I personally used all the CRAB drugs and tysabri.Personally i liked tysabri best i had bad rfeactions to all the others. Thats my input. Good Luck.

get on LDN.

I used betaseron fir 3 years, it worked great for 3 years then stopped working the 3rd year so my doc switched my tro tysabri, my doc choose betseron for me first, actually i refused any med for 8 months. then when i started a med(betaseron)my ms settled down and i realized i was foolish to refuse a med. really when you make your choice your deciding between an interferon basically(avonnex,betaseron, rebif) or copaxone.

stick with rebif or betaseron if you go with an interferon, they are the strongest. or choose a coopaxone a glutimer acitate. i had a large lesion load, my doc said he would consider any of thre interferons but not copaxoned & he prefered bataseron for me.

has your doc made ANY recommendations?

decide in thgis order...iterferon or Copaxone.
choose copaxone stop here Copaxone:.(daily subcutaneous injections-lowest side affects, easy on the liver)
interferon continue..
chose interferon 1a or interferon 1b(every other day subcutaneous injections)
chose interferon 1 b stop here, you have chosen: betaseron
chose interferon 1a continue
choose avonnex or Rebif
avonnex weekly intra muscular injections; loRebifng needle don't choose this one.
Rebif every other day subcutaneous injectionsd every on of the 3x a week rebif shot contains more interferon 1a than 1 weekly avonnex shot, they are both the same substance..one given by intra muscular injection, one given by subcutaneous injection.
hardest on liver. has best financial assistance right now i believe.

if i were you i would go with betaseron or rebif.

they are both about the same, interferons, just different ways of manufacturin them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interferon_beta-1a

go to brand name drugs and then select each drug to find out if they offer financiak assistance, i believe rebif does.

http://www.needymeds.org/copay_diseases.taf?_function=summary&disease_eng=Multiple%20Sclerosis

Has yoour doc talked to you about using tysabri or navatrone. if he has your ms is aggrssive & in that case ALWAYS,ALWAY,ALWAYS usesd tysabri before novatrone. if novatron is used tysabri cannot be used as novatrone is an immune supptresant and it incress the risk of a fatal side affect by 8x if tusagbri is used at any time after novatrone has been used. for any length of time. novatrone has a 2 year lifetime limit because of damage it can do to the heart. if its novatron or tysabri that one is easy, tysabri.

in 2005 the fda recommended a CRAB drug(Copaxone,Rebif,Avoonex, Betaseron==frist leytters spell crab) be used first the tysabri be used a a 2nd line drug after one of the CRab drugs has proven ineffective, but some docs are prescribing it first as a first line drug. it is 60% effective compared to the crab drugs 30% effective but it has the risk of a serious side affect of PML.

there is a new drug just released this year, oral at 50% effective but it has no long term safety data Gilenya and for 2011 the manufacturer will pay 20% copay costs to get people to use it, it costs nothing to the patient this year, next year it will be $4,000



tell us more about you?

if go with tysabri most recent risk of getting the serious side affect of PML that has caused death in 20% who get it. 80% survived.
in september there will be a blood test to stratisfy people with the most risk so they don't use tysabri. blood test + or - for jcv antibodies...those testing jcv - have virtually no risk...even so no one has gotten the serious side affect in the first 12 months, so its kind of a safe period yuo decide whether to continue to use it if it works well in you.

http://www.dailystrength.org/groups/tysabri/discussions/messages/11970115

sorry no one answered you last post---dmd(diseas modifying drugs) selection has gotten a lot more complicated a decision in the last few years...it was easier when it was a decision betweem 4 all at 30% effective(CRAB drugs)

the interferons have a risk of anxiety & depression, i see on you profile you already struggle with that, it might be a good reason to not choose an interferon go with copaxone, gilenya or straight to tysabri.

i don't know what tysabri's affect is on high bp though, maybe that's why your doc didn't offer tyhat one.

I meant i don't know what gilenya's affect is on high bp.

