Tysabri Talk

msladyinca · 10-21-2006, 03:07 PM

Hi all, I'm new here and my name is Lauren. I have had MS for 30+ years. I have been on Avonex and Copaxone, oral and IVSM (which no longer work for me) and Novatrone is not an option for various reasons. I had one dose of Tysabri in early 2005, and after it was removed voluntarily by the manufacturers, I suffered a severe relapse in June 2005 that has left me w/c bound and homebound. I was RRMS for 28 years, up until last year when my neuro upgraded me to SPMS with relapses.

I just had my Tysabri infusion (restart) on 10/16/06 and I am SOOO relieved to be back on Tysabri, as it is the only MS therapy that has stopped my attacks, improved my symptoms dramatically within 2 weeks of the 2/05 infusion, and provided me with a better QoL. Since I now have more severe disabilities that were the result of further relapses due to not having Tysabri until recently (YAY!), I know my improvements may not show until my 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th Tysabri infusion...BUT get this: the day after my infusion, on Tuesday morning, 10/17, early in am, my caregiver noticed my balance when I was sitting up in my w/c (I did not have to hold on to the arms as much today to sit up) which is about a 60% improvement from yesterday, and I could move my toes very slightly (I haven't been able to do that for months!)...it's was not much improvement, but I was thrilled nevertheless. I wasn't expecting anything so soon...THEN, 5 days after my Tysabri infusion...today being Saturday, 10/21...I lifted my right foot about an inch off the ground by just thinking it to move, and I moved my left foot forward about an inch too! I started crying tears of joy as I had not been able to move my feet or legs at all since last year, 6/5/05! I could only do this one time, but THANK YOU GOD, I'LL TAKE THAT ONE TIME IMPROVEMENT!!!! I just pray I can do this more and more with each passing day. I'm making very small, slow improvements, but improvements just the same, WOOOHOOO!

I can hardly wait until my next infusion...., but no matter what your choice of therapy is, I will support your choice.

I testified at the FDA AC hearing on 3/7/06, in an effort (along with many other MS'ers) to bring Tysabri back to us an added therapy in the arsenal of medications used to fight our MS..you can view my videotaped testimony at: http://www.mspatientsforchoice.org/videocenter.htm and then clicking "Lauren's Video". There is also a really cool (short-3 min) video there that shows "How Tysabri Works".

In a nutshell, Tysabri's 68% superior efficacy, safety when used as a monotherapy, improvements in QoL (which no other MS drug can claim), for me, the benefits far outweigh the very small risk of contracting PML (.01% or 1:1000-probably less than that, actually). It is more of a risk for me NOT to have Tysabri, as Tysabri protected me from further attacks/relapses. See http://www.biogen.com/site/home.html , http://www.elan.com/, and/or http://www.tysabri.com/touch.html.

Actually, out of 3,000 trial pts and 5,000 gen. population pts (between 11/04 and 2/05), that were confirmed MS pts with non-compromised immune systems that received Tysabri as a monotherapy (me included), not one single patient developed PML...that's right, ZERO PML cases or a risk factor of 0:8000.

Tysabri = to shelter (abri in French). Any of you can email me at LGLBGL2003@AOL.COM, if you have further questions re: Tysabri, or you can ask me here. You can also visit my homepage at: http://hometown.aol.com/lglbgl2003/m...e/profile.html .

Whatever any of you decide to do, I wish you only the very best that life has to offer.

Lauren

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