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I'm 18 years old and this summer I started to feel my legs asleep like little needles poking me all over from my waist down. It took a week before I went to the clinic but they did not know what it was. So the next day I went to the ER and after 2 MRIs the doctor told me I had MS. I was told to inject myself once a week with Avonex. The side effects that came were worse than the numb legs. I had really bad migraines and vomiting. I would shake because I would get chills and then it would end with feeling hot all over. Also I have a hard time injecting my self because of the needle. Sometimes I stick it in 3 times. Right now I feel great. The tingly feeling went away a few days after leaving the hospital. I just want to go back to normal. I don't want to have to dread taking my shot every week because of what comes with it.

Bazan18 wrote:I'm 18 years old and this summer I started to feel my legs asleep like little needles poking me all over from my waist down. It took a week before I went to the clinic but they did not know what it was. So the next day I went to the ER and after 2 MRIs the doctor told me I had MS. I was told to inject myself once a week with Avonex. The side effects that came were worse than the numb legs. I had really bad migraines and vomiting. I would shake because I would get chills and then it would end with feeling hot all over. Also I have a hard time injecting my self because of the needle. Sometimes I stick it in 3 times. Right now I feel great. The tingly feeling went away a few days after leaving the hospital. I just want to go back to normal. I don't want to have to dread taking my shot every week because of what comes with it.

Welcome to ThisIsMS, Bazan18.

It is my opinion that you need to see the doctor who prescribed Avonex for you (or your GP), tell him everything you are experiencing, and ask him if you can stop. If your symptoms are gone and you "feel great," as you say, I would expect your doctor to approve of your plan to stop.

But with this health scare experience, you would be wise to take good care of yourself from here on – follow every mother's advice: get your sleep, no smoking, no illegal drugs, and "eat your vegetables." All the best to you.

I would have hoped that the doctor who prescribed the Avonex sat down with you and discussed all the options that were available to you when it came to deciding what medication, if any, to take. 18 is very young to be diagnosed with MS but they are finding that more and more people, even younger than you, are getting the disease.

Drugs like Avonex play with your immune system and as you have experienced, can cause many nasty side effects. If they don't settle down soon, I would certainly be discussing with your doctor about possibly switching medications. Although the docs will tell you these drugs can help, their level of effectiveness is not all that great.

But before you make any further decisions, insist that your doc gives you ALL the possible information out there so you can make an INFORMED decision.

Harry

I stopped Avonex after a year (side effects were awful). I've been diagnosed 9 years and have not take drugs (aside from 2 methylpredisone infusions following an acute relapse) and have and EDSS of 1. From my experience, diet and exercise is the only treatment plan to yield positive results. Best of luck; sorry you were diagnosed so young.

Just a quick note - if you decide to stay on Avonex, get the Avonex Pen. It makes injections MUCH easier and pretty much eliminates the need to poke more than once.

I would agree that diet and exercise are very important. There are various diets that you can try but at a minimum, eliminate junk food, minimize grains and dairy and avoid processed foods.