Guest guest Posted March 12, 2010 Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 I've never been offered iron transfusions so I'm not familiar with it. I would take the one less likely to cause a reaction because you need to keep your options open. If you have an allergic reaction with one, can you try the other? If not, I'd take the least likely to react shots. The supplements are so hard on your body. Blood transfusions become necessary at a certain point (they transfuse below 8 here) but you risk building antibodies and then you have a hard time finding any blood which is a problem with me now. They are only just now offering me shots after all these transfusions and iron pills. Even if you have to go twice, it's worth it to keep all options open imho. A little sucrose in a shot won't kill you ;-). (In walks Marilyn...) Debbie 40 houston I'm getting an iron infusion on Tuesday. I'm pretty happy, since hopefully this will fix my anemia without eating a bunch of liver or taking an iron supplement. Still a little intimidated by it, but mostly happy.My question is this: they gave me an option of either having the dextran iron infusion or the sucrose iron infusion. The dextran is apparently the one that could cause an allergic reaction, but obviously they would monitor me very closely. I think I would be inclined to try that one since they said I'd have to have two treatments for the sucrose, vs one for the dextran, so that would be one less day of school missed. But first I wanted to see if there's any reason the sucrose would be better?Thanks!Peace =)Alyssa 16 yoUC April 2008, dx Sept 2008SCD June 2009 (restarted)Azathioprine 50 mg 1x per dayPrednisone 35 mg 1x per day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2010 Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 Alyssa, My 18yr old son has had a couple of iron IV series (we think there is a low thyroid issue that has kept him from maintaining ferritin levels, but that is a different story) His doctor at home does not use Dextran due to the risks, and the doctor in Cleveland, where he is at college, doesn't either. Here are some good links that should help. http://www.fpnotebook.com/Hemeonc/Pharm/PrntrlIrn.htm http://www.thedrugmonitor.com/iron.html My understanding of the Dextran is it is done at a hospital as an outpatient - a rather big ordeal. Our local doctor has a nurse give the Sodium ferric gluconate (Ferrlecit) right in the office - takes about an hour. The Cleveland doctor uses an infusion center at the hospital and my son said it is only about 1/2 hour. I think the Cleveland doctor may use the sucrose since he said it wasn't exactly the same as our local doctor, but neither one does Dextran. Our local doctor called Dextran " the old way " . You should ask if the sucrose would take less time per IV, even if you had to do 2. That is certainly what I would expect from our experience. Yes, for the non-Dextran you have to go for a series, but much less time-consuming and much safer from what we learned. My son had no side effects from any of the iron IVs. We had put off the iron IVs for way too long because the pediatric GI we were seeing early on made it sound so risky - I'm sure she was referring to the Dextran. But when my son's ferritin level was '3', we knew we had to do something and fortunately had switched doctors by then. Good luck. Sally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2010 Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 Alyssa- Just a thought: Did you try getting EPO shots? When I was in the hospital and my Hb was going down, I suggested (after reading physiology text) to give me EPO shots since that will help in Hb production. My logic was if I am losing Hb, can I produce enough to balance? They did and the next day my Hb started going up. -Andy > > Alyssa, > > My 18yr old son has had a couple of iron IV series (we think there is a > low thyroid issue that has kept him from maintaining ferritin levels, > but that is a different story) > His doctor at home does not use Dextran due to the risks, and the doctor > in Cleveland, where he is at college, doesn't either. > > Here are some good links that should help. > http://www.fpnotebook.com/Hemeonc/Pharm/PrntrlIrn.htm > http://www.thedrugmonitor.com/iron.html > > > My understanding of the Dextran is it is done at a hospital as an > outpatient - a rather big ordeal. > Our local doctor has a nurse give the Sodium ferric gluconate > (Ferrlecit) right in the office - takes about an hour. > The Cleveland doctor uses an infusion center at the hospital and my son > said it is only about 1/2 hour. > I think the Cleveland doctor may use the sucrose since he said it wasn't > exactly the same as our local doctor, but neither one does Dextran. > Our local doctor called Dextran " the old way " . > You should ask if the sucrose would take less time per IV, even if you > had to do 2. That is certainly what I would expect from our experience. > > Yes, for the non-Dextran you have to go for a series, but much less > time-consuming and much safer from what we learned. > My son had no side effects from any of the iron IVs. > > We