[Mer]

Originally Posted by maggiemag

Hi there. I posted a long reply to this message a couple of days ago, but I don’t see it! I know I hit “post”.
At any rate, I looked into Retacrit, since I am now on it bc I became transfusion dependent while on Arenesp, another RBC growth factor. It seems that Retacrit is a “biosimilar “ drug To Procrit. That means that “ it is highly similar to a biological that is already approved “, and “ has no clinically meaningful differences in terms of safety, purity and potency from the reference product”. Also cheaper!
So you could ask your physician about the Arenesp, which is a different growth factor.
As far as your other question, it is my understanding that Vidaza can take 6 months to work. As you know side effects include drops in your counts, so a BMB seems reasonable to me to look at disease progression. What drugs your physician might use for AML is something to ask them. I understand that there are some new effective ones out there now.
So, hope this helps a little, and I’m sorry you had no other replies.
Keep us posted!

Unfortunately, I did the last Vidaza rx and ended up with a transfusion on Tues and another on Friday. 2 units each. On Monday my hematocrit was 5.6, platelets 9, anc 149. I was admitted to local hospital where I was only able to get 2 units of cells and then began to hemorrhage both dark and red blood. They could not stop the bleeding but we’re able to give me some platelets and I am discharged home to hospice. I got an Ecoli infection while in the hospital. I have a med to try to stop the bleeding and Bactrim for the infection. I am taking it one day at a time, continuing alternative, i.e. Wheatgrass , lglutomine, papaya leaf, pomegranate, OsteoK minis and B12. My arms and veins are a mess from the hospital, but going to see if hospice will allow a CBC to see where my numbers are at. Not sure if I can deal with the ups and downs of this disease but again, one day at a time. Thank you for reading and please keep me in your positive thoughts.
Mer