well life goes on huh...(thank you sandy for filling me in on the correct name)

doc is talking of switching me from Copaxone to Avenox(sp?) he agreed i dont have rrms its the next one spms or what ever it is called, its progressive that much is for sure, anywho, doc is talking of switching me to Avenox(again sp?)

so any hints suggestions ideas will be fully welcomed, Avenox is one i dont see mentioned a lot on here, is there a reason for this? any insights will be greatly appreciated, thank you everyone


peace folks

Frank, I just posted this on Insights. Avelox is an antibiotic used to treat lung infections and sinus issues.

Are you sure it's this med or Avonex your talking about?

Frank, sweety, there you are.. Avonex is aa interferon drug, much like Betaserun and Rebif. They can all cause you flu like side effects, that, go away after awhile for some, but not for all peeps. I had to get off of Avonex because of the high fevers I got, that wouldn't go away.

Since your Neuro has deemed you SPMS, I question his choice of Avonex for you, since it has not been found helpful for SPMSers..

Some SPMSer have tried Betaserun or found some help with Rebif.

Good luck and let us know how it goes for you..

thanks Sally thats what i thought too, beta was the one i want, got to have the MRI first and shall see what he wants to do, just overwhelmed with it all and how quickly i went down in my abilities

Chemically (organic) speaking - avonex and rebif are beta 1a's. Just different dosages and frequencies. Betaseron is a beta 1b. Copaxone is an acetate. Tysabri is a monoclonal antibody.

Back in the late 80's/early 90's when we were watching all the research going on -

Dr Sheremata in Miami seemed to be on the cutting edge of developing alpha interferon. His clinical studies seemed promising.

Dr Ruth Arnon in Israel didn't have much success with COP I. I don't remember who came up with COP II (copaxone).

Beta 1b had been around for a long time. It was the first to get FDA approval. This surprised the majority of us. The clinical results weren't all that good.

And then we have Dr Ted Yednock. His work with monoclonal antibodies seemed like the best shot at heading off MS deterioration at the time. I wonder how TYsabri got its name...

Anti-cytokine didn't make the cut. Interleukin antagonist didn't make the cut. Linomide, Anti-CD40, TGF-B2, DAB-IL-2, TNFrI... all flopped.

The T-cell receptors - peptide, antagonist, antagonist peptide, nope. Antigen specific blocks didn't survive trials either.

No, my memory's not that good. I'm reading my research notes from back then. There was maybe a couple hundred of us MS'ers on the Prodigy MS message board sharing info and trial results. We had a Neuro with MS in Detroit helping us out a lot.

Tom

Frank if you're going to be starting on Betaseron, that's what I am going to be going back on after my surgery and recuperation...we can do this together! I was on it once before. Every other day subq shot. I hear that the needles are much smaller now! Yeah for that!

I am thinking mid-May? How about you?

(don't think we can call him a Beta Babe...)

And why not? Guys are babes too..

Subliminal Sally?

Hi Frank,

I was on Avonex for 18 months. It's an intramuscular shot but only once a week. Once you get used to the harpoon it's not too bad. I had flu-like symptoms for one day a week and they weren't usually too bad. It's a much lower dose than the other interferons.

The good thing is you only have to think about it once a week.

Hugs to you and Deb.

thank you everyone, gives me food for thought, thanks, probably be starting right around he same time Cheryl, tom thank you shall do some reading this week on the three meds or 4 that are left, fun illness when u think u got it all figured out and a game plan it all changes