo and shot, hope it getts better!

Janet- we were on the same schedule, i was wondering if you were having the same thing going on as me-

good luck to all of you ladies going thru this right now you are all in my prayers

angel hugs debbie

ddlatt

i suffered terribly with pain from neulasta, and my onc prescribed lortab. that was never enough to help. finally i was prescribed oxycodone 5mg. i took 1/2 a pill every six hours the day of neulasta and for three days afterward, and never had any pain whatsoever. if i had had this drug when i first started chemo, my experience would have been so much better.  over time, the claritin did nothing for me and i stopped taking it.

azsunn

I had a horrible time with the Neulasta shot as well.  I used the painpills from my mastectomy to get me through it. I switched to the  neupogen shots for most of them, the last one I had to take neulasta again as I had family in town and couldn't run back and forth for daily shots.

I did find Neupogen easier to tolerate.  I hope you feel better soon. 

Monique

Don't be afraid to take the pain meds if you need them.  I had a hard time with the neulasta shot myself, especially the first one - I remember crying in bed too!  It did get better after a few shots, the paid was much less and I didn't need the meds anymore.  Hopefully yours will get better too.  Also I heard that having the shot in your stomach instead of the arm makes a difference.  I know it sounds bad having a shot in your stomach, but it really wasn't bad.  I had the last three shots in my stomach and that's when the paid got better.  I told the nurse I didn't know if it really worked or if it was just in my head, but who cares as long as I felt better   Good luck. You will get through it.

nelia48

I had such a hard time with the chemo that I really was unaware that it might have been the neulasta shot that put me down.  I wasn't so much in pain as I just felt so weak and like road kill for two weeks.  I hope I never have to go through all that again!

reen

Same here, nelia.  Now that I'm hearing some of these symptoms, it could have been the shot and not all the chemo.  It all sucked either way.  Hope it was all worth it though.

LRM216

Gals - Please, please try the Claritan and an aleve prior to the next Neulasta shot and continue on day 2 and 3. I have had very minor to next to nothing pain from the Neulasta.  If it does not work for you it will not hurt you.  But it has worked marvels for so many of us. 

Linda

tkone

Neulasta is a bummer!  I had such horrible back and bone pain after my first one that I didn't know if I could continue with the remaining rounds of chemo.  I know this is going to sound like hocus pocus, but someone told me to go see an acupuncturist which I NEVER thought would work, but was willing to sell my soul if it would help.

For my remaining rounds of chemo I went to an acupuncturist on the day after my Neulasta shot and I never had the bone/back pain to even close to the same degree again. 

I say find SOMETHING that works for you and stick to it.  If it is pain meds, Tylenol, Claritin, acupuncture or something else, it is worth it to make the whole yucky experience of chemo tolerable.

Good luck finding the magic key for your pain. 

GramE

Maybe I am the exception, but I drove myself to and from the neulasta shot and only took 2 extra strength Tylenol just before I got stabbed.   I would tell your oncologist about the pain, because there is no need to suffer.  Good luck to you all.   

bqswnnhn09

I take 8 Neupogen shots after each treatment. I have DD AC + T. The pain usually starts on day 6 or 7 of shots, and lasted about two days for most of my treatment. But the first Taxol treatment, the pain from Neupogen started on day 3 or 4, and the pain was much worse. It turned out I had much higher WBC counts. My WBC count is usually in the range of 4000-6000 on the treatment day, but this time, it was above 9000. I am just wondering for those of you have bad pain, what was your WBC on day 14 of the treatment. And if you also had blood drawn earlier during the treatment, what are they? I am just curious if the pain has something to do with high WBC counts?

debbie6122

Hi ladies, and thank you for your support and advise, today is day 5 since the neulasta shot and i finally woke up today with out that horrible pain that i was having, i didnt think i would ever feel better again, my first chemo was last tuesday and the neulasta shot was wednesday, so iam not sure about my blood counts as bq09 mentioned, i go for blood counts on tuesday it wil be interresting to find out if that has anything to do with the pain or not, i was running temp, of 99.8 so it could or could not be the case, but when i see the onc i will tell him i dont want the shot in less i really really need it. I did take the claritan yesterday and maybe that is why i dont have the pain today, i will take it every time just to do what ever i have to, to not be in that kind of pain again, i certainly hope that it gets better and not worse, I did have the shot in the stomach, i thought doing it that way was so the shot itself didnt hurt, which it didnt, it wasnt till later that night the pain set in, thanks again- debbie

deb6563

I took the claritin and aleve the day of and 2 days following nulasta and had no pain at all.  Did have the exhaustion, but can handle that better than the pain everyone describes.

