My husband was diagnosed with MS 2.5 yrs ago- he discovered it because of double vision and numbness symptoms. He was placed on Copaxone and (we thought) he's been symptom free for over 2 years. A few weeks ago he began having "graying of his vision" in one eye. After MRI it turns out he has 4 new lesions in brain and spinal cord. Though he is early in his disease and presenting with mild symptoms, his doctor has declared Copaxone a failure for him and wants him to go on an interferon.

His doctor seems to treat MS aggressively- he stated he is not happy until the disease progression is halted completely. Is this realistic? Something to shoot for? He says if Mike wants quality of life at 70, we need to stop it now. If two years went by between flare ups, would you say that is a Copaxone failure? The doc says he is just not in the percentage of people for whom Copaxone works- but I'm wondering how he can make that assumption? How do we know Copaxone isn't slowing it down?

We are new to all this and still a bit confused by all the information. He is happy on Copaxone with zero side effects and he is nervous about going on interferon with all those yucky flu symptoms.

Thank you for your help.
:-)

If any of the DMD's halted the disease progression completely I'd take it....side effects and all! But that's not a realistic idea. I can't imagine a Neuro expecting that or even voicing that opinion. If a DMD completely halted the progression then I'd call it a cure.....or as close to a cure as we'd find.

I wouldn't let this particular Neuro force me into anything I wasn't comfortable with. The interferons have serious side effects. If he's happy with Copaxone I'd stick with it (no pun intended! ). I can't see that anything you've reported makes Copaxone a failure in this instance.

Others will be along with their opinions. You'll find lots of support and good advice here.

All I can say is do some research on your own, or go for a second opinion to a neuro who specializes in MS.

I've been on C for over 3 years and have no new lesions...

All I can say is do some research on your own, or go for a second opinion to a neuro who specializes in MS.

I've been on C for over 3 years and have no new lesions...but if I had any symptoms affecting my vision, I'd definitely try to investigate whether or not the DMD I am on is working...

I suppose you could always give the interferon a try to see how he tolerates it. I have been on Betaseron since 2002 with only one new lesion. Sometimes its a crap shoot. Perhaps your doc has other patients on Interferon and feels he sees better results.
Sometimes the disease reacts differently in different people regardless of the treatment course.
You can do two things:
Get a second opinion or
Give an interferon a try

The general rule of thumb is...if one of the treatments does not to show signs of slowing disease progression, then try another drug. Personally I would want to try another drug. I've been stable for quite some time now on Betaseron 1b. Just my opinion.

i've been on C for 9 yrs and i'm stable.
it doesn't sound like your dh is tho. changing meds seems a reasonable idea.
i agree with all the advice you've gotten. do some research. decide on which of the interferons you might want to try.

getting new lesions is a good reason to switch meds.
it's not a cure but may keep the progression at bay.

i also agree that getting a 2nd opinion is a good option.
you may also want to call shared solution and ask them about this situation.
why the C isn't working. i know they'll be slanted towards their own med but
you also might learn something.

please let us know how your dh is and what you decide.

I was on C from 2006 until 2010. I did get new lesions and had a series of flares. This was within the first 2 years. After that, my brain MRIs have stayed the same. I haven't had an MRI in a little over a year so I don't know.

Also, I still got flares even on C. They just weren't as intense and didn't last as long. That was the only difference I noticed.

Getting a 2nd opinion may be worth it. It doesn't sound like this neuro is willing to work with you. In other words, he sounds like a "It's my way or hit the highway" kind of neuro.

Let us know how things work out for you guys.

I was on C for 4 years and DID have flare ups while on it. In the end I simply couldnt take it anymore, as it made me feel miserable.

DMDs cause you to have FEWER relapses, and fewer lesions to come on, but it wont prevent them all. It will just make them less severe.

Its a tricky spot to be in. I hope you are able to talk WITH your MD instead of having him talk at you. I hate when they do that.

Thank you very much for your replies. As we've thought and talked about it for the last few days it seems that a switch from Copaxone may be the best thing to do to see if he can find something more effective. I am going to post another thread soon to ask about the other options we have.