Hepatitis C Support Group

Looks like I'm going to start the aranesp too. I didn't realize it's every other week. I'm short of breath a lot. Now I know what it's like to feel really old! LOL Anyway good luck w/this..did you take it yet??

Hey Kat,

My insurance company just approved the Aranesp this morning. Walgreen's has to order it and it should be in by 4:00 p.m. tomorrow. I have to do my Peg shot tonight so I'm going to do my first Aranesp on Thursday.

I kind of miss breathing too LOL.

Let me know how you do on it. I feel like we are trend setters doing Aranesp instead of Procrit.

Mouse

Kat,

How are you doing with the Aranesp? It's doing great for me. I was able to breath about 4 days after I took it. I did start struggling again a few days ago but I did shot 2 tonight so I hope to be feeling better in a few days.

The Aranesp brought my hgb up to 11.0 and my PCP wants me to keep using it and try to maintain my hgb between 11.0 and 12.0.

Mouse

Hey Missy, so nice to hear from you.
I found this here at DS, just pressed on the name and voila!
It pretty much covers it all.
I had never heard of it since now.
Check it out!

Aranesp also known as,
Darbepoetin alfa causes the bone marrow to produce red blood cells. If the body does not produce enough red blood cells, severe anemia can occur. This often occurs in people with chronic kidney failure whose kidneys a... continue

What you should know before using
In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For this medicine, the following should be considered:

Allergies
Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to this medicine or any other medicines. Also tell your health care professional if you have any other types of allergies, such as to foods, dyes, preservatives, or animals. For non-prescription products, read the label or package ingredients carefully.

Pediatrics
Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated pediatrics-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of darbepoetin alfa in children with chronic kidney failure who are over 1 year of age. Safety and efficacy have not been established in children with chronic kidney failure who are less than 1 year of age.

No information is available on the relationship of age to the effects of darbepoetin alfa in children with cancer. Safety and efficacy have not been established.

Geriatric
Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated geriatrics-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of darbepoetin alfa in the elderly.

Pregnancy Category Explanation
All Trimesters C Animal studies have shown an adverse effect and there are no adequate studies in pregnant women OR no animal studies have been conducted and there are no adequate studies in pregnant women.

Breast Feeding
There are no adequate studies in women for determining infant risk when using this medication during breastfeeding. Weigh the potential benefits against the potential risks before taking this medication while breastfeeding.

Drug Interactions
Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is usually not recommended, but may be required in some cases. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines.

Thalidomide
Other Interactions
Certain medicines should not be used at or around the time of eating food or eating certain types of food since interactions may occur. Using alcohol or tobacco with certain medicines may also cause interactions to occur. Discuss with your healthcare professional the use of your medicine with food, alcohol, or tobacco.

Other Medical Problems
The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of this medicine. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:

Aluminum poisoning, severe or
Bleeding, severe or
Bone fibrosis (osteofibrosis cystica) or
Bone marrow fibrosis or
Folic acid deficiency or
Infections or
Iron deficiency or
Vitamin B-12 deficiency—May cause a delay in response to treatment.
Blood problems (e.g., hemolytic anemia, sickle cell anemia) or
Pure red cell aplasia (rare bone marrow disease)—Should not use in patients with these conditions.
Blood vessel disease or
Heart disease or
High blood pressure—May become worse with this medicine.

Missy - how low is your hgb? I have symptoms (tired, short of breath, weakness) but my hgb stays around 10 and my MD says insurance won't pay for procrit or aranesp. I could get through this a whole lot easier if I could function a little better. Thanks, Peggy

Peggy,

If I were you I would ask your doctor to try. My insurance company approved it when I dropped to 10.5. My doctor says he bases his decision to prescribe it on how symptomatic his patients are and not how low the hgb goes.

I did have to wait a week to get through all the red tape with the insurance company but I did get it. By that time my hgb had dropped to 9.

The last time I did treatment my hgb dropped down to 10 and stayed there the whole time. I was not nearly as symptomatic the last time as I am this time. I'm wondering if it's because my Hematocrit dropped this time too (along with everything else).

But seriously, I'd ask your doctor to give you the prescription for it and let you try and and battle with the insurance company. My insurance company did want a form filled out by my doctor and that accounted for 3 days of the hold up getting the med.

Mouse/Missy
P.S. My doctor jokingly told me that my between the Interferon ($3,100 a month) the Humira ($1,700 a month), Ribavirin ($1,100 a month) and now the Aranesp ($3,800 a month) that my insurance company was going to send a mafia hitman after me. LOL