Hi Jappy,
I was on Avonex for one year. My MS Neuro pulled me off of it. My body could not tolerate it. Also, like Dejibo, my liver enzymes kept rising to too high a level. Rebif is twice the dosage of Avonex.

History part:
I had started on a smaller dosage 1/2, and got the flu-like sx real bad. Used many pre-meds just to get to work and back. I did the shot on Friday so I suffered all weekend.

He wanted me on meds at the time, due to 4 relapses a years He had me go to the full dosage 22 mgs (which is half Rebif btw) and I had the flu-like sx from heck, fever, chills, pain for 4 or 5 days. He even tried one 10 mg tablet of prednisone the day before and the day after the shot to try to stop the flu and fevers. No site reactions though.

The interferons are Chemo drugs. Like most of the DMD's they are immodulators. Also my finger nails split in half up the middle and head hair was lost, but not badly.

I managed to stick it out a year on full dosage, when he finally switched me to Copaxone because I really needed my liver. That organ is vital to our existence.

I did "C" for 3 1/2 years. At first just the skin reactions, minor at the time. After the Avonex needle "C" was a piece of cake. Then I couldn't take that anymore due to it letting infections take over. So I stopped all injections of anything, because I still had the relapses too. I did IVSM when needed. Oral steroids no longer helped my either.

Then again, after one year, I tried with a new Neuro to go back on the "C". I had severe site reactions, infections, and possibly allergic to the change in liquid filler in the "C", as the SS Pharma told me.

This is just my story. We all are unique in how our bodies process drugs, and how our bodies react to them,-- our MS differs also. Some do well on the CRAB's, others do not.

Jappy, maybe lower the dosage as others have said, and give it some time. It is up to you and your doctor to decide. An Allergist-Immunologist can sometimes be added to help you get even 1/100 of the drug, like they wanted me to do, under a controlled setting with the doctor present.

That was okay to do with the interferons, they said, but the MS doctor said "C" doesn't work that way. So nixed that idea.

Let us know how things are going with your shots and what the Neuro says. Many newbies need to know these facts. When I started Avonex I didn't have a clue what flu-like symptoms really meant.

It was sort of downplayed to me because some PWMS have no problems at all, and he didn't want to scare me off.