Pemetrexed Dosage

HealthSavvy Sign In | The dose of pemetrexed (Alimta®) your healthcare provider recommends will vary, depending on a number of factors, including:Your body surface area, which is calculated using your height and weight How you respond to this medication, especially if you develop any serious side effects. As is always the case, do not adjust your dosage unless your healthcare provider specifically tells you to do so.The "500 mg/m2" dosage might look a little odd to people unaccustomed to chemotherapy medication dosing; it basically means that 500 mg of pemetrexed is given for every square meter of body surface area. Your healthcare provider will calculate your body surface area using your height and weight.If you do not tolerate pemetrexed well, your healthcare provider may need to lower the dosage or perhaps even delay your next treatment.Some considerations to keep in mind when taking pemetrexed include the following:Pemetrexed comes as an injection. It is injected slowly (infused) into a vein. Each infusion takes about 10 minutes. In most cases, you will receive one infusion every 21 days. You must take folic acid (as recommended by your healthcare provider) for at least 5 out of the 7 days before your pemetrexed infusion and continue until at least 21 days after your last dose. You must also receive vitamin B12 injections while taking this medication. You should get your first B12 injection during the week before your first pemetrexed infusion and then once after every three dosages of pemetrexed (usually about once every nine weeks for most people). Your healthcare provider may choose to give you a corticosteroid medication, such as dexamethasone, to help prevent skin rashes due to pemetrexed. In most cases, the steroid is taken the day before, the day of, and the day after the infusion. If you are unsure about anything related to your dosage or pemetrexed dosing in general, please talk with your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist. var sc=readCookie("SAVVYLOGIN");if(!sc){document.write('');}function endArticleClick(){urchinTracker("/savvyadclick/http://mesothelioma.emedtv.com/pemetrexed/pemetrexed-dosage.html");createCookie("articleReferer",window.location + "|Pemetrexed Dosage",0,".emedtv.com");var sc=readCookie("SAVVYLOGIN"); if (sc){window.location="/savvy/addTopicAndReturn.html?topic=Pemetrexed";} else window.location="/savvy/savvysignup.html";} function createlink(url, title, index ) { var p=document.createElement("P"); p.setAttribute("onclick", "clickAnchor(event)" ); setClass( p, "chapterList" ); var a = document.createElement( "a"); a.style.color = "white"; var c = url.replace(/'/g, "'"); a.setAttribute("href", c ); a.innerHTML = title; p.appendChild( a ); return p; } function updateLinks() { var toc = document.getElementById("chapterTOC"); toc.innerHTML = ""; var p; p = createlink("#chapter_0","An Introduction to Dosing With Pemetrexed", status.index ); toc.appendChild( p ); p = createlink("#chapter_1","Pemetrexed Dosage for Lung Cancer and Mesothelioma", status.index ); toc.appendChild( p ); p = createlink("#chapter_2","General Dosage Information", status.index ); toc.appendChild( p ); } updateLinks(); function addToolbarButton(txt,divclass,hrefdest,onclickfunc,title,id) { var tb = document.getElementById("articleToolbar"); var td = document.createElement("TD"); if(id) td.setAttribute("id",id); var d = document.createElement("div"); setClass(d,divclass); d.onclick = function(e){ if (!onclickfunc||onclickfunc(e)!=false) {window.open(hrefdest,"_blank","");}}; d.setAttribute("title", title ); var href = document.createElement("A"); href.setAttribute("href", hrefdest ); href.onclick = onclickfunc; href.setAttribute("title", title ); href.innerHTML = txt; href.target = "_blank"; td.appendChild( d ); td.appendChild( href ); tb.appendChild(td); } function savvyClick(event) { createCookie("articleReferer",window.location + "|Pemetrexed Dosage",0,".emedtv.com"); urchinTracker("/savvyclick/http://mesothelioma.emedtv.com/pemetrexed/pemetrexed-dosage.html"); var sc=readCookie("SAVVYLOGIN"); if (sc) { savvyAddTopic("Pemetrexed"); } else { grayWindow(); $('#logintext').html('Sign in to your HealthSavvy account to add this topic:'); document.forms['signinform1'].action='/savvy/loginAddTopicAndReturn.html'; document.forms['signinform1'].topicName="Pemetrexed"; domenu(event,'logininfo',0,-100,true,true,true); $('#email1').focus(); } return false;} function savvyAddTopic(str) { $.ajax({ url: "/savvy/ajaxAddTopic.txt?topic=Pemetrexed", success: function(data){if (data.substring(0,2)=="OK") {data = data.substring(2, data.length);$("#hs_savvy_favorite").css("display","none");}showMessageBox(data); }}); } function createToolbar() {var st=readCookie("SAVVYTOPCIS");if (!st || st.indexOf("|Pemetrexed|")==-1) {addToolbarButton("HealthSavvy", "tb_hsicon tool_sp", "#", savvyClick, "HealthSavvy","hs_savvy_favorite");} addToolbarButton("Share", "tb_face tool_sp", "http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3a%2f%2fmesothelioma.emedtv.com%2fpemetrexed%2fpemetrexed-dosage.html&t=Pemetrexed+Dosage", function() {urchinTracker("/facebookshare/http://mesothelioma.emedtv.com/pemetrexed/pemetrexed-dosage.html");}, "Share on Facebook",null); addToolbarButton( "Share", "tb_twit tool_sp", "http://www.emedtv.com/twittershare.html?status=Currently+reading+Pemetrexed+Dosage+on+eMedTV%3a+http%3a%2f%2fmesothelioma.emedtv.com%2fpemetrexed%2fpemetrexed-dosage.html", function() {urchinTracker("/twittershare/http://mesothelioma.emedtv.com/pemetrexed/pemetrexed-dosage.html");}, "Share on Twitter",null); addToolbarButton( "Email","tb_mail tool_sp", "#", function(event) {emailPage(event);return false;}, "Email Article",null); if ( window.external && typeof(window.external.AddFavorite) != "undefined" ) { addToolbarButton( "Add", "tb_favorite tool_sp", "#", function(event) {bookmarkPage(event);return false;}, "Bookmark Article",null); } addToolbarButton( "Print","tb_print tool_sp", "#", function(event) {printPage(event);return false;}, "Print Article",null); } createToolbar(); Written by/reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD; Arthur Schoenstadt, MD Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD var s = "Last" + " updated/reviewed: "; var lm = document.getElementById("lastmodified"); if ( lm ) { s += "October 27, 2009"; lm.innerHTML = s; }

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