What Rx do you take and how have you done on it

[MomWithLove]

Hello,

My daughter was recently diagnosed and I am wondering what drug the readers of this question chose and why... as well as how the various drugs have worked for you, including problems and positives.

[HVAC]

When I started they only had the shots. Because the interferons can make depression worse and I have always had major depression I went on Copaxone. I did not mind a shot everyday. Copaxone started as a pill in the testing phase but it did not work it broke down in the digestive system.

It is important for the doctor to know her health history and her MS. everyone's MS is different. My MS is super slow progressing so it makes no sense for me to be on the pills which have more side effects.  

Basically you need the drug which works the best for your MS and the one you will comply with.

Alex

[essdipity]

I suggest a sort of compromise:  Read up on all the MS treatment possibilities using a good source such as the MS Society's site, not one with anything to sell. Narrow the choices to just a couple, and confer with her neuro on these. Then ask here about the final candidates, pro and con, based on people's experiences.

There are at least 11 drug treatments now, and they all have been discussed extensively on this forum. You can check about this by typing the drug's name in the search box appearing when you click on the magnifying glass icon at the top. You will get hundreds of hits. I think the big reason there haven't been many responses here is that the question is just too broad. There's no one best answer.

Also, keep in mind that what's good for one doesn't necessarily meet another's needs. But it's always possible to switch to something else. Most who have posted here for years have tried a few different ones, and technology continues to develop.

ess

[jensequitur]

I don't want to be negative, but the only thing research showed me was how well-funded the research was for Copaxone as opposed to other medications available for MS. My original MS doctor had no idea which one would be better for me, and just told me to pick one.

There's nothing wrong with collecting anecdotes - it'll help you sort out what works best for everybody.

I was on Copaxone for three years, and I can't tell if it did anything. I started out with what's called an 'immediate post-injection reaction' which became an allergic reaction. I switched  to Betaseron after that, but since I'm supposed to skip a day between shots, I would always forget to take one every other day.. I don't take anything right now as I'm breastfeeding my kiddo.

When I go back on a DMD, I will try and get my insurance to accept  Gilenya. It's an oral drug rather than an injectable. It's easier to be 'compliant' with an oral drug.

[immisceo]

"how the various drugs have worked for you, including problems and positives."

What you are asking for there are simply anecdotes and won't really give you reliable information about the things you really want to know. The best course of action is to research these things using a trusted, objective source. MS is such an individualised disease that to extrapolate one person's experience to be anything of significance for any other person's experience would lead to all kinds of misapprehensions.

I recommend the MS Society website for up-to-date information on the available medications.
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Treating-MS/Medications

[bbassel]

Hello and sorry too hear of your daughters diagnosis. I currently get a monthly infusion calledd Tysabri. I was doing dailly injections of copaxone, bbut that particular drug didn't work for me.

In order to qualify for tysabri I had to take one of the first-line of drugs for a year without any success. Also I had to have at least two relapses in that year while on the injections.

I am currently in a program monitoring my success with regular checkups and questionnaires on-top of my normal neuro visits.

We are trying to change the rules so patients can start on it froom the beginning without suffering potential disabling relapses.

A lot of people have great success with the injectable. They just didn't work for me. Take care,

Barb