Questions about aranesp

[paul.karen]

So my neph has been going back and forth with my insurance company to get me aranesp shots.  They have been approved.
I did a few searches on this medicine here at IHD and i came across MANY MANY warnings ..

Black box warnings, warnings for people with cardiovascular problems ect ect.

I know or think that this drug raises hemoglobin levels.
But i think i read that it also gives you energy is this true?

I am now worried about taking it.  I could use the energy but i dont want a stroke or heartattack......

[jbeany]

Aranesp is artificial epo - the hormone that makes your bone marrow make red blood cells.  Healthy kidneys make enough of it, but kidney patients often need it.  It treats the anemia that most of us get on dialysis.  It has stroke warnings because it can cause your blood cell count to increase drastically if it is not carefully monitored, and your hemoglobin gets to high.  In a dialysis patient, that is unlikely to happen, since the dialysis unit will measure your hemoglobin every week, and will not give you the medicine if your hemoglobin is high enough.  The medicare system will not pay for it at all if your hemoglobin is over 12.

It will give you energy, very much so.  Before I started it, my hemoglobin was running at 6 or 7.  With it, I stay between 10 and 12.  At 6 or 7, I can't walk up a flight of stairs without gasping for air.  With it, I can run on my treadmill on a daily basis.  It works in tandem with the iron in your system, so they will need to keep track of your ferritin levels as well, and give you iron at times.

[paul.karen]

:-)
 

[RightSide]

Aranesp is NOT any kind of stimulant.  It just makes your bone marrow create more red blood cells, thus raising your blood hemoglobin level.  A higher red blood count gives you more stamina--you'll be able to work harder without getting tired.

For that reason, it's been allegedly used by Olympic athletes to raise their blood count to give them more stamina.  And when the Olympic Committee found out, those athletes were disqualified.

It's the alleged use of Aranesp as blood doping by athletes that may have created this misperception that it's a stimulant.

Now it's important that your blood count not go TOO high, because that can indeed cause cardiovascular problems.  But your physicians and nurses will be monitoring your blood count periodically to see that doesn't happen.

[paris]

I like arenesp. I didn't have to get a shot as frequently as epogen. It is extremely expensive and if epo works, the insurance company wants to approve that instead.  The actual shot hurts a little more - you (or I) can feel it sting as it goes into your system.  The new levels of acceptance is now more like between 11 and 12.  When I was first diagnosed, they kept my levels at over 13. Now we know that it can cause problems when it is kept too high.   Good luck!

[paul.karen]

Thank you rightside.
The energy is what i am lacking so if the red blood cells make me more productive that is a good thing.  My days of self stimulating are in my past if you get my drift.

And thank you as well paris.  I will be keeping track of my numbers along with my neph and his crew.  My numbers went from 12.7 to 10.3 in a three month span....
And my stress test says i have inferoapical ischemia.  So before my first shot i want to speak with my neph.  Make sure it is still ok.  Hopefully he says yes??

[Romona]

I was on it after I lost a lot of blood. It made me feel so much better. I was being monitored for a heart problem at the time.

[BigSky]

I wouldnt be too worried about the warnings.

These warnings stemmed from the testing of the drug.  Problem was they didnt actually test it on dialysis patients to get those warnings, they tested it on people who already had normal blood values.  Since the drug is only given for the most part to those patients who have sub normal values there is little chance of experiencing any of the side effects in the black box warnings.

[rookiegirl]

When I was Pre-dialysis, I took Aranesp shot at my Neph's office monthly.  Once I started PD, I gave my own shot of Epogen M/W/F when my numbers were low.  Some months they would discontinue Epogen because my hemoglobin levels were great.  I had no size effects from either shots.  It did give me more energy.

[RightSide]

Thank you rightside.
The energy is what i am lacking so if the red blood cells make me more productive that is a good thing.  My days of self stimulating are in my past if you get my drift.

Please don't feel that way.

Once your hemoglobin is back to normal, you may find you've got lots of energy for, uh, all kinds of fun activities.   

Of cousrse you should mention your ischemia to your neph.  But I'm willing to bet that as long as he monitors your hemoglobin count to keep it from going higher than 13 or so, you should be all right.  Remember, being anemic is putting a strain on your heart too.  Your heart has to work harder to pump enough of your lousy blood around so your cells get enough oxygen--even when you're not physically exerting yourself.  A normal blood count will ease the workload on your heart.

[Slywalker]

I had Aranesp shots before and during dialysis until my transplant.  My husband was trained on giving them and I had them about every other week.  I was shocked though when I found out how much my insurance company was paying for them.  Shocked I tell you.  At any rate it kept my blood count up.

Good luck.

 

[Wenchie58]

I started Arenesp about 6 weeks ago Paul.  What a difference!!  My new kidney apparently isn't producing the hormone needed to send out the "build red blood cells" alert.  The docs waited to see if it would kick in and my hemoglobin level got down to under 7.  I was more tired, but the big thing I noticed is walking across the room would cause my heart to pound and run me out of breath.  I smoked a pack of Marlboros a day for 35 years and never felt that out of breath.
Once they started the Arenesp (200mcg) biweekly, it took about 2 weeks then I noticed that I wasn't panting as hard...after 4 weeks I felt great!!  My blood counts at that time were around 10.  Now I am a little over 12 and most days feel like I could leap a tall building in a single bound!  I don't try it though, because with one slip of the foot....SPLAT!   
Best of luck!

[BeachLover]

I am on aranesp a for three years now. In the beginning it was keeping my blood levels up there but lately it hasn't been working as well and I have fallen to 27.2 I feel crumby too. So doctor has raised the amount to 330 every month. They put it in intervenously this time as before it was done in the fatty tissue. My blood pressure shot up since then and hasn't gone down yet. Des anyone know if inserting it intraveninously will raise blood pressure? I never had the problem before and for a year and a half my BP has been perfect, around 125/73.
Now it is running 160/80 most of the time, only shince they gave me the dose of aranesp.
Any ideas?