Hi [@Silverkaylah]‍ 

I had similar side effects to you following my EC infusions.  But I was interested to read your description of pain, especially throbbing pain at the base of your spine.  I did experience exactly that after my filgrastim injections (I believe this is a similar drug to neulasta, and they both increase white blood cells).  After a few sessions of chemo my body seemed to get used to the injections and I no longer got the throbbing pain.  
 

So my guess would be that it's the neulasta, but I'm no expert (and it seems odd for the pain to be so delayed - mine started within a day or two).  Worth being on the safe side and mentioning to your team, particularly if it's waking you up at night.  Chemo involves quite enough wakeful nights without the addition of throbbing pain!  Best wishes x
 

Hi [@Sephy]‍ 

Thank you so much for your reply, it is a big comfort knowing that others have experienced the same.

The actual name of the injection I had was Pegfilgrastim, I think Nuelasta is the brand name, so you are correct it is very similar to Filgrastim.

I have a couple of added complications with my treatment as I have a blood disorder and have historically suffered from palpitations so I'm always overly concened about any new reaction.  I did have a racing pulse last night and have today had "flutterings" but i do think that they are more anxiety related rather than something to genuinly be concerned about.

I was going to call the hotline number that I had been given but I've called it already this week and I feel like a complete drama queen who is over reacting!

I did find it strange that this pain has come on so long after the injection but I wonder if its because my white blood cells are at their lowest and therefore my body is in white cell production overload (not a medical term obviously)

Thanks again x

Hi [@Silverkaylah]‍ 

sorry to hear you have other health problems to deal with.  Chemo (and the meds that come with it) does such weird things and it's difficult to know what's "supposed" to be going wrong and what isn't.  My heart rate got faster and faster so by the end my Fitbit thought I was doing 24 hour cardio sessions which I most definitely wasn't!

One thing I learned too late was to alert my team to any side effects, rather than trying to cope alone.  I struggled with a burning, empty feeling in my stomach and oesophagus which no amount of Rennies or Gaviscon or dried crackers could relieve, then after a couple of months I told my team and they  prescribed Omeprazole which solved the problem in a few hours.  I did feel a bit stupid for having delayed, so good on you for getting your indigestion meds promptly!

best of luck with the pain, I hope it's starting to ease off x

Hello Silverkaylah and thanks for posting, 

I agree with Stephy, don't worry about calling the hospital hotline, that is what it is for and your hospital team would rather you got in touch than not.  

This bone pain could very well be because of the Neulasta, but unfortunately I am not in a position to be able to confirm this so do contact your hospital team and get their input.

Neulasta is filgrastim (a granulocyte colony stimulating factor or GCSF for short) which has been pegylated so it stays in the body for longer than other types of GCSF. This might account for the bone pain coming on now. But do talk it over with your team and see what they say. At the same time ask what sort of pain killers they would recommend .

Our website has more information on GCSF at the link below:

 www.cancerresearchuk.org/.../g-csf

I hope this pain is settling down a bit and that you can easily get some proper advice about it.

Give us a call if you want to talk anything over, or number is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and we are around from 9-5, weekdays. 

Take care, 

Julia

Hi [@CRUK Nurse Julia]‍ ,

I am so grateful to both [@Sephy]‍  and yourself for replying.

I did end up calling the hotline over the weekend and my oncologist called me first thing this morning as a follow up.

He confirmed that the pain I described and the timing does indeed point to the filgrastim injection.  He also confirmed, as you stated, that becuase I have the longer acting injection that is the reason for the delay.  My predicted lowest blood cell count time period was 7 to 10 days after chemo and that is when the injection would ramp up my cell production - this timeline fits in exactly!

As this was my first round it is all new to me and is very much fear of the unkown; now that I know the pain is due to the injection I am very happy to take painkillers and deal with it as I know its doing a good thing.

Thank you once again - having people like yourself and other cancer patients to speak with is such a huge reassurance.

Sarah x