Avonex - I don't know how much longer I can do this!!

[Redwings]

I meant for the main point of my post to be that since saywhat is so clearly suffering considerably from the effects of Avonex, and is unable to deal with her child in the way she would like to, she would be well advised to stop taking it.

Well, that's different.

And for anyone reading this thread who wants to know about the safety of breastfeeding while taking Avonex, there IS a point to the difference in the statements between the prescribing information and the medication guide. The prescribing information is the "official" labeling information for the drug. That's why it's the document that's included in the box along with the drug. The fact that it doesn't say anything about the patient not breastfeeding has some significance. The company is free to take that position in their medication guide, but the fact that they wouldn't commit to the same stance in the prescribing information has a different legal significance. It also means that they recognize that the pharmaceutical company can't supersede a physician's recommendation. And some physicians are approving breastfeeding for the reasons I covered in my earlier post.

It's great to caution someone about things that could get them into trouble (heaven knows I do it all the time! ). But that caution about breastfeeding opened the door to a deeper examination of the subject. Certainly anyone reading this thread is entitled to know more than just one side of the argument.

And looking at the alternative viewpoint also acknowledges that the OP said she'd done her research, in that it details what that research might have revealed that motivated her to choose the course of action she chose. Plus it also indirectly supports one reason why there's a difference between what the Avonex prescribing information says versus what the medication guide says. Anyone who's trying to make a truly informed decision can benefit from knowing that. I think that approach counterbalances the temptation of a lot of folks who try to explain and understand the issues of MS by oversimplifying them.

[saywhat]

Thanks for input everybody, I called my neuro and am going in tomorrow to make a new treatment plan. Avonex just isn't working out for me.

As for the breastfeeding, I feel it is a personal decision based on research. Also my baby is 2, so she is only nursing at night. If she was dependent on breastmilk as her only nutrition, and was not eating meals and snacks, I would probably not feel comfortable nursing while on Avonex.

Like redwing said, after my own research, and finding that the reason the medication has to be injected is because it cannot surivive in the digestive tract, and then the fact that it's such a large molecule that chances of it even passing into the breastmilk are slim, I figured any amount that my child *MAY* get, would be destroyed in her digestive tract anwyay.

But again, I think each parent needs to make their own decision based on their research, and their child. Because of all the stress that my daughter was under during my first flare, etc., it would have been a horrible time to wean her.

Here is a quote from Dr. Hale:

"We are just publishing some new data on beta interferon which confirms that virtually none of it ever reaches the milk compartment. I estimate that the level in milk averaged about <250 units/mL as compared to a maternal dose of 32 million units. Even then, it is unlikely to be orally absorbed in the GI tract of the infant. Thus, these milk levels are not much at all. I think it would be about the same for alpha interferon as well. I have an old paper where we found almost no alpha interferon in milk as well. Remember, interferons are large molecular weight products (24,000 daltons), and they are largely sequestered by the T cells in the plasma and tissues. Virtually no interferon is found in the plasma compartment, hence little enters milk. I would not be concerned about the use of this product in a breastfeeding woman."

[jojo18]

when i was on Avonex i took Ibprophen 2 hrs b4, two hrs after and 4 hrs after that. Once, after 2 months being on it, i forgot to take it at the 2 hrs after mark.

I got body aches and chills. I also spiked a fever of 104.1. another .1 degrees and my parents were going to take we to the ER. (i was 13 at the time, 21 now).

last time i forgot to do that.