Hi GeminiAmy,
It's me, SharonMom. Since I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 8-09, I have been on 2 injectible drugs, Rebif and Copaxone. Of the 2 I can highly recommend Copaxone. Yes, it is no fun to have to have a shot every day, but the side effects from it are minimal. Also if you have a husband who can administer the shots to you that helps alot.
In my case, my husband of 5+ years is a practicing Licensed Nurse, so he has always administered my shots to me because I have a phobia against shots. Before I got M.S. I used to only have 1 shot a year----This was my annual flu shot that I usually had at the Safeway pharmacy. Even then I turned my head when the nurse administered them to me. I always told the nurses not to be offended, that I was'nt being rude, but that I did hate needles.
We get through my shots this way: I daily remind my husband where the shot is supposed to be administered, to save him from having to remember this. Because he does have alot of patients at work. Then I lie, on my stomach or back on our bed, and cover my eyes with my hands. Then my husband loads the automatic injector with my copaxone shot. We use the injector because it administers shots fast, which is best for me when a needle is involved. Then my husband dabs the shot spot with the alcohol pad, then with one of his hands he bunches up the skin around the shot spot, while with the other he puts the injector on my skin and presses the trigger on it. His bunching up my skin helps minimize alot the pain of the shot. Then he counts to 10, so the copaxone has time for it all to go into my body, and the shot is done. Since we have had alot of practice this really does go smoothly. May God bless you GeminiAmy.

Thank you all!!!! SO SO MUCH!!! We will see how it goes, plus I am looking for a job so I hope it works out.

With Love....

This is such a personal decision. I would try one of the CRAB drugs first. Then, if necessary, a decision between the oral, or Tysabri. Have the JV Virus test first if you start Tysabri.

I have used Copaxone (allergic to it), and Avonex (side affects were horrible) and I'm on Tysabri (tested positive for the JV Virus). I am currently being tested to see how well Tysabri is working for me. I don't think it is working very well as I've had relapses with it. Like I said, this is such a personal decision. Good Luck, and just be well informed on what you are starting.

GRAB? not sure what that is. Dr says I have the RRMS of MS. I am thinking about using Copaxone.

CRAB not GRAB

firs letter of standard drugs--C-opaxone..R-ebif..A-vonnex..B-etaserson

now that there are more choices and more choices coming in the next few years whe have to com up wit a new acronym for our drug choices...no one has come up with one yet?

there will is Tysabri, Gilenia, Extavia so a acronym with a T , E & G is needed.

Lemtrada, BG-12, Laquidimid will be out soon so another B and 2 L's will be needed soon.

we are getting past an acronym for our med choices and may need to start developing some type of rhyme instead...got any creativeness that way? or maybe a Rap song for MS med choices? the future looks promising for MS right now

And Rituxan, LDN, CCSVI & Stem Cell Transplant, Tovaxin, yep its gonna have to be a rap song rather than a single word acronym...

C..R..A..B..T..G..E..L..B..L..R..L..C..S..T?

Bottom line, MS is profitable. See any words there?

GeminiAmy,

Hello to you. Rough road, I know. Unfortunatly each of these meds effects people differently.
ME;
BETASERON - I started out on this and had flu-like symptoms still 8 months later
GILENIYA - I was in a case study for 3 1/2 yrs for this drug before it got approved by the FDA. I knew it as FTY720, or fingolimod before they changed the name. Suggestion on what was learned, if you are on this med, eye doctor check ups and dermetologist check ups are pretty important on a regular basis. These were regular appointments I had to attend while in the study. I developed a skin cancer during this time. Not blaming it on the drug......just sayin!!
AVONEX - really bad side effect and almost got my first ambulance ride with a 106.3 temp.
COPAXONE - I just started on this 3 weeks ago. So far so good as I have not really experienced any side effects. Just joking when I say that I wonder if this really works because of how easy this has been!!!!

It is a trial and error process but I do recommend getting on and staying on something. I learned this the hard way and got to a point of no turning back the damage that was done.

I wish you the best with this process and say to keep your head up. It does get very frustrating at times but NEVER give up. You can still make a positive difference in someones life regardless of the challange :-)

I'm on copaxone and have been for the last 6 months. Not sure yet if it's working but if so, it's great. Side effects have been very minimal. Sometimes the injection site swells for a couple hours, occasionally I'll get a bruise. The needle is tiny. The medicine does sting for a few minutes afterwards. And this is from a person that is a total needle wussy! The last shot I had before my diagnosis was to get into kindergarten. But the copaxone is honestly not bad. Again, if it's working ;)