Side Effect of Neulasta

While I never look forward to my chemotherapy treatments, I'm especially loath to go to the one that's coming up. The day after my last treatment, I had to have a shot of Neulasta to boost my white blood cell count. Fortunately, my treatment nurse told me about Claritin. Naturally, I Gogled it and looked at what other people who have used Claritin to cope with the side effect Neulasta had to say about how well it works.

My heart sank when I read about the excruciating pain people suffered because of Neulasta; however, I was encouraged when I read that some people went as long as four days without any pain at all, thanks to taking Claritin. So, I went out and bought a box of Claritin and took it one hour before my shot of Neulasta as my treatment nurse had instructed. It kept the bone pain at bay for two days.

After two days of nothing more than the needling pains associated with my chemotherapy drugs, I started to get extreme pain in my shins, knees and ankles. On a scale of 1-10, the pain ranked a 9. I tried to endure without taking anything but finally gave up and started taking Percoset left over from when I had my hysterectomy. It worked a treat but I only had a few doses left. I called the hospital and one of the doctors recommended using a high dose of ibuprofen. It didn't work at all. The pain didn't abate one iota. So, I called back and requested a new prescription for Percoset, which I received.

When I go in for my next treatment, I will go with the knowledge that I will have something to help me combat the pain caused by the Neulasta. Small victories can mean so much in epic battles.

Second Treatment

It's the day before my second chemotherapy treatment. To say that I dread going would not be an understatement. The one side effect that I had really hoped not to get showed up about ten days after my first treatment.

As a writer, having tingling in my fingers is an unpleasant experience to say the least. I have the same tingling in my feet, which could cause serious navigation problems should it get worse. If the tingling in my fingers gets worse, it could hinder my ability to write. The up side is that if the tingling gets so bad that it hinders my ability to perform normal, every day tasks, then I will be taken off the Taxol and given Taxotere -- a drug I'm already familiar with from when I had breast cancer -- instead.

No one can say that battling cancer isn't adventurous. The trouble with ovarian cancer is that it has a high incidence of recurrence. I'm hoping to get more than two years of cancer free life. If I'm truly blessed, it will never come back.