Hi, I am very new to this site. I live in virginia in the usa. I am on avonex which is a once a week injection. I lived in nj till 2001. I gave myself the injection. I am on medicare and they require that a doctor or nurse administer the injection or they will not pay for it. :d

I was on beta seron for 1 year but could not handle the side effects. They are rough. Those injections are every other day.
I then went on copaxone for 1 yr. Side effects very minor but I had a major relapse. Those injections were daily.
My neuro. Then started me on rebif. Tonight is the first night for a full 44 dose. I almost immediatly started to improve. So far my side effects are at least tolerable.
Good luck with your new site.
See you on the web.
Jackieh
nashville,tn
age 40
dx in march of 2001

Hello jackieh and san54!

Thank you for your info on the drugs you are taking. I do appreciate all the help I can get.

As I mentioned in my first post i'm also on rebif, jackieh. Hopefully this will work well for you. I know that i'm very satisfied with the drug and what it's done for me. I think in the last 15 months that i've been taking it.. I've had the flu like symptoms 2-3 times. This consisted of chills and shaking. Every time that it's happened i've been coming down with a cold or was really tired from some other event in my life. Other then those times I haven't had any problems other then a little redness in some injection areas.

Tim

Another thought for your website: each of these drugs has its own website which is professionally monitored and updated. For example, you can go to www.Copaxone.Com and learn all about that particular drug, including perhaps some facts about it you might want to include on your own site.

I have been on copaxone since feb 1999. I've never had a major relapse since i've been on it. Copaxone is the only one of the abcrs that is considered "safe" for patients also suffering from depression. The three others are all classed as "interferons" which apparently stand a good chance of making depression worse, possibly even to the suicidal degree.

Also, copaxone is the only one that does not develop antibodies to itself after injection. The three interferons do eventually develop antibodies in the body of the patient which they believe may inhibit how much help the drug can be.

As for medicare, avonex is the only injectable that medicare will pay for and only if it is administered in a doctor's office. The fact that it is a weekly injection makes it feasible to see a doctor every time. The others are either daily (copaxone), every other day (betaseron), or twice a week (rebif) making it almost literally impossible for patients to go to their doctors (who may be located miles away) just to receive the shots. To me, this is nothing short of discrimination (plus they don't pay for insulin injections for diabetics either because they are injectables also).

However, for people of limited resources, copaxone does have a financial assistance program for those who qualify. It is sponsored by nord (national organization for rare diseases) and involves sending an application plus extensive financial documentation. You can obtain an application by seeing the website www.Sharedsolutions.Com and/or calling their toll free number and asking for one.