I am on Medicare and have a federal plan (husband was a federal firefighter) for my secondary. I do not have a copay- I am very fortunate for the healthcare my husband and I have.

can anyone clue me in to side effects? i had my 1st infusion on Jan 14th and on the 24th i started to feel sick, like a chest cold. if this is from the tysabri will it go away like a regular cold ? i'm also very fatigued. my headaches have stopped though

Side effects: I think each body is different. For me, I get a sinus infection and a uti that both hit around the same time, 3-5 days after the infusion. The day of infusion I usually get really tired, and just drained of energy and that lasts about 2 days.

I also have really bad joint pain but I don't know that I can blame that on the ty seeing as I was having that issue long before I stared it. But on the plus side, my last 2 MRIs have shown no new lesions.

Some people feel great with it and can tell when they are getting close to their infusion. Personally, it hasn't happened for me. Good luck though. Glad to hear the headaches are gone. I know that is a relief.

My husband brought home a nasty cold, that turned into a bronchial infection. I have caught the nasty cold, have treated with a lot of vit C, 2 days took a generic Claritan and Monday started an antibiotic for a different reason, but I bet it's helped the cough/congestion that is almost gone. I do not attribute the cold to Tysabri-maybe or maybe not I caught it because my immune system is lowered ?

I was sooo fatigued one day I almost couldn't move off the chair. I was scared that my ms symptoms has worsened The next day I was much better and today I am back to normal !!!

Glad your headaches have stopped, hope you feel better soon and that Ty works great for you

Linda

I am scheduled to get my first infusion on Feb 2. We are leaving on vacation on Feb 10th.

I realize that everyones reactions are different, but, if you do get side effects, do they last more than a week?

I am hoping I will feel okay on the day we are to leave.

thanks

For me, the side effects when I started Tysabri were minimal. I had a sore throat after three or four infusions, it appeared that the parts of my tonsils that grew back after a tonsillectomy many many years ago were inflamed. It was mild, more irritating than anything else, and stopped after a few infusions.

I literally haven't been sick with the usual maladies at all since I started; no colds, no stomach bugs, nothing. I had an appendectomy, I had salmonella from something I ate, and I had a UTI for the first time ever. This is since 2007. I haven't called in sick to my job since 2007, was out on medical leave for the appy, was on vacation when I got the salmonella and went to work when I had the UTI.


I was nervous when I started, wondering what ailments I would get as a result of using Tysabri. I calmed down after 6 infusions and now it's just another day. I don't know if I am just lucky or that the revved up immune system that goes with MS is working, but for me, it's a normal life since I started.

I had #48 yesterday. No problems, no concerns, in and out as usual. I met with my neuro afterwards. He told me I am disgustingly healthy and told me to get lost. It was 15 minutes, in and out of the appointment.

I have a questions about when and why they won't do an infusion.

If you are in a Flare or have a new symptom, will they still do the infusion?

Has anyone went to there scheduled infusion and not have it for some reason?

thanks, I go Feb 2 for my first infusion.

The infusion center will ask you a few questions. If you report anything in response to those questions, they will call your neurologist and ask him for his approval or disapproval in response to your answers. You may end up waiting hours until he calls them back but they will not give you the infusion until he responds. If he feels that the infusion should be withheld, you don't get it, period. Here's more info and the list of questions:
http://www.tysabri.com/tysbProject/t...ng-program.xml

I am careful to report any new or unusual symptoms to my neurologist when they occur and last more than 24 hours, as he has instructed me to do, so he knows about anything that may be going on before I go for the infusion. For some it is 48 hours, but my neuro is watching me pretty closely after 48 infusions, so it's 24 hours for me.

I haven't been refused an infusion yet. I skipped one since May 2007 because I was laying in a hospital bed looking up at all the bags hanging on the pole after an emergency appendectomy and feeling like i was going to vomit every 5 minutes, despite taking Zofran. I decided on my own to skip that infusion, with the blessing of my neurologist. He said it was up to me but he had no objection to me having the infusion or not having it, and said that the antibiotics I was on would not affect the infusion process at all, nor have any adverse effects on me.

When you get sick, you treat the illness. When I had a UTI it was treated. I had an impacted wisdom tooth, it was treated. I had salmonella, it was treated. If you have a relapse, it can be treated with steroids.

It's the long term therapy (pulse therapy) with steroids that is not allowed. You may not be allowed to have infusion if you are on chemotherapy for cancer treatment. You will not get your infusion if you have taken any immunosuppressants- but wouldn't your neurologist know about them anyway if you are reporting as you are supposed to do?