Steve,
I don't know about the 3 month survival addition..(as it is just an average)I wouldn't assume that just because you drop Rilutek that it will take 3 months off your lifespan.
Gary progressed like a freight train when he took Rilutek alone.It however is hard to say in his case if it was the drug or the stress of knowing he had the disease that made his progression more rapid. My own guess would be it was the stress of knowing he had ALS instead of the drug.The year before he was diagnosed when he first had symptoms but nobody new what was wrong it went much slower. He took Rilutek from day one of diagnosis and dropped from a functional rating scale of 39 to 9 in two years flat.
His own ALS specialist encouraged him to drop it. And ask him if he really thought it was helping.He said with no reveral of symptoms and just adding three months to my lifespan how would I know?
His ALS specialist agreed on continuing to prescribe it as long as he got his liver enzymes checked every three months. ( ALT and AST levels). Sure enough, after being on it for over 4 years he had to drop it due too "significantly high levels of liver enzymes". Which returned closer to normal within months of stooping it.
I can say this though he has no further progression since.But, as he does not have much more to lose (I can not say it was due to dropping the drug). He can type with his speech equipment and come off the vent the same amount of time he used to when it was dropped and those are the only abilities he really had left before stopping it..
I also knew a gentleman in town who passed away three months after diagnosis, he went from walking fairly normally and talking clearly.To full time bipap,severely slurred speech,and completely wheelchair bound.He took Rilutek from day one of diagnosis.And only lived three months as he passed away from respiratory failure.Where were the additional three months survival in his case?
Lisa