Your doctor may prescribe a special diet to help control your blood pressure and to help increase your iron levels so that an epoetin alfa injection product can work as well as possible. Follow these directions carefully and ask your doctor or dietician if you have any questions.
Call your doctor to ask what to do if you miss a dose of an epoetin injection product. Do not use a double dose to make up for a missed one. Epoetin alfa injection products may cause other side effects.
Call your doctor if you have any unusual problems while using this medication. Keep this medication in the container it came in to protect from light, tightly closed, and out of reach of children. Store epoetin alfa and epoetin alfa-epbx in the refrigerator, but do not freeze it. Dispose of any medication that has been frozen. Dispose of a multidose vial of epoetin alfa injection 21 days after you first use it. It is important to keep all medication out of sight and reach of children as many containers such as weekly pill minders and those for eye drops, creams, patches, and inhalers are not child-resistant and young children can open them easily.
To protect young children from poisoning, always lock safety caps and immediately place the medication in a safe location — one that is up and away and out of their sight and reach. Unneeded medications should be disposed of in special ways to ensure that pets, children, and other people cannot consume them. However, you should not flush this medication down the toilet. Instead, the best way to dispose of your medication is through a medicine take-back program.
In case of overdose, call the poison control helpline at If the victim has collapsed, had a seizure, has trouble breathing, or can't be awakened, immediately call emergency services at Keep all appointments with your doctor. Your doctor will monitor your blood pressure often during your treatment with epoetin alfa injection products. Before having any laboratory test, tell your doctor and the laboratory personnel that you are using an epoetin alfa injection product.
Do not let anyone else use your medication. Ask your pharmacist any questions you have about refilling your prescription. It is important for you to keep a written list of all of the prescription and nonprescription over-the-counter medicines you are taking, as well as any products such as vitamins, minerals, or other dietary supplements. You should bring this list with you each time you visit a doctor or if you are admitted to a hospital.
It is also important information to carry with you in case of emergencies. Generic alternatives may be available. Epoetin Alfa, Injection pronounced as e poe' e tin. Why is this medication prescribed? How should this medicine be used? Other uses for this medicine What special precautions should I follow? What special dietary instructions should I follow?
What should I do if I forget a dose? What side effects can this medication cause? What should I know about storage and disposal of this medication? Brand names Other names. All patients: Using epoetin alfa injection products increases the risk that blood clots will form in or move to the legs, lungs, or brain. Talk to your doctor about the risks of using an epoetin alfa injection product. Cancer patients: In clinical studies, people with certain cancers who received epoetin alfa injection died sooner or experienced tumor growth, a return of their cancer, or cancer that spread sooner than people who did not receive the medication.
Surgical patients: You may be given an epoetin alfa injection product to decrease the risk that you will develop anemia and require a blood transfusion as a result of blood loss during certain types of surgery. Other uses for this medicine.
Side effects that are very rare -- occurring in less than about 10 percent of patients -- are not listed here. But you should always inform your health care provider if you experience any unusual symptoms. Contact your health care provider immediately, day or night, if you should experience any of the following symptoms:. The following symptoms require medical attention, but are not an emergency.
Contact your health care provider within 24 hours of noticing any of the following:. You will be monitored regularly by your doctor while you are taking epoetin alfa. Tests will include blood tests specifically hemoglobin and hematocrit and blood pressure measurements. In the body's bone marrow the soft, sponge-like material found inside bones blood cells are produced.
There are three major types of blood cells; white blood cells, which fight infection; red blood cells, which carry oxygen to and remove waste products from organs and tissues; and platelets, which enable the blood to clot. Cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy can effect these cells which put a person at risk for developing infections, anemia, and bleeding problems.
Colony-stimulating factors are substances that stimulate the production of blood cells and promote their ability to function. They do not directly affect tumors but through their role in stimulating blood cells they can be helpful to support the immune system during cancer treatment. Epoetin alfa is identical to a substance your body produces naturally called erythropoietin e-rith-ro-poy-e-tin , a protein normally produced by the kidneys which helps make red blood cells.
Epoetin alfa acts like this natural substance to stimulate red blood cell production. During chemotherapy, patients may not be able to produce enough red blood cells, a condition known as anemia. Epoetin alfa can treat anemia by increasing the number of red blood cells in the body. Hemoglobin is the iron-containing substance in red blood cells that delivers oxygen throughout the body. Doctors may prescribe epoetin alfa to chemotherapy patients whose hemoglobin levels have fallen below normal levels.
Patients with CKD and an insufficient hemoglobin response to ESA therapy may be at even greater risk for cardiovascular reactions and mortality than other patients. In controlled clinical trials, ESAs increased the risk of death in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery CABG and the risk of deep venous thrombosis DVT in patients undergoing orthopedic procedures.
Monitor patients closely for new-onset seizures, premonitory symptoms, or change in seizure frequency. If typical causes of lack or loss of hemoglobin response are excluded, evaluate for PRCA.
Do not switch patients to other ESAs.
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