Copaxone vs. Betaseron

[Miss Kate]

Hey there,
I was wondering if anyone has switched from Betaseron to Copaxone and found that the Copaxone is doing a better job of controlling things than Betaseron..Betaseron is not working for me and one of the options I have aside from Gilenya is Copaxone. Really would appreciate any input that anyone could give...also if you are on Copaxone, how are you doing on it? Any side effects or issues?

Thanks!

[Momma60]

Hi Miss Kate
My daughter was is on Copaxone, and has been since last Jan. She had two of the attacks right after the shot,tightening in chest and throat, hard to breath but past within 30mins. Some redness at injection shot but went away. She has tolerated it quite well, but she just had a relapse in Jan. and her Neuro is going to put her on Gilenya. Good luck.
Momma60

[Allison L]

I had the same question but a little more

I am not sure if It is the Multiple Sclerosis or the Betaseron but I have these horrible panic attacks and severe depression and anger. I had not had these demons until either the M.S. or the Betaseron. I looked at the side effects and Heart disease is one of them. So I automatically asked to be switched she said Copaxane and yet she said that it would make my M.S. worse at first. Sooo Heart Disease or M.S. progressing? I'm a single mom and I don't know what to do...Is there anyone else who may know the actual risk of Heart Disease with the Betaseron, a percentage? I can not seem to find anything on the internet. Am I the only one who is scared every morning? grrrrr

[MrsBones]

I am not sure if It is the Multiple Sclerosis or the Betaseron but I have these horrible panic attacks and severe depression and anger. I had not had these demons until either the M.S. or the Betaseron. I looked at the side effects and Heart disease is one of them. So I automatically asked to be switched she said Copaxane and yet she said that it would make my M.S. worse at first. Sooo Heart Disease or M.S. progressing? I'm a single mom and I don't know what to do...Is there anyone else who may know the actual risk of Heart Disease with the Betaseron, a percentage? I can not seem to find anything on the internet. Am I the only one who is scared every morning? grrrrr

Read the prescribing info:http://www.betaseron.com/prescribing_info.jsp

It says that Betaseron has no direct acting cardiac toxicity. It does say for patients with existing cardiac problems may find the flu-like symptoms caused by Beta to be stressful. While the patient info does mention a few people developing heart trouble after taking Beta, unless there are a large or larger number of people in a trial setting on Beta vs a low number on placebo, they can't say specifically Beta caused it or didn't, but since it is potentially serious they must make drs and patients aware of it.

In regards to Copaxone making your MS worse at first, I have never heard of, read about or was told about Copaxone making your MS worse. I have been on Copaxone off and on for three years with breaks to try Rebif and Tysabri. I was told by my neuro that the flu-like side effects of the interferons may make you feel as if your MS is acting up. That was the first time I had any indication a DMD could even make you feel like your MS is worse. I did have pseudo-exacerbations on injection night while on Rebif and have since heard of people using other interferons having the same kind of thing. But as I said, nothing to say Copaxone could cause pseudo-exacerbations or worse, actual progression.

Plus, IMHO, I'm not too sure a drug that could make the disease it's supposed to treat progress would be approved in the first place.

All of the CRABs have now been on the market long enough to show they have very good safety profiles. We know of the risks they do present and can be watchful for them. They're all well tolerated,but some tolerate one better than the others. The interferons all have equal risks (liver,depression,etc) and Copaxone has its own set of side effects, though liver testing isn't required and depression is a much,much smaller risk.

I'd say if anyone feels they need or want to switch to another CRAB, do it. Many, if not most, of us do switch meds at one point or another. If there's a reason for you to not take your current med, it just may be time to take another.

I can tell you of the 3 drugs I have tried, Copaxone has been the most convenient and had the least side effects.I can't say I enjoy injecting every day, but it's now just as routine and painless as brushing my teeth.

Good luck to those deciding on a switch. It's a hard decision to make...hate doing it myself.

[twisterred]

I switched from Beta to Copax with very good results.

My body couldn't handle Beta after only three months.
I switched to Copaxone and had two flares within aprox. 6 months.
I didn't give up though and stayed with Copaxone.
That was almost 14 years ago.

It's been trial and error learning to inject manually (easier on the body and my only choice at the time) and it took months for the crazy itching to calm down in injection areas.
But now I also inject without giving worrying (rotating the injection areas is my biggest thought now).

It's all been worth it for me.

Hopefully whatever your decision, you'll do great.


