Guest guest Posted March 12, 2010 Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 I just remembered, my first ever iron infusion (back in 2001 I think) was dextran. The infusion itself went fine, but I was at the hospital from 8:00 AM until almost midnight! The stupid hospital didn't get around to starting the infusion until noon, and it took 12 hours to do. Plus, I had an old lady as my roommate who continually moaned and pulled out her IV so that I got to hear BEEP BEEP BEEP for hours on end. Plus she was half-deaf, so all of her visitors had to shout at her. No wonder I blocked it out! The strange thing about Venofer, is that I always have a reaction to the first infusion, even when they give me benadryl and anti-nausea drugs. The infusion itself always goes fine, but by early evening, I get cold and shaky and achy and vomity. Infusions 2-4 have always gone fine though. Makes me nervous, because my ferritin has been dropping steadily, so I'm really not looking forward to my next hematologist appointment. The infusions take place in a chemo center too, which is downright depressing :-(. But on the bright side, I always come out with a ferritin level of about 300. It takes a good 1.5 to 2 years before I need another round. 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...
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