Neupogen Patient Information
The medication Neupogen contains filgrastim, which is a manmade form of a chemical called a granulocyte colony-stimulating factor that the body already produces. Injecting Neupogen at home helps the body produce more white blood cells, which are the body's main disease fighters. The company Amgen makes Neupogen.
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Why It's Prescribed
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Physicians prescribe Neupogen to boost white blood cell production in patients receiving cancer chemotherapy treatments or in patients who need to produce more disease-fighting blood cells because they have a condition that causes white blood cells to die off (neutropenia).
Common Side Effects
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Patients can expect some mild soreness, redness and swelling at the site where they inject Neupogen. These injections site reactions only require medical attention if they become severe. Another side effect that has occurred in many patients is bone pain, which usually goes away when patients take acetaminophen (e.g. Tylenol).
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Rarer Side Effects
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Side effects that have only occurred rarely, but which do require medical attention, include respiratory seizure, serious allergic reactions and ruptured spleen. Patients need to call a doctor immediately if they begin having trouble breathing, break out in a rash and become dizzy, or feel a sharp pain in the upper left side of their stomach. The last symptom may indicate damage to the spleen.
Things to Ask Your Doctor
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Pregnant women need to speak with their physician about the safety of using Neupogen. Also, some people are allergic to medications made using genetically engineered E. coli bacteria. Anyone who is not sure whether he or she has this allergy needs to ask for testing.
Storage and Handling
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Neupogen comes in one-dose vials or prefilled syringes that need to be refrigerated before use. Patients need to take their Neupogen out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before administration and should never shake the containers.
Administering the Shot
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At the same time each day, patients should wash their hands, measure out the dose as their doctors showed them, select and clean with alcohol an appropriate injection site, and give themselves their Neupogen injection. Patients should use a different injection site on the outside of the upper arms, the stomach away from the bellybutton, the top of the central thigh, or the top of the buttocks each day. To give the actual shot, patients should pinch up the skin, quickly stab the needle in, pull the syringe plunger back slightly to check for blood, and then slowly press the plunger to release the Neupogen. Patients should never inject Neupogen if blood enters the syringe because this indicates the needle has entered a blood vessel rather than muscle tissue. After emptying the Neupogen syringe, patients should pull out the needle and hold a clean cotton ball against the injection site for several minutes to stem any bleeding.
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