had put off the iron IVs for way too long because the pediatric GI we > were seeing early on made it sound so risky - I'm sure she was referring > to the Dextran. > But when my son's ferritin level was '3', we knew we had to do something > and fortunately had switched doctors by then. > > Good luck. > Sally > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2010 Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 At 04:24 AM 3/12/2010, you wrote: Even if you have to go twice, it's worth it to keep all options open imho. A little sucrose in a shot won't kill you ;-). (In walks Marilyn...) Actually, keep in mind that we're less worried about sucrose as an injection. It isn't going through the gut, so isn't available to feed the bad bacteria there. As a consequence, if that one is the one which has fewer allergic reactions, that's the one I would go with. — Marilyn New Orleans, Louisiana, USA Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001 Darn Good SCD Cook No Human Children Shadow & Sunny Longhair Dachshund Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2010 Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 They always give me something called Venofer. I haven't had it in a while, but when I did, I got 1 infusion a week for 4 weeks. It took about 2 hours or so to do it. Good luck! I hope this gets rid of your anemia :-). Holly Crohn's SCD 12/01/08 > > I'm getting an iron infusion on Tuesday. I'm pretty happy, since > hopefully this will fix my anemia without eating a bunch of liver or > taking an iron supplement. Still a little intimidated by it, but > mostly happy. > > My question is this: they gave me an option of either having the > dextran iron infusion or the sucrose iron infusion. The dextran is > apparently the one that could cause an allergic reaction, but > obviously they would monitor me very closely. I think I would be > inclined to try that one since they said I'd have to have two > treatments for the sucrose, vs one for the dextran, so that would be > one less day of school missed. But first I wanted to see if there's > any reason the sucrose would be better? > > Thanks! > > Peace =) > Alyssa 16 yo > UC April 2008, dx Sept 2008 > SCD June 2009 (restarted) > Azathioprine 50 mg 1x per day > Prednisone 35 mg 1x per day > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2010 Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 Erythropoietin. It stimulates RBC production. Google, and check with your doc. > > > Just a thought: Did you try getting EPO shots? > > > Haven't heard of them. What are they? > > Peace =) > Alyssa 16 yo > UC April 2008, dx Sept 2008 > SCD June 2009 (restarted) > Azathioprine 50 mg 1x per day > Prednisone 35 mg 1x per day > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2010 Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 Alyssa, One more thought in making your decision on which iron shot base to take, would be to go have an allergy test for the dextran and the sucrose. If that would tell what you need to know RE a possible reaction. I did that once when I needed gum surgery to make sure I could handle the anesthetic he wanted to use. It was nuisance, though, because the allergy office didn't have the stuff so I had to go collect it from the periodontist, go see the allergy lab, etc. But it did tell me I was unlikely to have a reaction. However, I would expect that the sucrose would be a much easier way to go and safer. At least if you need a second shot, you'll know by then what to expect (goodie!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2010 Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 It was the same drug they gave me when I was in the hospital at the beginning of my problems with UC. I don't know what are the exact ingredients in Venofer but I had no problems with it. And moreover my iron levels went far up after just 2 infusions. It's not a big deal, it doesn't hurt only tingling on the place where the needle is. It bypasses the gut and it helped tremendously. I strongly recommend it to you Alyssa. Good luck and stay positive as you always are Yana > > > > I'm getting an iron infusion on Tuesday. I'm pretty happy, since > > hopefully this will fix my anemia without eating a bunch of liver or > > taking an iron supplement. Still a little intimidated by it, but > > mostly happy. > > > > My question is this: they gave me an option of either having the > > dextran iron infusion or the sucrose iron infusion. The dextran is > > apparently the one that could cause an allergic reaction, but > > obviously they would monitor me very closely. I think I would be > > inclined to try that one since they said I'd have to have two > > treatments for the sucrose, vs one for the dextran, so that would be > > one less day of school missed. But first I wanted to see if there's > > any reason the sucrose would be better? > > > > Thanks! > > > > Peace =) > > Alyssa 16 yo > > UC April 2008, dx Sept 2008 > > SCD June 2009 (restarted) > > Azathioprine 50 mg 1x per day > > Prednisone 35 mg 1x per day > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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