Interferon beta 1a
Common Questions and Answers about Interferon beta 1a
rebif
I have been treating my multiple sclerosis (MS) with avonnex (interferon beta-1a) for the past ten years. I have had four severe flare ups, three in the first four years and one in the last six months. which I needed physical therapy to walk again. In 2003 I was diagnosed with Hep C, it has recent progressed to stage 3 fibrosis. I have a reason to believe that my MS treatment is damaging my liver and causing my fibrosis to advance.
)
Pharmacokinetics The pharmacokinetics of Rebif® (interferon beta-1a) in people with multiple sclerosis have not been evaluated. In healthy volunteer subjects, a single subcutaneous (sc) injection of 60 mcg of Rebif® (liquid formulation) resulted in a peak serum concentration (Cmax) of 5.1 ± 1.7 IU/mL (mean ± SD), with a median time of peak serum concentration (Tmax) of 16 hours.
The standard therapy options include intravenous immunoglobulin and plasmapharesis, corticosteroids, azathioprine, cyclophosphamide, etanercept, mycophenolate mofetil, interferon alpha 2a and tacrolimus. Current ones are interferon beta 1a, rituximab, and high dose cyclophosphamide. Your neurologist needs to apprise you of the long-term side effects since prolonged therapy are required. Botox shots are not known to be used in therapy.
You are taking rebif, which is interferon beta-1a used for relapsing MS. you could be suffering from jaw muscle spasms causing tongue and lip bites. You may be experiencing numbness in the tongue, a common symptom of multiple sclerosis per se. Review with your neurologist if your disease spectrum has changed and for these newer symptoms. He might like to add some muscle relaxant like tizanidine, baclofen or carbamazepine.
You are welcome with any further clarifications. God bless.
Trial 108 (ADVANCE)
Trial 108 was a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial conducted in treatment-naïve subjects (had received no prior therapy for HCV, including interferon or pegylated interferon monotherapy). Incivek was given for the first 8 weeks of treatment (T8/PR regimen) or the first 12 weeks of treatment (T12/PR regimen) in combination with Peg-IFN-alfa-2a/RBV for either 24 or 48 weeks.
one study i looked at said that a dose of 30 micrograms/week of IM interferon beta-1a was well tolerated but a dose of 60 micrograms/week caused severe flulike symptoms and elevated liver enzymes. im assuming that this type is similar to infergen, really strong.
it seems like pegasys and pegintron dosages are somewhat similar.
Up until the protease inhibitors were approved this year the standard treatment for 1a was pegylated interferon and ribaviron. This treatment was only effective in ~50% of 1a patients. Now 1a is treated with a protease inhibitor, pegylated interferon, and ribaviron. I'm in week 8 and treating with Incivek, Peg, and Ribaviron. There are a lot of side effects.
The next thing I'd suggest you do is find out how much liver damage you have with a liver biopsy.
I was a previous 1a null-responder to many tries with interferon and ribavirin. I cleared on Viekira Pak. I am also cirrhotic. The SVR rates of cirrhotic non-responders or relapsers in the Turquoise Trial (VIekira Pak) were over 91%. Side effects were minimal and overall it was very easy. Best to you.
genotype 1a minimally requires 48 weeks of interferon/ribavirin therapy, and patients will respond successfully to the therapy in 45-50% of cases.
Have you recently been diagnosed?
Recommended
