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@hooperka 

Last reply

hooperka

New and reluctant to start treatment

Hi All, I have been recently diagnosed and awaiting my medication info pack to choose something. I started with optic neuritis and quickly got onto MRI and lumbar puncture followed by the diagnosis. I have to say that other than that one time optic neuritis my MS doesn't really affect me, or at least not in the way I can notice (waiting for referral for another MRI to see if there are any more lesions since the last one), hence I am a bit reluctant on starting medication. Do all these drugs have side effects like nausea, flushes, fatigue etc? Or do you recommend any that have possibly least of these? I realise that it is worth it and rather necessary but I am also worried that once I start on medication I will feel much worse than I currently do and this will be on every day basis. Thanks
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@hooperka
@hooperka
 

@nutshell88 thanks for replying to me. Can I ask what was so bad about rebef?

@Vixen
@Vixen
 

Hello @hooperka. Sorry for your diagnosis but glad it’s stable and not affecting you. The thing with DMDs is that they are designed to help prevent further relapses, not treat existing symptoms. Taking them is a quandary everyone faces. Some people choose never to tread the medication route, preferring alternative approaches. Most neuros would be likely to adopt and recommend the ‘hit it fast and hard’ approach. You could wait and see if you get another flare up or new lesions before you start taking meds. The problem with that, is that the further damage is already done and can’t be reversed. So you might wish you had started DMDs earlier! It’s so, so tough, and loads of folks on here have faced the same dilemma. Each person has a different story, set of symptoms, rate of progression and attitude to medication. That’s what makes it so hard to make a decision, as no two cases are alike. I didn’t feel too badly affected when diagnosed but chose to start Tecfidera. I was diagnosed as a complete surprise at 50, and felt I didn’t have time to just ‘see how it goes’. I went with Tec as it’s two tabs a day with minimum impact on lifestyle. I was frightened of the reported possible side effects and was lucky to never have experienced them. Anyway, that my story. My advice would be to make sure you are armed with facts. What does your neuro say? My neuro team would not recommend a specific drug, but some hospitals are more pro certain drugs, based on their patients experiences with them. Good luck with your decision, there is lots of support for you on this site x