Tips for starting Avonex?
Hello all. I'm starting Avonex on Monday and wondered if those of you who've been there and done that have any tips for me - whether it's for minimising side-effects or getting to grips with giving myself injections! I was diagnosed with RRMS last year but my symptoms started about 6 years earlier. After careful consideration with my neurologist I do feel this is the right treatment for me to try as my first DMD, but as I've been lucky with my MS (mild and infrequent sensory flare-ups with no lasting symptoms) I am still a little apprehensive about starting a drug which may make me feel worse in the short-term, so any advice you've found worked for you would be hugely appreciated. Thank you.
@lm85 , try the "Treatments" button, on the top of the Shift Home Page, followed by the "Avonex" button. This will locate all the previous discussions on Avonex. I'm sure you 'll find some help there.
My advice is to not think about it and just do it, make it a routine, (I used to have mine around breakfast and would get a tea ready so I could sit and have that after for example). Is your ms nurse going to be with you when you start the treatment? If they can be with you that's really reassuring, but just talking about it with them is often good just to work out what you're doing in your own head. The advice is to have some painkillers about 10 minutes before as well, for the first time definitely follow that. You can see how it goes and adjust as needed. If you get flu symptoms don't panic as that is very common, but it can be very disconcerting first time. Another good practice when starting new medication is don't overload yourself with things to do that day so you can relax if need be, and you can pick things up later. I may have failed at that one the first time, but I've gotten better at following that advice. As stumbler says there are a lot of threads discussing pros and cons of avonex, but remember when reading that everyone has different thresholds and reactions to treatments, this will largely be anecdotal evidence. Try not to get too drawn in by scare stories. Just know for every bad one there's one praising the drug for helping someone regain their life. Basically see how it goes and don't get stressed out about it because that's the last thing you need. I have moved on from avonex as my body didn't respond as well as they were hoping, but it was my first DMT as well. I think that I made a couple mistakes trying to go about my life as normal when I started it, pushed myself too hard and found it hard to adjust at first because of that. I was on it for 9 months and it did get much easier in terms of side effects after a month or so. I hope it's easier for you. I wish you good luck for Monday, and try to relax, avonex has been about a good long time and plenty of people do really well on it.