Possible MS

[ericppl]

Hi everyone -

This is a whole new world for me, but I'm learning quickly.

It's probable (possible?) that I have MS. At least the readings from the MRIs say that. This started when I was having some odd balance problems at one point. They took pics and voila, I'm off to see the local MS specialist. Fortunately, one of the best around is local to me, so I'm in good shape there.

As everyone knows, Doctors tend to corral things into their area of specialty, so I'm seeking a second opinion. But, here are the facts:

I had a period of time (a week or two) where I had some odd balance issues.
Went to see my primary who ordered some pics (MRI)
Results pointed toward MS, so I went to see an MS specialist
He seems to think the MRI findings indicate MS

Now, I've done some research, so I know that a definitive diagnosis requires two isolated neuro incidents. I have a compelling issue as well, because I fly airplanes for fun, and this diagnosis would invalidate my flight medical until I got a waiver, which can take a long time.

So, this doc wants to be pro-active and put me on some meds. The choices are:
Rebif
Betaseron
Avonex
Gilenya
Tysabri
Copaxone

He recommends either Rebif or Betaseron, and Avonex is possible, but apparently has strong side effects.

Gilenya is very new, and they don't have a lot of clinical data on it, so that's a crap shoot.

Any thoughts, suggestions, or ideas would be good.

Thanks.

[Just a small town girl]

You'd probably get slightly better feedback in the medication forum. There are sub groups for both Gilenya and Tysabri.

It sounds like you're getting to choose,which was where I stood about 4 months ago.

I went with Gilenya. It's 50% more effective in head to head trials than Avonex (which is about as efficient as any of the CRAB drugs (Copaxone, Rebif, Avonex and Betaseron). For me I've had some blood work issues (elevated liver enzymes and too low lymphocyte count) but both issues resolved themselves. I've not had any side effects that I feel. The freedom of just taking a pill combined with the higher efficacy rate won me over, but my neuro is also very comfortable with it.

The most important thing is just to make sure that you're comfortable with your choice. Because at the end of the day, it's your body, your choice.

Hope you get some more feed back.

Keep us posted on what you end up going with if you have to.