Granocyte injectionss side effects

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1

Hi already posted on her as had reaction to neupogen injections which I am given after fec chemo to help with keep blood count high .
They have since tryed me on Granocyte second chemo treatment and i start injections second evening in which was Sat night now early hours Tuesday morning and have same very heavy muscle pains as before in lower back and ribs ect …
Did tell onc ( never meet him before only second time on unit and not seen my onc since )that they made me feel that ill I was admitted as day case and monitiored when bloods came back I was 18 … have been told blood count on healthy person should be around 3 so if thats correct (not sure ) I had od ed on the injections …
He told me again this time , to not take them far out wayed the riskes of taking them even though I stuggle to get my young children out of bed and ready fro school ( luckly a neibour walks them for me this is something I cant do Im sure due to injections ///
As soon as I stopped them last time all my energy came back ect he did try to tell me the side effects were all part of chemo but listening to my body I became worse once they have kicked in and ealry evening just before I taken injection I have loads more energy then during night find it hard to just get to bathroom…
Any one got and suggestions or ideals

Thankyou Lisa x3.30 am lol

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Hi Lisa

I have been on granocyte with chemo taxotere. IT really has mucked my sleeping up, i am wide awake now sitting at computer. I finished the injections on Sunday night and already feel around 75 pct better than i did then. i also got the lower back pain, that was quite frightening. My energy levels until now were shot to pieces and it was difficult in the last few days to get off the sofa.

I think the oncs err on side of caution as i have already been hospitalised with low neutrophils when i got a cold.
Although i hate the side effects, i think that i am just going to put up with them. At least on next cycle i will be prepared mentally for what is happening. There is apparently one of these immune stimulants that is only one injection and it might be worth asking for that. I saw it on another thread here.

Dont know if that is any help to you but at least you know you are not alone.

All the best
Linda

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Thanks Linda yes that does really help im sitting here while my mom fetches children from school no chance of even walking out of the door,
I did ask about the single injection you mentioned but at the hospital I use they are not registered to use it ( prob to expencive )I have 3 fec then the one begigning with t ??? I was hoping on them i would not have to use injections as i didnt think they effected your blood count as much …What cycle are you on Linda and how many days do your injections last ??
Im going for a blood test 2 morro and if its high enough im hoping ill be able to stop them early …
Lisa

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Hi Lisa

I have had 3 FEC and 1 taxotere. They didnt give me the injections until i started taxotere and i had to have them for five nights running. I had low neutrophils with FEC including one infection but they picked up enough before Chemo. I think taxotere is supposed to be harder on the immune system and that coupled with the fec already having kicked the ^&&^^ out of me, i suppose they figured i needed some help.

With all the news of this swine flu - these things have never worried me before, but suddenly i know i am one of the people who really do need to consider it. I also think you are probably right about the cost thing with this one injection. I will try asking for it myself and see.

I am over half way through now 2 taxotere to go and then onto rads.
It is of some comfort. Might be taxotere yu will be on too?

All the best
Linda

5

Hi ladies - I also have the bone marrow boosting juice, but I inject around 8 in the morning and apart from aching knees with the first lot, the second batch has been fine. Maybe you could try changing the injecting time?

I am having the TAC chemo-combo which I am led to believe is one of the harsher cocktatils and strangely my blood count was higher just before chemo no2 than it was without the jabs prior to my first ever chemo! So it must have done me some good!

My chemo nurse said it didn’t matter when I injected as long as all five were given at around the same time daily. Even the 8 steroids a day hasn’t keep me awake! I have 4 in the morning and the other 4 about 7pm. (thats for 3 days only)

Wishing everyone well.

Daisy x

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Hi Daisy,

Thanks and next time i will try it in morning and see if it suits me better. My neutrophils were good before last chemo too but i think
that was antibiotics they gave me for infection that pushed them up then. Hopefully this stuff will keep my defences up.

My body is becoming absolute toilet with all these different chemicals sloshing around. Shame they dont melt fat…

I have to have 8 steroids too at beginning for 3 days and i think they have the least side effects of lot apart from actually giving me a bit of energy.

cu soon
Linda

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Hi Linda - lets hope the time change works, fingers crossed for you.

