Beta-A or Beta-B

[mac1ntosh]

Morning all,
I was just going through my email and received one regarding the newly approved PLEGRIDY - I must say it has certainly piqued my interest.

I've been on Betaseron for years, and am growing weary of all the injections, so make a long story short, what is the difference between beta-1a and beta-1b - I wonder if I wold tolerate the peginterferon beta-1a as well as I've tolerated the interferon beta-1b.

An every 2 weeks injection is WAY better (IMO) than every-other day....


When's that "cure" coming?

[22cyclist]

Jody, without going into scientific details there is not that much difference. The newer drug Plegridy seems to have a better efficacy for preventing new lesions and for lessening disability compared to the older Avonex, betaseron, and Copaxone which each sit a 30%. I believe that Plegridy is around 67% if my memory serves me correctly. You can look it up on the Plegridy site.

If I were still on interferons I would certainly try it.

Ask your neurologist about the efficacy of the drugs as he/she will know and make an informed decision from there. I am with you, a shot every two weeks is better than one three times a week.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Lisa

[Nabbosa]

I switched

Mac -

I switched for other reasons - my insurance situation has been unstable and I got tired of the amount of time I was sinking into getting scripts transferred every couple of months, even with the Beta Assistance Program. So I joined a study looking at people who switched from other interferons to Plegridy.

So far: Wow, is it great to inject only every 14 days! I'd started to get a little lazy about the Beta after 6 years (7, maybe? I don't even remember!). It was only one skip per two weeks or so, but I figured the break from needles without a break from medication might be nice. And it is. I probably won't be able to stay on Plegridy because some insurance isn't covering it. That, and once I get a job again, I'm likely to travel to places without refrigeration. So it will probably be back to Beta at the end of the study.

Also, the autoinjector is way faster than the one for Beta. You have to press it down much farther on your skin - the pressing down is the release, rather than there being a separate button. But it goes far faster - less than half the time with a needle in your body. That was starting to be uncomfortable for me with the Beta.

Up 'til the end, I was religious about premedicating with an analgesic before my Beta shots, and I always took them before bed. Same with Plegridy, and I've not felt any flulike symptoms that I could definitely relate to the change in medication. Anecdotally, that seems to be the case with people switching from Beta, because of the body being used to having the dose of interferon stay pretty steady in the bloodstream with the 2-day dosing. But the flulike symptoms upon changing is what the study is looking into through October of this year (or so).

I've gotten itchy red injection site reactions with both. It's always been hit-or-miss as to whether I have one, or how bad it is. But in my first round of arm injections with the Plegridy, I had to take Benedryl about a week to 10 days after the shot to control the itchiness. I don't like how that makes me feel, so the next time, I just made sure to be religious in my use of hydrocortisone as soon as I saw a little red spot. And it didn't get as big as the previous one when I did that.

I've been very fortunate to have very mild MS at this point. I haven't had a relapse since 2007. Nothing's changed since I changed medication, but as always with MS, that could also just be the luck of the draw.

Hope my experiences are helpful in making the decision. I've also posted in a couple other threads about Plegridy. I'll try to check in again.