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Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis with AVONEX® (interferon Beta-1a) Enhances Quality of Life New Data Shows

Last post Fri, May 09 2008 1:21 AM by terrylynn. 1 replies.

• squiffy2

  Posts: 68

  • Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis...
  • Posted: Thu, Apr 17 2008 6:00 AM

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  • Results were released from a one-year prospective, observational study conducted to determine the impact of beginning treatment with AVONEX on MS patients' overall quality of life (QoL). The data showed that patients receiving treatment with AVONEX experienced statistically significant improvements in QoL, as measured by the EuroQol questionnaire (EQ-5D), compared to baseline.
    
    In addition, the study demonstrated the negative impact of disability progression (as measured by the expanded disability status scale (EDSS)) on employment status and QoL. These data were presented as a poster presentation at the 60th American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois................
    
    For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Drugs : Disease Modifying Drugs : Disease Modifying Drugs Ongoing Research : AVONEX® and REBIF®

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  • The Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre - http://www.msrc.co.uk
  Filed under: multiple sclerosis, ms, research, MS_Treatment, MS Multiple_Sclerosis
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• terrylynn

  Posts: 185

  • Re: Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis...
  • Posted: Fri, May 09 2008 1:21 AM

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  • Avonex was the first MS treatment I tried after my diagnosis. The injections were once a week, and within a few hours the side effects of sever flu-like symptoms, fatigue, severe nausea, fatigue, and aches and pains. The symptoms lasted about 5-6 days and just about the time the symptoms began to normalize, it was time to give myself another injection. It left me weak and unable to barely take care of myself and made peace with the fact that laying on the couch for months was just the was it had to be, but really had to think about weather this was working and what exactly how it was suppose to make me feel better. The next medication/injectable was betaseron. The injections are subcutaneous and are a little more painful that the intramuscular injections of the Avonex. The side effects we not half as bad but unlike weekly injections of the Avonex, the injections of Betaseron we every other day, and after a month I began once again dreading the thought of another injection. And besides the major side effect of the injections were reactions at the injection sites. The injection site would become red and inflammed and now I have all these reaction site scars on my arms and abdomen. The up side of this was if you gave yourself the injection about an hour or so before bed you could usually sleep through the side effects of the flu symptoms, and they weren't nearly as sever as the Avonex. The best part of the whole experience is my brain MRI 6 months after starting the program showed my lesions had shrunk and most had disappeared altogether. And I have been in remission ever since, with no exhaserbations or flares since. I'm told I've been one of the lucky ones to be in a remission so-to-speak, but I'm counting my blessings and am trying not to push my luck. I know the purpose of these "ABC" drugs is to shrink the lesions, and slow the progression of the MS. And praying that I never have to do these injections is a good incentive not to push my luck. Thanks for keeping us informed on the new studies, and I hope my personal experiences has helped you as well. Terrylynn

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  • Filed under: MS Multiple_Sclerosis
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