debbie6122

Im not so sure what the heck is happeining here to me, yesterday i finally started feeling better than i was, and this morning i woke up just feeling really tired but glad i was not in pain, then i started having pain in a differnt area and even worse than it was a couple days prior, being 7 days post first chemo and neulast shot, it is in lower back radiating on my buttocks, then it started up my chest and neck it felt like  my veins in my neck were going to explode, i told dh i needed to go to the hospital, i took a pain pill and then said i needed to lay down becasue pain was so bad i couldnt even get dressed if i layed flat it helped some, as soon as i sat up or moved it got worse, right now it is a 2 on a scale of 10- but was a 10 a little bit ago, iam really not a big baby or whiner, but i thought the pain i had the other day couldnt be any worse, wrong, this is the worst i ever had in my life, i go for wbc tomorrow, hopefully they will tell me what is going on, but im kind of scared to, because it just seems like this is not normal to have this pain, any one else out there have the same thing? i told dh if this is how its going to be for the next 3 rounds im not going to do it, i feel so bad saying this when all of you have gone thru worse, yet your still here supporting other people and going thru hard treatments, i thought i was going to be one of those who didint have much problems with it. now i dont know what to do, i drink lots of fluids, take claritin, stool softners, doing all the stuff people recommend, what more can i do=debbie

dsub

I too had horrible pain from the neulasta shot. I first started aching in my joints and in my hip. I took my dogs outside and fell straight to the ground from the pain. nothing I took helped. I also took my pain pills from the surgery, two at a time. After every shot the pain was unbearable. My pain started in my hip area and then spread to my chest, spine, then every bone in my body. I was already having problems with chemo and this almost sent me over the edge.

LRM216

Debbie 6112 - call your onc - certainly there is something they can put you on to help you - you should not be feeling that bad - especially if its bad enough to want to quit chemo over!  There must be something he/she can put you on.  Keep us posted.

Hugs,

Linda

Lorena82681

Debbie... yes... I too on my first chemo took neulasta and truly thought I was not going to make it through the pain.  I was scared and also figured if the pain was coming from the chemo and if it didn't subside, I was not going to make it through the next 5 cycles.  Of my 6 cycles, I only tolerated 2 cycles with neulasta, my first and I gave it another try on my 3rd.  Experiencing the same horrible pain, for much longer on the 2nd try, I was upset and told my onc I could not and would not do that again.  I tolerated Neupogen way much better.  So for my 2nd, 5th and 6th cycle I took Neupogen.  I didn't take anything on my 4th.  Like mentioned above, my counts jumped through the roof on that second attempt, my 3rd cycle... I figure that is why my onc opted to not give me anything aside from an antibiotic taken 14 days on that 4th cycle.  When I asked my onc the difference between Neulasta and Neupogen, she said that the Neulasta shot was worthy of 10 shots of Neupogen.  I truly only needed 3 shots of Neupogen to keep my counts normal and obviously Neulasta was too strong pushing me over.  For my last, 6th cycle, I only needed 1 Neupogen shot.  I'm sorry you're feeling that horrible pain for on my 3rd cycle, that 2nd attempt of Neulasta, the pain was worse feeling pressure in my chest and I too cried myself through that pain.  The pain meds prescribed did not manage the pain but instead made me feel strange, out of pocket.  I worked through my chemo, all 6 cycles, so I needed to be alert which the Hydrocon did not allow me to be.  Stay strong and you will make it through your cycles.  You will.

hrf

I give myself the Neulasta shot in my abdomen. The first cycle was that horrible, debilitating pain that many of you are describing. For the 2nd and 3rd rounds I start Claritin the day before chemo. I've had twinges of bone pain (my jaw, my arms, hands, legs, etc) but it's been manageable with Tylenol. I think the Claritin has made a difference for me.

debbie6122

I went to the onc today for my first wbc count, she was surprized it wasnt higher than it was, although it was in the normal range, it was still low for having the N. shot, when i go see the onc dr, i will tell him i will not take that shot anymore, onc nurse today mentioned taking the nutropen instead, and from what all of you mentioned that is probably the best for me. i did end of taking 3 pain pills last night so was able to finally fall asleep. Im so sorry so many of you experined what i did, it also lets me know that it does happen, but i think mostly it dosnt effect some woman that way. Tonight im ok, i feel like im just waiting for it to flair up again, but praying its not, thanks for all your post, i cryed when i read that you all had that same pain, Because of you all makes it a little more easier to get thru this-debbie

lilyj

Well, what is in Claritan?  I also had horrid pain from Neulasta, but after the first couple rounds, a nurse suggested Claritan.  And it did work - I wonder why?  Curious if anyone knows.

 Lilyj

debbie6122

Hi Lilyj- im sorry you had that horrid pain from the N shot too, maybe i took the claritan to late, i didnt start taking it i think, maybe 2 days after it started, and the say to start before you take the shot but it didint really help me at this point so i had to take more pain pills than i wanted to, sorry i dont have an answer to why it works, but it seems to help a lot of woman, i see onc on the 12th and hopfully he will tell me not to take it, but im also wondering when i started getting the pain in the back and heart and neck that was after the bone pain if that was due to the taxotere or cytoxin, any one have that pain that didnt take the N shot??

debbie

anitach

Debbie,

I took chemo weekly for 8 months and only had to have the neulasta shot during one treatment. I can tell you that those were the worst 4 days of my life after I started that shot. I took my kids to the store with me because I thought I was alright and suddenly right in the middle of the store I thought I was going to pass out from the pain. All I could think about was getting back to the car with my kids because I knew it would terrify them if I were to drop right there in the store.

