I dont take any of the abc's as I reacted badly to the avonex & betaferon.
They were not doing anything for me, I was having a lot of relapses & going downhill with them,
Havent substituted anything. Just tried to keep going & when I have to I go on the drip for 3 days but now my neuro doesnt want me to have any more because of other problems from too much cortisone.
Dont know if I have helped but it is an individual decison for sure. I did it with the agreement of my neurologist. That is important to me as I am still being monitored by him too.

Avonex i really believe hurt me more than it helped.. was on copaxone for a while.. helped for awhile.......................now i am on tysabri.. once a month iv.....has made a HUGE difference for me..

I started on Copaxone, and had an allergic reaction to it. Then I went to Avonex, and couldn't stand the bad side affects I had from that medication. After about 4 months, I discussed going to Tysabri with my doctor. I have had one infusion to date, but I love not being sick all the time.

I think one has to be their own health advocate. I was looking to improve the quality of life and taking an ABC drug would not fit that for me. I'm very pleased that I am making changes in my MS treatment which will allow me to get back to the "old" me to the best of my ability. Today I'm starting Ampyra after having myself thoroughly checked out for potential past seizures. My EEG is normal and no seizure type episodes resported so my doctor gave me the go-ahead just this morning to start Ampyra. I suspect this medication too will improve my quality of life by hopefully aiding my walking ability. I'm really looking up these days as taking ABC drugs were such a bummer and made me feel worse and I got rid of them through working with my doctors to have the best quality of life possible with MS.

I could NOT tolerate avonex or rebif, so I went with copaxone. Took it about 1 1/2 yrs. never felt any better and got tired of being a pin cushion, so I stopped taking it. Now its been over a year that I have been off any abc drugs. I have had no bad relapes, im basically the same. I do not want to take the shots unless I see that there is a downward spiral for me, like more lesion or some type of major relapse. I hate putting that weird stuff in my body when it made me feel no different at all.

I'm starting to rethink taking the Rebif. I felt great yesterday. worked in the yard out all day running errands, cooked dinner etc. Today is the day after shot day and I feel nauseous, headache, grouchy, tired etc..

I just don't have the guts top do it, although I am tempted. I'm now on Tysabri and its working great for me but even those 1 a month infusions are getting irritating.

The fact that any damage cannot be undone once it is done and its not just relapse makes me so skittish about giving up my meds. But hopefully the inflamatory stage of MS seem to quite down in late 50's or early 60's. I'm kind of hoping thats true & its not forever for me.

Interesting article that carry's a lot of wieght with me about this issue.....

http://www.mscenter.org/images/stories/InformsSummer09lowres.pdf

I would have a personality that works well with goals & delayed gratification. The gratification would not being as bad as I would have without treating it & ignoring it instead.

I've never taken any of them. I was diagnosed 15 years ago and I am still ambulatory but I live in chronic pain and can no longer work. It has been this way for a very long time now (pretty much since the DX). I am not progressing rapidly.

I found that the best medicine for this disease is to get plenty of sleep and to avoid stress as much as possible which is very difficult in the oil covered world we are now living in. ugh. :(

i was on copaxone for about a year then developed an allergy to it. i don't see my new neuro until mid july so we'll talk about it then.

I think I'd be willing to try that new pill if it gets fda approved

thanks so much for your inputs guys. I have been on avonex, tysabrti and now the last on has been the copaxone. i am not a big person. my legs are all muscle and injecting the muscle with copaxone is horrible! the same for my arms i was suicidal on the interferons. ive struggled with depression all of my 55 years. tysabri worked great the first year and then fizzled big time for me. i catch every bug or flu out there and now my dentisit has told me that the immuno suppressants leave an open door for other disease to take over. i am so sick of living in a bubble. i am seriously considering to follow holistic methods now. Thanks again to all

I started on Avonex, liked it after the initial sides got better, then Rebif, then Copaxone. None of them worked for me, I kept having more relapses. I am now on nothing. I was offered chemo or tysabri.