Allison, panic attacks go with MS for some people.
I never used to have them either, but I must have plaques in that area of my brain.

The Limbic System is explained here:
http://biology.about.com/od/anatomy/a/aa042205a.htm

According to my neuro, this is pretty common.


Also, some MSers experience more anxiety than others:http://www.lifeloveandbipolar.com/bipolar-ms.html


None of this should make us ashamed.
MS is a disease and these are a result of the disease for many.

Even Copaxone causes a bit of depression.
It's a side effect, but with an antidepressant, I am able to get out of bed, function and not feel as stressed or angry.

[adrian]

Hey Miss Kate,

Everybody tolerates medicines different and that can be scary sometimes.

I have been on Copaxone since 07 and it has worked well and no side effects what so ever.

My neuro last year thought it would be best to start Betaseron, and while trying I had severe swelling so I went back to Copaxone.

Everyone reacts different but they are both great drugs!

[Miss Kate]

thank you for the advice everybody... I am going to hopefully hear from my neuro late this week to decide what to do about meds... I had really no issues with the Betaseron aside from the common flu-like symptoms for the first month or so yet after 15 months of being on it, lesions are not slowing down so time to try something new. Glad to hear that people for the most part have had positive things to say about Copaxone.. I have to ask though, do you have to free hand the injections or do they offer an auto-injector? Not that that will influence my over all decision but just curious... Gilenya is also a possibility so I guess I'll just have to wait and see...
Thanks again

[MrsBones]

Copaxone, Rebif and as you know, Beta all have autoinjectors. I don't use mine... avoid it like the plague, actually.

For myself, injections go much,much better manually.

[Mamabug]

I switched from Betaseron to Copaxone. The Betaseron wasn't very effective, although I was on it for 5 years. My MS Specialist said, "If you are having flares once a year, it's borderline whether it's working. You aren't borderline."

Had a lot of trouble, initially with pain at the site of injections. See one of my former posts here: http://www.msworld.org/forum/showpos...9&postcount=16. (Copy/paste it into your browser. Don't know how to do a link on this site.)

At this point, I'm very happy with Copaxone. My doctor and I did discuss the possibility of switching to Gilenya (the oral med), but, at this time, she isn't recommending it for me. I was kinda relieved, because Copaxone is working better than Betaseron did for me, and I'm not interested in switching to something that I don't know how effective it would be for me, or how its side effects would affect me.

~ Faith

Tolerating B better than the C.

For me Mannitol is my issue. C has more than B and though I am still having "allergy" issues, I am working my way around them as the B has less than the C.

I am hoping the B will continue to work and keep me in remission and that the allergy will become a thing of the past. Some days are worse than others.

I "think" my issues (spells) are nausea related..weird I know.

I started on a stronger stomach med and sure enough I am feeling better. I do feel as if I have been around a cat (very allergic to those) some days but otherwise much better than the C.

Lucky..othewise I have to switch again.

[bigfoot14]

My wife had such bad reactions to both beta & copaxone that she had to quit using them, and as a result her neuro won't put her on any of the other DMD's, and because of the danger of PML she won't take Tybarsi....so she is on lots of little drugs (Cymbalta, Lyrica, Valium, etc) to control symptoms

[twisterred]

Manual Injections

Hi again,

For myself,

Manually injecting is the way to go.

I love that manually injecting allows me to choose the speed of injection, angle and how quickly or slowly the Copax is injected.

It's a learning process; some shots will be awesome with no pain and others can hurt like @*!.
But at least I did it and was in control.

The "bad' shots teach me what not to do and as well as the good ones.

Good luck in whatever you choose!

[Miss Kate]

thanks again for the input everybody...hoping my neuro is back from vacation this week so that we can talk..been kind of in a holding pattern for awhile now, just waiting to hear something so that I can know what the next course of action is gonna be. Twisterred, thanks for your input on manual injections...I always used the auto injector with Betaseron and sometimes it felt like more of a pain than a convenience.. for one thing, when you would set it on the counter the darn thing never stayed put, it would always roll around and at one point it fell off the counter and broke...hubby had to do my manual injections until I got a replacement, if I do go on Copaxone I want to get up the courage to do the injections myself...as you had pointed out it seems like you get a little more freedom that way.

[Cate Power]

I recently switched from Copaxone after 11 years to Rebif, but if permitted I would use Gilenya.

55% reduction in relapses v. 33% reduction in relapses. That's what I need to know.