[Nancy Shamanna]

Re: Fever after Zometa infusion - is it serious?

by Nancy Shamanna on Tue Aug 02, 2016 10:15 am

Hi Tracy,

It sounds like Karena's method is very efficient. When I started on Aredia in 2009, the infusion time was four hours! I would walk around the cancer centre with the stand to which the infusion bag of Aredia, plus the other bag for the hydrating flush at the end of the session, or read or knit in the day medicine clinic.

Later, the protocol for Aredia was changed to 'only' two hours, which was a definite improvement for the use of my time, and for freeing up a chair for other patients. I never took Zometa since I don't think it was approved yet where I live, and the Aredia seemed to be working fine. Zometa is also available here though, and it is much quicker to administer.

[chadsnow]

Re: Fever after Zometa infusion - is it serious?

by chadsnow on Thu Sep 08, 2016 4:56 am

Too late to help the original poster, but anyone who reads this later may be helped by this advice. I had a horrible reaction to the first dose of Zometa – ended up in the hospital for two days with high fever and severe bone pain. My chemo nurse recommended I take a Motrin (ibuprofen) and a Claritin (loratadine) the day before, the day of, and the day after my Zometa infusion, and it has worked like a charm the last 4 times. Apparently, something in the antihistamine in Claritin reduces the side effects of the Zometa.

Talk to your doctor about it. It worked wonders for me.