I know what you mean about the amount of drugs you have/end up taking, my medicine cabinet is like Boots.

Keep me updated as to how things go!

Daisy xx

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Hi. Hope all having good day. Is there anyone out there going for chemo at Burton tomorrow. If so, would love to meet up.
I have found that my way of coping with chemo and feeling down or tired is gardening - noooo not the heavy stuff, but I have started loads of my own seeds. When I am down I can look at the trays and see all of the new shoots and little leaves and think ‘life is moving on, everyday is a new day, every little seedling is a new plant that will give me pretty flowers’. By the time my chemo is over I will have planted my new plants, watched them grow and flower and when they have died off I will be well on the road to recovery and I will be able to ‘bloom’ once more.
Silly old fool… but it helps me!!!
Love to all
Pauline (mommyw)

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Hi Daisy and Pauline

Sorry Pauline but i have my chemical cocktails in Barts London.
And i had my ‘taxotere twister’ last tuesday. Good luck for you
tomorrow. i am just starting to get back up from my last one.

I keep thinking i too should get in garden, i am very good at watching OH doing it. my excuse, i hate wasps. I have been keeping fit by taking dog for regular long walks and going to the gym. However this last week i have been doing the ‘remote’ aerobics only.
I walked the dog today and dont feel too bad so tomorrow maybe
i shall stroll down to gym and pound the crosstrainer.

Anyway hope it goes in first time Pauline.

all the best
linda

10

Hi Ladies just reading what your all up to makes me feel so much better , hope you have a mo im just so down again…
went for blood count and its 38 I was told normally its around 3 -4 is that right no one has ever told me .Thats what making me so angry or is it these injections its so not like me I could fall out with myself …
Because its so high they say I can stop taking them …Im so glad not even sure if I could get out of bed for children this morning and husband had to be at work really early ( thats the worst not knowing how you are going to wake up when you have the chidren to care for …
Sorry just so emotional today …

Im anoyed with the fact I asked to go back today to get bloods checked if not id be injectin again tonight and im sure be in even more pain …
They said I can stop them again as its so high the thing is for me Ive never known if I have been low all along they said I need them but they have never told me I have a low count I dont even know what it has been before each chemo session …
just that a few days after taking them it rockets to 18 one week and 38 the next session …
I do understand what you mean with all the flu out break ect and if I have to put up with it I will …Its just if it was the chemo that was making me feel so crap id understand but its these injections im havin and im not sure why …
Before this i have never really suffered with infections ect…
Any way ladies I feel so much better and its given my husband 10 mins with out being nagged …he even brought me flowers home toninght …kids are keepin out of way aswell …

Love the gardening story I think thats a really good idea …
Thanks again Ladies
Lisa xxx

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Evening - I have no idea what your bloods should be I have never thought to ask. I just keep stabbing my fat with the bone marrow juice until they say otherwise.

I have been very, very lucky so far on chemo and have had more or less an uneventful time. No sickness or anything. Although, I could belch the national anthem if I tried hard enough!

As for my hair, that all went, and now I have head stubble and I need to shave my legs - whats going on there???

Chemo no3 next Friday and I am seeing The Specials the night before, so I will not bother with a wig or headscarf as the skinhead look will be just perfect! ha ha

Take care …night…

Daisy x

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Daisy you sound like a really fun lady to me and its good to know that these side effects dont hit everyone ,
Yes I never even knew about blood counts ect before all this …
Hair ye relate to you there as well hardly any on top but arm pitts and legs still need attention …
Hope to keep eyebrows im really dark and have full eyebrows so keeping fingers crossed …
Sitting on her putting of going to bed and still have aches and pains but no injection to night thanks goodness …
Speak soon …
Lisa x

13

Hi Girls

Isnt it annoying about the hair? my legs are actually ok, havent had to do anything with them for ages. But when knowing you are going to lose hair there are some areas you are quite happy to go and mine havent, well not entirely… My head looks like the dolls head out of toy story, underarms/you know where have just thinned. Eyebrows/lashes same. I was a bit of a hairy person so at least thats not true anymore.

