I'm on Rebif and have been for nearly 3 months. I can't take the side effects anymore--I am out of commission 3 days a week. Because of this, I am switching to Avonex ASAP. (Per my neuro, I'm really on the far end of acclimation to the med, and he's not expecting it to get much better.)
Rebif is 44mcg subq, and Avonex is 33mcg in the muscle. If I am switching from Rebif to Avonex, is there any real reason to titrate? I know that IM dosing and subq are very different in terms of how the meds release into the body, but if I titrate I have to do it manually, and then switch to the Avenex pen (autoinjector) after a month, and frankly, I am so sick of needles I just want to use the pen and be done with it.
I realize this is a conversation to have with my doctor as well, but was curious what the rest of you know and have experienced about switching meds in this manner? Is tehre really a reason to titrate when I am switching to a lower dose, albeit subq to IM?
(Sorry if their are other threads that address this; the search function brings up every thread with either drug name, and I can't select only the threads that have both.)
Rebif is 44mcg subq, and Avonex is 33mcg in the muscle. If I am switching from Rebif to Avonex, is there any real reason to titrate? I know that IM dosing and subq are very different in terms of how the meds release into the body, but if I titrate I have to do it manually, and then switch to the Avenex pen (autoinjector) after a month, and frankly, I am so sick of needles I just want to use the pen and be done with it.
I realize this is a conversation to have with my doctor as well, but was curious what the rest of you know and have experienced about switching meds in this manner? Is tehre really a reason to titrate when I am switching to a lower dose, albeit subq to IM?
(Sorry if their are other threads that address this; the search function brings up every thread with either drug name, and I can't select only the threads that have both.)
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