Neulasta - Any advice or tips?

@breg @carolcowan - Thank you both, he tried the Neupogen last time around & only needed 3 injections. He said it "was ALMOST as bad as Neulasta, but a little better". He still had the major fatigue for about a day and a half, but the other side effects weren't as bad.
We have never heard of Granix, and will ask the doctor about that option as well. Maybe he would tolerate that better.
Since insurance has been mentioned, we have BCBS as well - they covered both the Neulasta and Neupogen without hassle.

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I had severe bone pain after nulasta. Claritin did nothing for me. When I found out I would be needing nulasta after every second dose of chemo I told my oncologist he had to give me pain meds if I was going to get through this. He did prescribe oxycodone and a fentanyl pain patch which worked great.

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He's been on the Fentanyl 12.5 since the original injection. The fentanyl is the minimum 12.5, still trying to get insurance to cover it "all over again", but Blue Cross is still fighting, even though it's the minimum dosage prescribed. That's a whole different forum... I will try to get him to take the Oxy again, he said the first couple times "Oxy doesn't help the inflammation pain". So instead, I gave him Ibuprofen since it's an anti-inflammatory. He did say the Ibuprofen was BETTER than any of his Rx's for the inflammation. Were you able to work through this @suexhens, it knocks him flat off his feet, literally. Nothing is more enjoyable than explaining to an insurance company why these meds are critical...he was recently denied on his Refill of Creon, obviously the insurance companies have no comprehension of what Pancreatic Cancer does.

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What is their reason for not covering these meds that are so critical, this is just plain evil, My husband’s Blue Cross/Blue Shield is paying for Creon and Fetanyl for his PC. We just have to deal with the Medical care in Southern Oregon which is sub-standard.

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Apparently the insurance cos and govt know more about the practice of medicine than than the doctors - this is the era we live in

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Do peoples pain from the neulasta injection get better or worse with each injection? In other words is it the worst the first injection and then you develop some tolerance?

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very different than my experience. I had Neulasta after each of my five doses of chemo and never had a single side effect. At least not one I noticed. I was treated for AML leukemia; induction plus four rounds of Cyterabine. (sp?)

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