betaseron reactions

On a serious note, after taking Betaseron for 7 years, I started having injection site reactions. They would become red and swollen and nothing would take the swelling down -- I called my neurologist and he said if it is red and swollen, it is not MS related. See your family doctor immediately! The injection sites turned into Cellulitis and I ended up in the hospital receiving intravenous antibiotics. This happened about 10 times over the course of about 5 years.

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 started on betaseron (betaferon here in UK) 2 weeks ago, so have so far injected 7 times. On nearly all the injection sites I have a slightly raised red area, approx 1 1/2 - 2 centimetres in diameter, not at all itchy or bothersome in any way. Where I did the first 2 injections I now only have very small marks, more like tiny bruises. I suppose I am looking for someone to tell me it is ok to ignore this. I don't want to go to the doc or MS nurse and risk the drug being stopped.

Well, after my first month giving Copaxone a try, my neuro tossed that to the curb quicker than quick. I had too many allergic reactions to it, so that one is off the list for sure. I am going to be starting Betaseron soon. I have read up on it quite a bit, but am curious to know if any of you are currently taking this, have been on it, etc... and if so, what was it like for you? My biggest concern about this one is that everything I read warns of extreme depression.

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!

To think its been 2 years already. I initially started on rebif then switched to betaseron due to injectionsite reactions. Plus I was still having flares every 3 months I started betaseron in Dec 09 and the site reactions were better but not great and my MS was still not slowing down. In June of last year my neuro decided to send me UCSF and see if I would do better on tysabri. So here I am. The massage Pt helps tremendously.

Hi Mandy - I wondered where you went. Mild-shild huh? Have you any imaging lately? See if you've had improvements w/lesions? I've heard all good things about betaseron/feron. One of the top MS Docs here in Jersey prescribes it primarily over the others.

Now I have been on Betaseron for a year and I am having a terrible time with site reactions and fluish symptoms. The flu symptoms are hit and miss. One time I will have a temp and feel yucky and the next time I have no problem I was giving my Beta in my stomach but had that serious infection. Even before that I would be so sore I could not wear my jeans.

The steroids to clear it up for a while but I hate the steroids. In Oct 09 I swithced to copaxone but had an allergic reactions . now on Betaseron. I had another flare up and a new MRI MRi show new lesions and expanded ones around my optic nerve. I am scared to change meds but I am scared to go blind. Expect my vision I am relativly healthy. some leg numbess but nothing to worry about.

If you are allergic to interferon (Rebif and Avonex), then you will be allergic to the Betaseron. You were allergic to Copax too? What type of allergic reaction did you have, and how long did it take to happen? If I end up allergic to Rebif, my Neuro told me my only options are Copax or Tysabri. Were the reactions different from med to med? Please describe if you can.

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.

He said that he believes in a higher dose - high frequency shot....either rebif or betaseron. His preference is betaseron....ultimately more meds being injected than Rebif, and much lower instances of injection site problems. The negative is slightly higher chance of antibodies being built up. The efficacy is about the same. So the MS specialist said Betaseron and we now have a box of the stuff sitting on our kitchen table. How did you end up with Rebif?

But anyhoo she gave me two medicine to read on betaseron and rebif. Both are injections I was told they have a new pill out that is very expensive and medcaid isn't paying at this time. I'm very uneasy abt the injections. Can anyone tell me if they've taken either one and their experience with it. I want another child in a few yrs and don't want this to stop me.

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.

My wife just started betaseron...her third shot is tonight. Betaseron is actually a sub-cultaneous shot, like Rebif. She is using titration, or easing her way onto the shots...starting with a .25 dose and over a month(about) increasing the dosage until it is full. The "Beta Nurse" suggested that the flu-like side effects generally happen to all at first but basically disappear in the bulk of people rather quickly.

It has no flu like sx and no potential for liver damage so it has a lot of appeal! I hear lots about jab reactions but I had no pain whatsoever and no skin reactiions apart from immediate redness. Good luck!

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.

First thing Monday I called the neuro, and they suggested calling Betaseron. Betaseron said that the interferons would cause a fever, but not 24/7. So my first assumption was that it was a UTI or something similar. (Although I didn't, and still don't have any symptoms of a UTI.) So I called the neuro back about the spasms and told them what Betaseron had said. The nurse suggested going to the PCP to see if there was another reason for the fever.

Betaseron reactions

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