Hello, all!

Went to the neurologist today, and he was really nice. The gentlemen I seen today was from Minnesota filling in for the one here in town while he's in Florida. He was exceptional nice and understanding. I don't like to be mean about another doctor, but he told me to be honest, so I was.

Well, any hoo, I do have definate MS, and they drew blood today, to make sure it wasn't Lyme, West Nile Virus, and did the blood work they need to do to get me started on medication. I've been researching Avonex, but they thought for now best to put me on Betaseron. Is anyone on Betaseron and do they have any advice on this medication?

Also, talking about putting me on Neurontin for pain. I'm so glad that I've found a neurologist who will listen to me. He also has an MS specialist in his office, and I will see her most of the time, and she was compassionate, and understanding of what I'm going through.

I go back to see them on February 6, and hopefully will start my medicine not long after that. Well, thanks for listening to me about my situation. Hope everyone had a pain free day!

Thank God for doctors that listen!!!!!!! Like I said in an earlier post, I am on Avonex. I picked it because it is a once a week injection vs the daily or every other day. I do have routine blood work to make sure it isn't affecting my liver. I have never been on Neurontin. My Mom is on it and swears by it. Good luck

Shanda,

That is great. I am so glad that they listened and were compassionate. Here's hoping you aer on the right track now.

Hi Shanda! Sounds like you found the right place to be! Good luck with whichever med you choose. I was unable to tolerate any of them, but now I'm taking LDN. Have you researched it?

Hope you're having a good day.......

ah, appointment coming up soon. Let us know how things are.

I'm glad you found a good neuro. I'm not too happy with my as his bedside manner is terrible. He doesn't listen at all. My visits last about 5 minutes and I have to remind him to send me for bloodwork to check my liver. He was the doc who dx'ed me so I probably didn't like him from the start!

I take Copaxone. It is a shot every day but I have no side effects from it. Avonex made me feel terrible. It seems to be working for me. Good luck! You will definately be glad to start a therapy and doing something to help you MS.
Take care,
Jean

Hi, I'm a new guy to the forum.

Re: Betaseron & Avonex - my wife started with Beta in '94 when it came out. It seemed to work; however, she had severe injection site reactions and switched to Avonex when it became available. Good news is that not everyone gets the injection site reactions from Beta. Unfortunately my wife still has scars 12 years later.

Avonex reactions - There is a "little secret" for those who are new to Avonex. Avonex originally came out "unmixed", two vials, one powered, one clear solution that you mixed at the time of the injection. The current version of Avonex is "premixed". Unfortunately, some patients, including my wife get noticeable reactions from the premixed version but NOT from the unmixed. I do not believe you can get the mfg to confirm that some people react differently to the pre/unmixed versions; HOWEVER, your doctor can prescribe the unmixed version and it is still available!!

Welcome Shanda,

It sounds like you found a good doctor. I hope the neurontin does a good job with the pain. Also, Beta has a long track record of safety, and many people are happy with it, and have been on it a long time.