The decision to use or not use a disease-modifying treatment is a personal one between yourself, your family, and your doctor.  Some patients decide to jump in and get started and others wait to see how their MS is going to progress.

Our community has begun to engage in a discussion regarding decisions made once you have been diagnosed.  In Mandy’s post, “You have MS, now what are you going to do about it?" she outlines some basic things to consider.

Doctor Nitin Sethi sets the tone of the conversation with “Do I Need to Take MS Medications? Discussing the Pros and Cons” and Merely Me asks “Should You Take One of the Disease-Modifying Drugs? The Pros of Choosing to Take Medication.”

Mandy touched on the studies which show Early Intervention may delay the onset of MS in patients who experience a Clinically Isolated Syndrome, a treatment strategy supported by the National MS Society.

In fact, the National MS Society has published a Disease Management Consensus Statement (which you should definitely read in full) that begins with the following:

• The Society recognizes that the factors that enter into a decision to treat are complex and best analyzed by the individual patient’s neurologist.
• Initiation of treatment with an interferon beta medication or glatiramer acetate should be considered as soon as possible following a definite diagnosis of MS with active, relapsing disease, and may also be considered for selected patients with a first attack who are at high risk of MS.*
• Natalizumab is generally recommended by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for patients who have had an inadequate response to, or are unable to tolerate, other multiple sclerosis therapies.
• Treatment with mitoxantrone may be considered for selected relapsing patients with worsening disease or patients with secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis who are worsening, whether or not relapses are occurring. 
• Patients’ access to medication should not be limited by the frequency of relapses, age, or level of disability.
• Treatment is not to be stopped while insurers evaluate for continuing coverage of treatment, as this would put patients at increased risk for recurrent disease activity.
• Therapy is to be continued indefinitely, except for the following circumstances: there is clear lack of benefit; there are intolerable side effects; better therapy becomes available.
• All of these FDA-approved agents should be included in formularies and covered by third party payers so that physicians and patients can determine the most appropriate agent on an individual basis; failure to do so is unethical and discriminatory.
• Movement from one disease-modifying medication to another should occur only for medically appropriate reasons.
• None of the therapies has been approved for use by women who are trying to become pregnant, are pregnant, or are nursing mothers.

So with all of that information, you might ask - Why did I choose Copaxone (glatiramer acetate) as my disease-modifying treatment?  What has been my experience?  Am I satisfied with my choice?