I have been on Avonex for a yr and 8 mos. The horrible ide effects eventually became more tolerable, however never did complately subside. I loathe taking it each week and it has effected my family on a more personal level ( as well I guess it shoud, as I do have MS...lol)
I might be a bit misguided in my thinking but here goes my theory...
I have never tried any other interferon and have never had anything else prescribed for me to deal with any of this. I had my initial attack in 10/o8 and to date have only had 1 flare ( this past week)
I have come to realize for myself and with some soul searching as a couple with my wonderful husband ( AKA Superman) that Im just not "Me" anymore. We knew things would change, and I dont expect to be THAT Me anymore. But I do expect to at very least resemble my former self. I no longer do, not mentally or emotionally with the Avonex. I miss "Me" terribly as do my hubby and kids.
I'm tired of being tired, tired of feeling sick even if only slightly the dreaded day after. I take more excess crap to comabt the side effects from my shots than I ever did with the worse of colds for heavens sake! Im grouchy, easily upset, weepy weird, and just plain bitter.
I do feel Im dealing well, as does my Neuro.
THey dont know definitivly that this crap DOES work, it slows it, but isnt a sure thing. My MonSter is going to do what its going to do regardless of the flavor of the month meds, until there is a cure. Im obviously not progressing, so Ive decided to stop my injections. Im terrified, but I want to feel relatively normal again.
I switch to a new neuro the 2nd of July. We'll see what he has to say and go from there. I may return to the shots, but until then I need this break. Im willing to take the chance.
I believe this is a personal decision. I believe you know your body best and how you feel with or with out your meds. At very least I have the summer off of work (I work for the schools) and I have it feeling much better, I can keep up with my kids and ENJOY them. They need this from me, I truely belive they do.
I have a few twitches and a few itches.... no more, no less. Sorry so long winded.... and I know this isnt exactly from a more patient/medical stand point, but hopefully my thoughts will maybe give you insight from a person view. I hope you find the help you need from all the responses here, there are many great ones.
Be well!

I started on Rebif, but could not stand the way I was sick the next day. Then I tried Avonex, same thing. Then copaxone, but started getting dent in my muscles where the injection was (they never go away). Now I am on Tysabri. I took it for a year and then took a 4 month vacation, now I am taking it again. It has given me the most relief.

Yes, I was advised by my Neuro not to take the Interferons. I took Copaxone for 2 years. Continued to have regular relapses. Got tired of doing the injections, because of nasty skin reactions.

I tried more natural approaches, spending years going to Naturopaths and other Doctors (such as a Rehab Doc)and doing my own searching in order to get a different perspective. It has not been an easy journey either, but the results have been excellent for me!

For the next few years after quitting Copaxone I continued to have regular relapses, had less return of function and new symptoms added on to my list. But now over the past almost 3 years, I have not had a new relapse and have improved a lot. I now live a pretty normal life and have energy to not only get through my day, but now I am beginning to challenge myself. Even before my diagnosis, I did not feel this good, I just have some relatively mild weakness, numbness and balance issues. It has been 20 years since the onset of my symptoms.

I didn't really say what I substituted, but here has what has helped me the most in my journey:

1) I have a more balanced spiritual/emotional life and a better approach to stress. I have also decreased the stress that I have control over. I try to stay connected with people who bring me up and I have also learned to be more of an encourager myself. I am quick to forgive others which I find is key to a healthy life.

2) I eat a balanced diet, limit or in some cases eliminate processed food, fast food, sweets, additives and things that I allergic to (wheat, gluten and dairy) and I am slowly increasing my excercise.

3) The biggest change was after getting my neck realigned. This was a process, but I saw a positive change from day 1. My nervous system appears to be functioning way better since then.

Like some others I do not have the guts to stop my meds. I am currently taking Tysabri and in the "over 2 years" group. My neuro says this is the best she has seen me. I still get fatigued, still have bouts with Vertigo, but at least I am not in the hospital twice a year. I did very well on Betaseron until my body developed antibodies to it. Avonex and Copaxone did little for me.