And your memory is gone, too ;-)

Yes, of course, lots of folks here have become anemic enough to have been on
Procrit during therapy, including me. Procrit (aka Epogen) boosted my
hemoglobin up from 8.2 to almost 10 g/dl - which made a heck of a
difference...

Cheers

/greyhackles

I think you'll get a lot of responses on this anemia issue. My
hematocrit (% rbc in the blood plasma) and hemoglobin levels
(concentration of oxygen-carrying molecule in rbc) dropped to low
values by week 8. They have continued to drop, not low enough to
require intervention, but plenty low enough to cause fatigue, as
evidenced by feeling tired and weak.

Procrit surely helps raise the hematocrit and hemoglobin levels; it's a
synthetic version of the hormone (EPO) produced in the body to
stimulate rbc production in the marrow. But it cost a boat-load of cash
and the expense often contraindicates its use for anemia caused by HCV
Tx because of cost-effectiveness issues and scarcity of resources.

You've read stories about how in some health care systems, UK for
example, Procrit is not provided as an adjunct to HCV Tx because it's
more badly needed for Tx of cancer patients. I know my own care
provider, in Seattle, generally goes for dosage reduction to respond to
anemia, at least for a little while to see if that works.

Some weeks I've felt incredibly week, in the morning, in the evening,
all the time, like I'm glued to the mattress. But then I get better.
Sometimes it seems that if I've been neglecting my diet -- too little
water, too much coffee, not enough carb or whatever, then the side of
fatigue will knock me down hard.

Also, I've read here in ash-c (and found link to credible study) that
mass consumption of tomato sauce is known to combat anemia caused by
ribavirin. Since learning that, I started drinking at least two 16 oz
cans of unsalted tomato sauce daily. Mix it with a little water to make
it more like tomato juice, add a dash of pepper sauce, and I'm off to
the races. Of course, I can't say if it's been working for sure, but
the tomato sauce/juice is inexpensive, tastes Ok, provides added water
to my diet, and my Hct and Hmg values are leveling off in safe
territory where I don't need dosage reduction or EPO.

Disclosure: Completing week 13. It's working.

BG

Procrit helped me a LOT. I take it every two weeks.

Anemia questions  

Group: alt.support.hepatitis-c Date: Tue, Jun 27, 2006, 7:14am (CDT-2)
From: puck@puckertoe.com (Puckertoe)
After taking my Enbrel shot yesterday I started to feel very tired and
weak. Since I've been up this morning I'm still feeling tired and a
little weak.
I suspect that anemia is becoming an issue. My last blood showed that I
was borderline anemic.
Has anyone else become anemic? Has anyone take Procrit? Did it help?
//////////
Yes, PT.  Yes, I took Procrit.  And yes, it helped.  Matter of fact,
Procrit was what allowed me to do riba 1400 mg/day while bombarding the
dragon with heavy lethal drugs and getting my SVR.  Without, Procrit, I
wouldn't have been able to continue tx my second and third attempts.
Indirectly, I owe my SVR to Procrit.  And yes, you'll feel a whole lot
better once the Procrit kicks in after a few weeks.
elmo

http://community.webtv.net/elmoemerson/DocElmosHepFile

http://community.webtv.net/elmoemerson/TheFamilyAlbum