I was diagnosed in Dec 07 and when still in shock when the drugs were mentioned to me. My neurologist wasn't very friendly and just told me they were once a week, every day or 3 times a week. Nothing more was offered and so I picked once a week since I am not a big fan of injections. I have since changed my neurologist.

Still, I have now been taking Avonex for almost 14 months and I can't say it gets any easier. I have skipped some weeks, just unable to face giving myself yet another needle. Sometimes I end up bruising really badly because my hand is shaking so much as I am inserting the needle into my leg, or the stress  headaches are so strong before the injection that I can barely see straight.   Recently, I was told there were patches that could be worn up to 2 hours in advance that would numb the injection site... I use them now and if kept on long enough, they numb me enough to make the needle less painful.

I don't know if Avonex has helped me. I still walk, but not very far. I can do my groceries or go shopping. I can drive - except the morning after my shot. I limp sometimes but other times, I walk ok. My cognitive results are looking good still. I just don't really know if it's doing me any good but I'm too scared not to take it So as long as I have an employer that covers my meds, I'll take it. Once they stop - then I will stop taking it as the price is just too costly to pay.   

When BR was diagnosed with MS, it was yet another six months before we knew that it was not the run-of-the-mill relapse remitting MS.  For the first year, he did the daily Copaxone injections.

 

So when he got that second MRI 6 months later that showed no lesion progression, the doctors were at a loss to explain why he had gone from a 1.5 to 8.0 on the EDSS over the same period of time.  Even if Copaxone was keeping the lesions at bay, it wasn't helping the disability.  This is typical for primary progressive MS.

 

Copaxone isn't cheap.  If the insurance hadn't covered it, we probably would have passed.  The data on the long term reduction in attacks just isn't convincing for someone in his late 40s.

I was diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS on Valentines Day of this year. To be honest, in my heart, I knew that I had it. I became suspicious last summer when my feet started tingling. There were times they were numb as well. Went to the GP, told him my paternal grandfather had MS & my cousin was diagnosed with it 2 years previously. GP was pretty dismissive. I should have insisted to see a neurologist. Fast forward to Nov 10, 2012. Woke up and my left hand to my shoulder was "dead"...couldn't feel my arm and hand at all. I would try to fish something out of my left jacket pocket and couldn't feel the contents in the pocket. That was scary. The vertigo New Year's Eve was terrifying. I knew the MRI would be bad, but there was always hope & denial. A week after it was confirmed I had MS, the neurologist (who has a bedside manner like a hockey puck) literally slid a pamphlet across his desk and said,"Time is a factor." My fear father, who watched his own dad go from a very strong, self-sufficient man, into a shrivelled shell from the 1960's to his death in 2000. Dad asked what the prognosis was, and the neurologist shrugged his shoulders and said, nobody knows. My mother piped up & asked which drug he recommended and he said, they are all similar, just do your research and decide. He emphasized that it would a. Only slow the disease down by 30% b. the drugs will not make me feel any better, but in fact they make ppl feel ill and c. There is no cure. Of course I knew there was no cure. God only knows how long this disease was eating away at the myelin. After research & discussing it with GP I chose Betaseron. I really don't know why I went with that one. We knew Copacone was out right away as I already struggle with depression and at times anxiety, so when we saw that shots can give ppl a rapid heart rate $ anxiety after the injections, we thought the was out. I really did not want to inject intramuscularly, so I said, Betaseron it is... The day after I started I had a fever of 102. My body (and still does at times) ached & the exhaustion...that is still the worst. A co-worker said once, "didn't u have a good noght's sleep?" I laughed out loud. I explained that the classic 8 hours doesn't make it better...I had the kind of tired that only someone with a chronic disease would understand. The Betaseron gives me night sweats, headaches, and body aches & pain. There are injection site issues...they leave about a toonie sized red mark & they are itchy!! I guess it is a small price to pay. To be honest, I couldn't live with myself if I did nothing. My dad watched his dad deteriorate with NOTHING. In a disease that is the boss, where the future is uncertain, I have to chose to DO something!! I feel better knowing, that despite the effects, for now it's all I've got, and it's a helluva lot better than grandpa ever had. I think at minimum it is psychologically better for me to take the medication. I just pray that my disease doesn't stampede out of control. I feel fortunate to live in Saskatchewan where the provincial government pays for almost all of it. As a single mother, that was a huge relief, a giant burden was lifted because costs are covered. The remaining 9% is covered by my work medical insurance. Overall, yup, my quality of life has suffered a bit. But at least there are options I can explore. I hope my story helps someone.