Treatment Options
So I was newly diagnosed last week by letter. I was told they saw new activity in my brain in addition to the two lesions they saw in my spine previously.
The letter said the disease was ‘active’ and listed Tysabri, Lemtrada, Kesimpta, and Ocrevus as the main options (in that order) and Mavenclad as a back up.
I’ve done a fair amount of reading already and know a bit about risks and benefits of each of these drugs, but would really appreciate any advice on questions to ask when I get hold of a neuro or nurse.
I’m anxious to get the most effective therapy possible as I’ve had a lot of tricky symptoms since November when all this started.
Many thanks!
I am just waiting to start Tysabri. The neuro and a colleague of mine both spoke very highly of it. Particularly as I have very active MS and it's also better when MS is treated soon after diagnosis and no other treatment has been initiated. I wanted to know if it put me at higher risk of other diseases, how it was administered and frequency. The biggest concern is if I test positive for the JC virus but people of Tysabri tend to have yearly blood tests. I guess it's what concerns about your own health you have . I didn't want to take daily tablets not self inject if I could avoid it...
Tysabri was my first treatment and started 10 years ago. Even though I am JC positive I was very closely monitored and never had a single issue or reaction. I found the close monitoring extremely comforting. 3 months ago have flipped to Kesimpta as I am prepared to step away a bit from the comfort blanket, so far so good. Other than Covid 😫but that’s a different story and to date hasn’t had much impact