Lisa, My bloods get tested before chemo - should be be thurs for tues
chemo. However if i get tested thurs they are low so i been going to hosp on monday to get them tested when they have picked right up.
My children at probably a bit older than yours 12 and 11 so a bit easier for me although for past few days frantically ironing shirts and trousers in morning because i am too shattered to actually tackle my ironing pile. It really is high!!! I might look at it today… House looks like a pigsty but i am now try to take the attitude ‘so what’ This chemo has been hardest on me fatigue wise.

Daisy - love it - i remember the specials i bet they will be brilliant. I think i would be tempted to go nudehead too.

Just listening to news about swine flu - i wonder if we will get the tami flu as matter of course. Another chemical to add to the mix.

Good luck today Pauline

see u later
Linda

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Evening ladies

Saw my Onc today to get CT scan results, all clear…phew! He remarked on how well I look! I feel a bit of a fraud really.

I can’t wait to see The Specials, and at the end of the month I am seeing Morrissey on the Thurs, chemo Friday. I was going to see Depeche Mode the day after, but I have to accept that I am not superhuman, so have put the tickets on Ebay. I am seeing them again in Dec, just hope by then I have a few hormones left for me to lust after the lead singer still! Maybe I will throw my wig on stage rather than my drawers! That will get his attention!

My whole attitude to the ‘breast beastie’ has been fairly chilled, sod all I can do about it, let the experts get on with it. I take the pills and poison and move on. I am lucky to have a brilliant hubby & kids and my mates are great, lots of love & hugs and pee taking, just what I need. On my 40th birthday in Aug I have rads, they have something planned, but won’t say what!

Off to watch darts, yes, I know people think I am sad, but it helps with my adding up! ha ha…CSE grade 5 hasn’t helped me at all in adding up/subtracting scores!

Bye bye…Daisy xxx

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Hi Daisy et al

Was that the beginning CT scan? I remember when i got results of that and bone scan. I think that was the scariest time of all for me. Great excuse to celebrate!!!

I agree about just taking the pills and potions. Trouble is with me is cant help reading everything, this site and the American equivalent. (Great thread on there about flaxseeds and cottage cheese!!! - mmmmmm) More than anything i just want to get this over and done with and I now have two Tax and then rads to go. I plan to be back at work by September (I am a primary school teacher).

For last couple of days whilst i have been in grips of chemo fatigue
(Or my excuse for sitting around doing diddly squit - LOL) I have been planning a holiday with OH and kids for summer. Because of the high insurance aspect of this illness, I am looking at UK hol this year. I am rather taken with Isle of Wight as i have never been there. I want to book it but holding back a bit but it will give me something to focus on. My hair might have grown back a bit by then although I must admit i care a lot less about that than i thought i would. Hole on chest bothers me more but only because it is so difficult to cover up properly. Whatever i wear shows a dent and as for mastectomy bras well dont get me started. There must have been a man involved in designing them!!!

Oh well enough rambling, I really do feel ok today and i am surveying wreck that is my house. Shall i surprise my family when they come home tonight to a shiny clean house? Maybe…

All the best
Linda

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Hi Linda & Linda (and anyone I’ve missed out!)

The CT Scan was done three weeks ago, it’s the first one I have had, and hopefully the last! I haven’t read up on anything, only the literature the clinic gave me. I don’t want to know! Too much info can send you mad. Plus anything I NEED to know my Professors tell me. Ignorance is bliss…

I nipped into work today and saw my pupils, most of them didn’t even realise I had a wig on. Those that did wanted to stroke it,. I told them ‘it’s a bleeding wig not a hamster…sod off!’.

I run an alternative education progamme for Y10/11 (14-16) for those in danger of being expelled, are disruptive or too weak to do all their GCSE’s. I get them into college, work and schemes. They are major pains at school but for me they are just great. They have raised £250+ for me by doing a sponsored skating session. They are not bad to the core, just not into what school offers, but they do make the police earn their salaries! Arson, assault, burglary, criminal damage etc…

Thankfully they have managed to keep the promise they made to me when I went off sick, NOT to let me down and to work hard, so far, so good, with just one expelled from college!

