Epogen and iron supplements

[okarol]

I was reading this on the internet:
"When on Epogen, most doctors prescribe iron supplements and an iron rich diet, to increase the effectiveness of this drug. Epogen will not work properly if you have low iron levels."
Jenna's RBC count is low and they gave her Epogen in the hospital. When giving her a second dose the intern asked if she was taking iron supplements, and I said no. She said Epogen won't work without iron, but since Jenna was throwing up we didn't want to make it worse by adding iron pills. I wondered later why they didn't give her IV iron, but I didn't think it would be necessary... I dunno, maybe I am confused. So much was going on at the time that I didn't really think about it, but now I am wondering if she should have iron (even though her diet is good now.) We are waiting for her labs from Monday so I will check and see if they measured her iron level. Her last HGB was 8.4.

[tyefly]

Wow  that Hb is really low..... mine pre dialysis was 9.8 and I felt really tired....   she must be tired.....  She probably does have some iron reserves .....  Hopefully her iron level wont get too low....  You sound worried..... and scared  Karol...... Stay strong....   you both can do this...... 

[Sunny]

They did an iron saturation rate blood test on me to find out if I had enough iron reserves in my blood.
The results showed I had enough iron reserves, but not enough red blood cells to use the iron so now they will be giving me Procrit shots till  hemoglobin levels rise above 11. They did not tell me to take iron supplements since the blood tests showed I have the iron, but not the red blood cells to process the iron. Last time I had Procrit, nine years ago, they overdosed me on the iron supplements and I ended up with an orange tongue and orange skin. In other words, a person might not always need iron supplements when using Epogen or Procrit. Ask the doctor first before taking the supplements, nurse don't know the full situation. I wish Jenna well. My hemoglobin level is 10 and I cannot imagine what it would be like at 8.5.

[KICKSTART]

What everyone is saying is correct .My HB at the moment is 9.1 and i get Epo , so i asked why was i not getting iron as well and they said i had enough iron stored it just needed the Epo to make use of it .

[Zach]

There are two blood tests that assist in determining if one needs IV iron:

Ferritin, which should be more than 100 ng/ml and less than 800 ng/ml
Transferrin Saturation, which should be between 20% and 50%.

[RightSide]

I get my iron supplements IV.  It's called Venofer, and they just inject it into the dialysate line along with my Zemplar and Aranesp.

BTW: Always, always, always ask the nurse what she's putting into the dialysate line before you allow her to put it in.

[Zach]

BTW: Always, always, always ask the nurse what she's putting into the dialysate line before you allow her to put it in.

Don't you mean the blood lines?

[sullidog]

Yes everything said is correct. My hg is 9.1 as well and I tell you what a 2 point drop makes a difference!
Troy

[Rerun]

Yes, you need to have adequate iron levels for Epogen to work.  It is like a car... it won't work correctly without oil. 

                                   

[RightSide]

BTW: Always, always, always ask the nurse what she's putting into the dialysate line before you allow her to put it in.

Don't you mean the blood lines?

That term has other connotations (as in "royal blood line").