Newly diagnosed and highly confused about treatment choice

[saisriharsha]

Hi All,

I had been recently diagnosed as a case of Multiple sclerosis with active inflammation and had my first attack a month ago. Intravenous steroids were given and am currently on Oral steroids for tapering dosage. I had paraesthesias and visual symptoms in right eye, but after steroid therapy, currently i dont have any symptoms except for Urgency and frequency of micturition. My Neurologist after reviewing my clinical profile and MRI progression of lesions opined that I should be started on Natalizumab as a first line treatment for 2 years followed by switch over to other medications. However I couldn't decide whether to start with the third line of drugs straight away nor could find any inputs from the people who were started likewise. Can anyone who is also on similar treatment with Natalizumab as a first line treatment as opposed to other first line drugs share their experience? Thank you in advance for that.

[euphoniaa]

Hi All,

I had been recently diagnosed as a case of Multiple sclerosis with active inflammation and had my first attack a month ago. Intravenous steroids were given and am currently on Oral steroids for tapering dosage. I had paraesthesias and visual symptoms in right eye, but after steroid therapy, currently i dont have any symptoms except for Urgency and frequency of micturition. My Neurologist after reviewing my clinical profile and MRI progression of lesions opined that I should be started on Natalizumab as a first line treatment for 2 years followed by switch over to other medications. However I couldn't decide whether to start with the third line of drugs straight away nor could find any inputs from the people who were started likewise. Can anyone who is also on similar treatment with Natalizumab as a first line treatment as opposed to other first line drugs share their experience? Thank you in advance for that.

Hello saisriharsha, and welcome to the forum! I personally have no experience with MS meds, but there are separate sub-forums here for each of the approved MS meds -- including a forum for Tysabri, which is the brand name for Natalizumab. Here's a link: http://www.thisisms.com/forum/tysabri-a ... zumab-f11/

It has plenty of threads with both information & personal experiences. Feel free to comment or ask questions. And good luck!

[saisriharsha]

Hi euphoniaa

Thank you for the welcome. Will search the threads suggested.

[ElliotB]

There are many choices when it comes to DMDs and they all have pros and cons. You should check them all out and then make a decision.

Possibly as or more important than a DMD is diet, exercise, supplements and lifestyle change (eliminating all stress from your life). There is also a lot of information about all these topics on TIMS.



You may want to read this thread on TIMS:

http://www.thisisms.com/forum/tysabri-a ... 25202.html

[saisriharsha]

Thank you ElliotB for the info. Will read those threads...

[daverestonvirginia]

Welcome, I was diagnosed about 12 years ago and I am doing fine. With MS we seem to never know how things will go, but in many cases they go well. I would take some time to decide what you want to do as far as treatment goes. A couple weeks or so is not going to make any difference in the long run. I did a great deal of research on the internet before deciding what I wanted to do. I went with the Best Bet Diet, exercise, vitamin d and Copaxone. Tysabri is not on my list of drugs I would ever use. I might consider the newer oral drug (Tecfidera) since that was not available when I was diagnosed, but my sister is on it and seems to be doing well. Dave