betaseron effectiveness

The BEYOND trial compared the effectiveness of three treatment arms (regular-dose Betaseron, double-dose Betaseron, and Copaxone®) in 2244 patients with RRMS. The primary endpoint was relapse risk, and all three treatments showed a robust, equal effectiveness (average follow-up time was just over two years). The annualized relapse rate fell by almost 80 percent, compared to the year prior to entry.

My Dr. wants me to start the new oral meds after the baby is born. I was on Betaseron for one year before we conceived. In that year, I had three relapses that required steroids. He said that ment that the Betaseron was not effective. One of the relapses really does not caount against the treatment because it was the 10th week of the treatment. I guess I am ok with trying the new meds. What do you all think? Would you try it? Do you think that it is a good idea?

ve kicked around the CRABs here, a lot. Copaxone, Rebif, Avonex, and Betaseron are the primary four. Your doctor didn't offer Tysabri as your fifth, did he? I like the Decision Maker tool in the uk that walks you through the drugs and helps you figure what is important for you. You can access this at http://www.msdecisions.org.uk welcome to the world of drugs aand bills. I'm glad to hear you are getting treatment for your CIS. Congrats on that one.

Both medicines you list have strong safety profiles and stood the test of time (although the Extavia brand is newer, but I believe is is the same as Betaseron), as have a few other medicines you don’t list. And you can always change your mind later, although you should give a drug at least a few months to work. And yes, there’s a chance it might not work out for you, but MS progression definitely won’t work out for you, and so you are right to try to attack your MS with something.

ve noticed that most people are concerned about the side effects (which I am as well) however, what about the effectiveness. Has anyone noticed if any of these medicines are slowing the progression of these lesions? When diagnosed last week I had 24 lesions. I'm praying to stop the progression.

I have been off of Betaseron for about 2 weeks now and my eyes are back to being very uncomfortable. Before I started Avonex eye pressure and pain was a huge problem. Now it is is starting again.

m not on betaseron, but am glad to hear you are making a change to see if you can find a combination to slow your MS. Getting the new MRI done on the stronger machine is so important for your baseline... it will give your new neuro a good view as to where you are coming from. And you're right, it might show where you have new damage that is causing your changes.

//pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/29/scientists-find-there-may-be-two-forms-of-multiple-sclerosis/?

I've been on Betaseron since a year after I was diagnosed in 2000. On August 20th, I quit taking Betaseron cold turkey when I finally received my new oral medication Tecfidera. For the last few days I have been dealing with horrible body aches, diarrhea, cold sweats & the inability to eat (not feeling sick, just not being hungry or interested in eating). I do not have a fever, a cough, allergies or anything else I can conclude to be at fault for these annoying symptoms.

That's great news! I didn't realize there were tests that could be run to see if the dmds are still effective for a person until my hubby's Neuro ran one to see if his Betaseron was still working. His tests showed it is, and we were certainly grateful for that! Sometimes modern medicine IS positive.

The third study by Ebers et al (in press) very nicely complements the other two studies in that it compares the current clinical outcomes of the persons who got betaseron during the original betaseron trial done 16 years ago (181 subjects) with the persons who were on placebo in the same trial (79 subjects). The basic finding was “No differences in outcome between original randomization groups could be discerned using standard disability measures”.

My Neuro wants me to switch from Rebif to Betaseron. I have been taking Rebif since March 09 and have had to do one round of Solu Medrol in May and will find out tomorrow if I have to do another. I also have pretty bad injection site reactions which is why the Neuro wants the switch. I guess Rebif has acid in the injection and it makes the site reactions worse? My question is, I am under the impression that Betaseron is not pre mixed and also that there is not an auto injector?

I was on Avonex for a year and could not tolderate it any longer. I went from Avonex to Betaseron and am doing much better. I still have fluish side effects but they are not as harsh as Avonex. Maybe you should consider going to a different type of medication if it is the side effects that are the issue. The IM injection got to be too much for me as well as the 4 days worth of fluish symptoms.

I have been taking Betaseron for over 14 years, with no substantial side effects. I was told I would have to switch over to Extavia after the first of the year. ??????????? I have a couple problems with the Extavia, One being it looks to me that Extavia may be trying to save some money ,[[ At the patients expense ] one--a possible cheaper syringe???

The specialist at UCSF is switching me to Tysabri and has told me to go ahead and stop my Betaseron. It has now been 2 shots that I missed (well didn't take) and for the past 2 days I have been feeling like someone beat the crud outta me. My husband is insisting it is cuz I am not taking my shots. I don't see how that can be. We went to UCSF Monday night (4 hr drive), had my Dr appt Tues which took 4 hrs.

He did warn me about the miscarage risk. The last visit, he said to get off Betaseron 1 month before ttc. The BetaPlus nurse said give it two months. My husband and I discussed this. The current plan is to get off the Betaseron at the end of next week. That would be 2 wks in to the last pack of bc pills. We are planning to use alternate methods of bc for the next cycle. That would put me off of Betaseron 8 wks prior to the hoped for conception, and off the bc pills for 6 wks.

Hi JRHO, welcome to the forum here. I think you will find this a great community full of very smart MS patients and people in Limbo. I'm so sorry that you join us among the ranks of people with MS. As for the drug choices, there is a UK site I like to refer new people to for reviewing the choices. It is at http://www.msdecisions.org.uk It will step you through all of the drugs, their delivery methods, and the side effects. I hope you will find it useful.

Well, as some of you guys may remember, I had a blood clot in my leg last October. This was right behind my right knee, which is the knee with all the problems - weakness, numbness. I also have phlebitis in my left leg. I also have Reynaud's, apparently since 2009. Well, I hadn't been taking my Betaseron, because I'd read some anecdotal evidence that indicated there was a connection between blood clots, reynaud's, and Betaseron.

I saw on your other post the mention that they want you to take Rebif instead. Be sure that your neuro is fine with that - they are both interferons and work the same way.

Hi! If you were my patient, I would advise you that your age alone protects you from pregnancy. That combined with the tubal ligation should approach 99.9% effectiveness. I wouldn't ever give 100%. If you are that concerned you could use condoms as well, but really don't need to . Good luck!

Pretty much said I wouldnt be sitting there looking like this if I had been on meds (not sure that that is entirley true only a 30% chance in my opinion) She gave me the option of another med covered by my health insurance which is Betaseron. Gave me the CD to watch and sent RX to pharmacy. Of course I come home and read all teh possible side effects and its making me want to do nothing now. I am so med paranoid (and Im a Nurse for Pete's sake!

Hard to answer your question without more information. Why do you have only those four choices? Avonex (which I’ve used for 11 years) and others are notably absent from your list. Avonex, Rebif, and Betaseron have been around longest and have the strongest safety profiles. If your MS is more aggressive, then you may be more inclined to consider Gilenya, Tecfidera, Aubagio, or Tysabri. All of the DMDs are discussed from a neutral perspective at the link below: http://www.nationalmssociety.

Betaseron effectiveness

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