I can't imagine how I would have been to handle taking the shot all through chemo. My thoughts and sympathies are with you right now. I will be praying that you get some relief from this soon!!

Anita

debbie6122

anita- Sorry you had to go thru that pain too, but i cant imagine going thur chemo weekly for 8 months you are diffently a fighter, i only have to do chemo every 21 days 4xs and i thought i had it rough and now i will not complain about my chemo again, maybe i will about the shot lol! but not the chemo anymore, the more woman i talk to say they only had to have the shot when needed, so tomorrwo i will TELL the onc that i only wnat it if needed, thanks for your support.

angel hugs debbie

RajinCajin

Hey All,

I will have my first Chemo treatment this coming Thursday.  After reading this, though, I am incredibly afraid of the Neulasta shot.  I know that each person experiences things differently, but it seems as if this is more the norm than the exception. 

Please tell me, you say Claritan.  Are you seriously talking about the Allergy med Claritan? 

I will have to have chemo every two weeks over the next 16 weeks.  I don't know for sure if it will be the same drug cocktail the entire time or not, but I do know that the intention is to have the Neulasta shot the day after chemo. 

So, do you take the Claritan the day of the shot or the day of chemo?  Do the doctors "prescribe" this as part of the pain management regimen?

LRM216

RajinCajin:  Take the Claritan (not Claritan -D) before the chemo - I took an aleve with it also.  Then take it the second and the third day after chemo day 1.  I took it through all my 4 A/C's and I did have discomfort for two/three days, but not real bad.  For some reason, after my last A/C I was immobilized with pain.  So bad it had me crying - especially in my left hip, it felt as though someone shot me and the bullet was still in there!  Onc said this wasn't unusual and gave me some hydrocodone, which really did not help at all.  I existed with it for a good 5 days before it started to ease, it is gone now.  I hope to never have another Neulasta shot in my lifetime after that pain!  Good luck to you as the Claritan does seem to help a lot of us.

Linda

QueenK

Claritan is an anti-histimine.It does not have any magical painkilling abilities nor anti inflammatory properties.I am baffled as to why that would help even a little bit?

LRM216

QueenK - absolutely no idea whatsoever; however, it appears to help many and has been a "tip" given to newbies for quite a while.  While my first three Neulasta's weren't "ugly" but merely "uncomfortable," I have no way of proving it was due to the Claritan.  My fourth Neulasta was an absolute disgusting killer and yet I took the same Claritan and Aleve for it in the same manner as the first three - so who knows?  I have no positive proof and hope never to have to put it to the test again!

Linda

jill323

Queen K -

This is one time that I had to put my scientific brain on hold and trust the experience of the ladies here as I was somewhat desperate at the time.  I also found the Claritin/Aleve regimen to really help counter the pain/achy effects from the Neulasta.  I still had some, but it diminished vs. when I did not use the regimen.

Perhaps it was psychological.  But, the only thing I could even wrap my mind around to be a potential reason it worked was that as Neulasta increases white cell counts, it can "mimic" cold/flu/allergy type reactions in the body (i.e. white cell counts increase when the body is under attack).   A common body defense is histimine reactions.   Claritin blocks histimine reaction - although typically due to histimine reactions brought on by allergy.   Typically histimine reactions don't cause "pain" per se... but, who knows what may be happening on a cellular level.   

I did ask my doc about it, and she could not explain it either.   Just said "if it works, then go for it" and added "it would not hurt anything".     

So.. I guess sometimes kitchen logic is ahead of medical science. I found myself as curious and baffled as you appear to be on this question as well.   But, in the end, I did find it worked for me and was grateful for it. 

GramE

It appears I was the exception to Neulasta pain.   Just before I got the shot, I took 2 extra strength Tylenol and then drove myself back home.  However, it seems that most get lots of pain and Claritin works.   One thing I did very "religiously" after the chemo infusion - for at least 3 days after - was drink LOTS of water and/or juice or ginger ale to flush it thru my system.   Every hour I was awake I tried to drink one glass full.  Even kept a glass in the bathroom to replenish what came out.  

brewer2

I also asked why the claratin worked and my onc had no answer.  BUt it really seemed to help.  I got the supermarket version of the extended relief. Forgot to take it one day and I could really tell the differnence.  Since people take it every day of their life, I took it one day before the shot and the whole week after.

QueenK

I do know, I am not sure about the US but in canada claritan is expensive.I wonder if the generic would work as well? Interesting though for sure.I will make sure to pass it on .

Dawnmrn1

Hi All!  I don't mean to be a downer, but I take allegra daily for allergies and had neulasta after my  last 3 chemos, with no SE!!!! I took no pain meds and had no bone pain or joint pain!  I just wanted to add this so some of the newbies wouldn't be afraid! I felt better after the neulasta because my blood counts increased faster, just some positive input!  Good luck to all!  Dawn