DMT and aging
Good morning all. I was diagnosed a very long time ago... so long ago that there were no DMTs available. When they did come out my doctor felt that because I was stable I didn't need to take anything. Fast forward several years and I was given Rebif which I stayed on for many years. I switched doctors and he wanted me to try something else. I tried Ocrevous but had an allergic reaction. Tried Vumerity but had an adverse reaction to that as well. In the middle of all that my doctor retired. I have been on nothing for several years now. My new doctor does not seem too concerned about that. While I do trust him and have read some recent articles about it not being too critical to remain on a DMT at my age - I will be 60 in a few months, I am wondering if anyone else has had any similar experiences. I haven't had an exacerbation in years and while I have transitioned to secondary progressive MS I don't feel like I am steadily getting worse. However I occasionally worry that I'm making a mistake to not push for it. I would be interested in hearing if anyone else in my age range has had similar experiences.
I’m in a very different situation to you but I had a similar query regarding drugs. It’s a question of not being able to foresee the future but wanting to. It makes sense to me if I’m not having relapses or showing signs of progression that I should do nothing but also know the MO of the disease. I’m almost 48 still twelve years away from you. I know someone who is 62 (she is my neighbour) and she is not on DMTs. But she came back from Spain where she had lived purposefully to get more Vitamin D. Taking a more natural Approach (but with scientific backing). I honestly think it’s about whether you want to take the risk. It’s a risk benefit between effects from the drugs now vs. Progression of the disease later.
What I’ve heard is if you’re stable for about 5 years and over about 60 then doctors consider it be ok to not be on a DMT because the immune system calms down later in life and the risks of suppressing your immune system begin to outweigh the rewards with age. (This is roughly what I’ve gathered from both my doctors and online).