Just wondering, why Tecfidera?

[Quietly confused]

Hello

I have been taking Tecfidera since April 2013. The first three months I had some flushing, nothing major. I rarely have a bit of a stomach issue, again nothing major. That is all of the issues that I have had with Tecfidera.

I too was on Copaxone and the injection site reactions were over the top for me. I still have issues with a couple of the sites.

I am glad that I made the change. Copaxone was no good to me if I was missing doses due to the reactions, even though the med itself seemed to be working.

Good luck in your decision, everyone is different and you must do what is right for you!

[StephanieBreanne87]

re: why tecfidera?

Tecfidera used to be called BG12 in Europe and had great reviews! It came to America and was approved by the FDA with a different name.. I take it twice a day and feel just fine..I had 70-80 lesions on my brain in the beginning..was on copaxone then rebif..then Tysabri with a positive JC Virus result. That put me into remission made my MRIs look so clear when compared to the beginning and throughout the aggression..So I moved on to Tecfidera ..had the tingling side effects after taking it and feeling like I had to go to the bathroom after I would take it..these subsided after a couple months..just had my first MRI after being on it for a couple months.. nothing has changed

[klenn1]

Tecfidera

I was on Copaxone until I had a new symptom. Through process of elimination (neuro want to spare me an MRI) it was determined that Copaxone was not working for me. Went on Tecfidera, and after a couple of false starts, I'm glad I'm there. Side effects were a bit tough for me, but they only last for about 10 - 20 minutes. And they diminish over time. I thought "flushing" would be like hot flashes, but not so much for me. I had burning, like a bad sunburn, in every orifice of my body, including ears, eyes and private areas! It also itched like crazy, but scratching was very painful. Went about 1 1/2 months without any issues, then flushed for about 1/2 hour. Nothing since then! I appreciate Tecfidera!

[erica1000]

I echo what MARCO stated.


I had been on Copaxone for more than 4 years and because I had been stable for several years with no changes in my MRI since 2010, my nuero had me reduce my injections to 3x weekly. But even with that reduction, I still got burnt out on injections. I have no issues with needles but mentally it just got to be more that I wanted to deal with.

We looked at the efficacy rates of the DMD and decided it would be a good move. Yes I knew of the reported side effects but I also know that medicine is trial and error. What works for one may not work for all as well the degree to which is is success may be different.


And as for taking the Tecfidera, it was rough during the 3rd week with stomach pain and really bad flushing that made me want to sit in the unheated garage with no clothes on when it was 20 degrees outside. But now (just started month 3) I have no stomach pain and the flushing rarely happens and when it does it is minimal and only last a few minutes. For me making the change was one that came with hesitation because of some of what I read here as well as conversations with my doctor.

For me making the change was one that came with hesitation because of some of what I read here as well as conversations with my doctor. Ultimately I am glad I made the change. I guess I fall into the category of an early adopter and if that helps with gathering data for future research then that's great .I will have a 3 month check up and MRI in a few weeks and I am hopeful that it will show that I am still stable.

[premington]

I was on Copaxone for about 15 years and had no problems with the shot. I also inject testosterone intramuscularly every 10 days, so injections are very do-able for me. As far as I'm concerned, I gravitate to whatever form of therapy is best for me.

Copaxone stopped working for me; I ended up getting attacks while one it. That's why I switched to Tecfidera. If the side effects are found to be intolerable, I'd probably switch to another one of the oral meds.

-Paul

[hope32]

To me, the increased effectiveness is a huge plus!

I did also have what my MS specialist called injection fatigue.

I was on Copaxone for a while and did have side effects. Really painful injections and injection site reactions. I had to ice the site for 20 mins before and 20 mins after every single injection to make the pain more manageable and even then, it got old having multiple painful welts on my body at any given time.

With Betaseron, I had flulike symptoms. They got better over time but would still crop up. I also developed GI symptoms from all the Advil I had to take to counteract the flulike symptoms.

Five months in, most of my Tec S/E's are gone. With Beta and Copax, the S/E's got worse over time (for the most part; Beta's flulike stuff got a little better). For me overall, Tec is the hands-down winner.

[hope32]

Oh and yeah, compliance issues for me on both Copaxone and Beta. The pain and the ordeal of copax, and like with Beta, if I was sick (which was often) I would often skip the shot because I didn't want to add flulike symptoms on top of my sickness symptoms. Or sometimes on vacation I would forget to do my shots. I've never intentionally skipped a dose of Tecfidera. There have been a couple times I forgot but it's rare. I'm a pretty responsible, conscientious person, not the type who would normally blow off something important, but the shots were just not a great option for me.

[Jazzberry]

for me it was different reasons. I have not been on any DMDs simply due to cost. Having amedicare plan eliminated me from the drug company assitance programs and I simply could not afford the copays of 33%.

My neuro let me know yesterday that they have had great luck from Biogen with the tecfidera financial assistance. Somehow they find ways around the "govt sponsored insurance exclusions". Signed up at the office on the spot. He also went over (again) all the options, both injectibles, infusions and oral. We both figured it was worth a shot (no pun intended). If not we can always try another drug/company.

Cross your fingers this will work out for me and I can finally get on something to try and slow progression.