Hi,
If you are thinking about starting a so-called disease modifying medication I thought I would share my experiences with the ABC drugs as well as others.

I took Betaseron for ten months but the side effects, mainly flulike symptoms, were harsh and unlike what the doctors say, these did not diminish. So after ten months I decided having MS along with the "flu" was not worth hearing the doctors say it possibly, maybe, who knows it might slow the disease progress. That was 1993.

Then in 1997 I began with Avonex injections and stayed on this program for three years. I don't know if what followed was the course the disease was going to take, or a result of the drug itself. But, during that three-year period that I was taking Avonex the secondary progressive nature of the disease was obvious and more rapid than I had ever experienced. The flulike symptoms were there, but they were minimal. So again, I decided to take my chances without the drug.

In January of 2006 I began having daily injections of copaxone. I see or feel no drug side effects. I have not seen any improvement, but in the more than two years that I have been on copaxone my disease has progressed slowly if at all.

I was on Novantrone infusions, but after several treatments and careful monitoring of my heart via echocardiogram my cardiologist stopped this protocol. Apparently the echocardiogram had shown an abnormality in my heart rhythm. One of the side effects of the Novantrone is that it can cause the heart muscle to thicken. Things that make you go, hmmm!

Discuss it with your doctor, but if you can I would try copaxone. Good luck!

Best wishes,
Chris