repeating Rituxan/ have 2 questions

I was at the hema today and my platelets were 17K down from 57 2 wks ago. She increased my pred to 20mg from 2.5 mg.
I will be starting Rituxan on thursday. I am supposed to go to a conference for work on Friday. I can't remember from my last Rituxan how I felt the next day. Are people generally able to go to work the next day? I will have benedryl and hydrocortisone with it as I had an itchy reaction the last time.

The other question/problem is about my small veins, even blood draws are hard and I remember that it was hard to get the IV needle it. Does anyone have any tips to help with that problem?
Wish me luck, I am nervous but hopeful it will work again this time.

I have had IVIG 11 times and Retuxin 4 times. A nurse told me to drink plenty of water prior to having blood drawn and an IV. I've been drinking several glasses of water prior to having an IV & blood test and it does help. Also, after the IVIG & Retuxin, I read that it is important to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day for 30 days prior to IVIG and 30 days after in order to keep from having kidney problems.

my nurses always tell me to drink plenty of water before a draw too. Having a port made that not necessary though! And I went to work the same day as some of my infusions. I think most people don't have to much of a problem. I think if there was going to be a problem it would be during the infusion. Let us know how it goes.

What the others said, drink water the day before.

Sorry your platelets dropped. So are you doing the standard treatment of 4 or something more exotic? Are you going to be able to get in the Rituxan before school starts?

Each time, in this last round of Rituxan, I came home and took a nap,(didn't sleep during the treatment.)
And the next day I was fine. Hope everything goes smoothly let us know!

I was always fine for work the following day. No problems there. Good luck!

I am going for the standard 4 weeks, my doc read the papers I gave her about either lower dose or less amount of treatments. But, we both felt since the 4 week full dose worked so well last time I should stick with it. I've already started with the extra water today and will go in with a good attitude! I will plan to go to my work conference on Friday too. Thanks for the encouragement!

It was all around not a great day yesterday. First the nurse could not get the IV in so after a few trys she used a pediatric needle and that worked. I was okay with the slow drip of Rituxan but when they increased it I got chest pains. It felt like indigestion to me, they stopped the drip and gave me an ekg. When my hema compared it to the baseline she had done Tuesday she said it was different so they gave me nitroglycerin and some mylanta too. She sent the ekgs to a cardiologist and he thought they were okay. I am going to see him Monday before the next Rituxan next Friday.
After a while the chest pains stopped so I convinced the doc to keep trying on the Rituxan starting slow again. She stayed with me for a while and it went okay. they were able to speed up the drip later with only a few minor problems like itchy throat so in the end I got the whole dose-7 hours!

Meantime when they started me up again my kindle malfunctioned, I had been listening to an audio book on it. So, it was kind of funny, at one point the doc and 3 nurses were trying to fix my kindle, I guess it was a good distraction for us all. One of the nurses was able to look check the amazon website and was able to reboot it for me so then it worked.

Dru, sorry about your bad day. Too funny the image of everybody trying to fix your kindle!

I had the exact same chest pains, not during infusions but the evening of the infusion. Felt like heartburn. I never went in so don't know if it was heart or stomach. The pains were gone by morning.
Erica

Thanks Erica, good to know I wasnt the only one with chest pains, I wonder if the rituxan can affect stomach acid. Friday I am going to take extra ranitadine before the infusion. Also going to get a cardiologist check up Monday, but I really dont think it is a heart problem.

Yes, the kindle malfunction added some needed humor to the day!

Mine was straight through in 5 hours flat without a hitch. I didn't have a kindle so that didn't need seeing to but my book dropped on the floor which I was able to pick up. Highlight of my wednesday afternoon. Oh and free drinks of tea - hmmm.
I have had more reactions with the IVIG ranging from chils to anemia issues in the past. Next dose in a week time (friday) Carefully ignoring long term risks as life by definition is a risk if we are living it to the full. But I do know if I feel like got flue be ringing up very quickly.... Good luck Dru