Does Epogen Cause Diarrhea?
Epogen® (
epoetin alfa) is a medication used to treat anemia due to several different causes. As with all medications, Epogen can cause side effects
(see Epogen Side Effects), and
diarrhea seems to be a common side effect of Epogen.
How Frequently Does Diarrhea Occur With Epogen?
Before medicines are approved, they must go through numerous clinical studies, in which many people are given a particular medicine and are then compared to a group of people not given the medicine. In these studies, the side effects are always documented. As a result, it is possible to see what side effects occur, how often they appear, and how they compare to the group not taking the medicine. If a side effects occurs less frequently in the group taking the medication, compared to the group not taking the medication, it is probably not caused by the medication.
Diarrhea seems to occur most commonly when Epogen is used to treat anemia due to chemotherapy. In studies, up to 21 percent of people taking the drug for this use experienced diarrhea. Diarrhea is less common when Epogen is used to treat anemia due to other causes. This suggests that chemotherapy medications may contribute to the diarrhea, especially since diarrhea is one of the most common
chemotherapy side effects (see Chemotherapy-Induced Diarrhea).