I am off out tonight with my mates, Going for a meal, and then maybe onto a club (is that the current name for a disco???) ha ha

I wonder if I get hot and sweaty and need to mop my bonce, If I take my wig off, would I clear a way to the bar???

Enjoy the weekend ladies and I hope you feel ok. My next chemo is Friday, so I am making the most of this week.

Love…Daisy xxx

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Great to read what your all up too .

I also got an all clear this week on bone scan and ct scan …so we will have to drink to each othere ,

Just woundered if it was just me that was being a right pain and speaking to those closest to me like something ive found on the bottom of my shoe…
I hate my self for it but i cant seem to stop it I was the same last time on my fist chemo …is it me or am I not alone …

Id love to be a able to my family that the normal Lisa will be back soon , it may be the fact ive not got the energy to get out side the front door fatigue hit me hard this time …
Cant wait till im up to clubin lol …
Enjoy the bank holiday ladies and pls let me know if its only me thats turning into jettle and hide !!!

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Greetings

Gave the club/disco a miss last night, by the time I got to my friends, thanks to a mahoosive traffic jam, I wasn’t in the mood. I have however, discovered just how delicious Pimms is! Forget wine, which now tastes foul, Pimms it is! If the weather is good tomorrow, I shall be enjoying a jug in the garden. Had a spot of retail therapy today, then lunch out, it makes such a difference to being stuck indoors.

Lisa - you will get back to the old you soon, it’s hard to be ‘normal’ when life is anything but normal! I have tried so hard to be the old me, and thankfully it has been made easier by the fact the treatment hasn’t been unkind. I’ve never had to stay in bed or not do anything I would normally do, I just do it at snails pace!

Do you have a friend you could stay the night with, grab a bottle of plonk and a take away? My hubby/son have gone to watch football today and I think he needs a break away from me, just to be his normal self, and not be worrying about me. Does him the world of good.

Luckily my children are quite old 18 & 15 so I don’t have to do very much for them, it must be so hard if you have little people to deal with.

I haven’t dealt a tongue lashing to anyone, friend or foe! We are treating the whole cancer thing as being a pain and bloody inconvenient, rather than doom & gloom, no point in that. I think hubby is great, he thinks the same of me, and we are like a pair of loved up teenagers. It’s made us closer without a doubt. I even kid with him that as I am not going to snuff it some time soon, he better cancel the mail order bride he’s had his eye on and to stop spending the life insurance he isn’t going to get!

Once you start feeling better, you will start feeling happier, then everything will better, hang on in there.

Love Agony Aunt Daisy xxxx

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Dasiy thanks so much youve made me smile today …

I am starting to feel a bit better just over a week from chemo so it should help the mood swings ,
about the take away …not sure if its my unit but they but the fear in me over food hygine and take aways while on chemo …is it ok then am I been over paranoide Id love a take away and couple of glasses of wine but not had either since chemo not sure why just tuck it that I should be drinking while on all these drugs …
When we first found out me and my hubby started holding hands and and cuddling on sofa again ( pass me the bucket lol ) but since ive started treatment and been so positive about it , it seems to have stopped , Ill have to have a word now im not likley to bit his head off a same time …
Have a good week end snail pace sound good to me …
your hubby sound like good fun enjoy !!!
Lisa xxx

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Hi Daisy and Lisa

Daisy you did give me a good laugh!!! Lisa, I have had a few takeaways since dx and not one bad one. I actually think you would be
very unlucky to have a bad one. The chemo has made me go off alchohol and i was partial to a cold lager or white wine. I havent really fancied one for ages. I was thinking earlier, chemo is bit like a pregnancy(albiet a hard one!!), go off loads of things, heartburn, tiredness and various other minor ailments oh and possibly put on weight. Suppose time frame similar as well in that the main assault on body should be over in around nine months.

Hubby, kids and me have not changed one bit since this started and in fact apart from the fact i am not working, life surprisingly normal in our household. I am treated exactly the same. I do try the poor little me routine sometimes but feel guilty for it and it doesnt always get the desired effect anyway.

I dont know how long i have to have rads for but by my reckoning, the end of this confinement is due in July… So cant wait!!!

All the best
Linda