Just got the official diagnosis.. Copaxone or Tecfidera?

[momoftwoboys]

Well just seen a MS Specialist, She told me it was text book MS, she said I was relapsing remitting, now I have to choose a treatment and im stuck between Copaxone and Tecfidera. Any recommendations?

[hunterd]

i took Copaxone but I did not take Tec. I will say that my experience with Copaxone was an easy one. I had no side effects.

I know that they are both good choices, but in the and you are going to make that choice. I wish you the best of luck.

[Cher561]

Horrible experience with TEC

I had a 3-day experience with TEC. My reaction from the first pill at the 55 min mark until I stOpped on day 4 was so severe that I couldn't do it one more day. Talked to the manufacturer rep. for Patient care and she said my reaction was typical, albiet severe, for those who had bad reactions. Asked about differences between TEC and copaxone. There have been no studies that she could find (or didn't investigate too deeply) but said people were "happier" with an oral than shots. If the efficacy is minimal between the two, I can't see myself going back on the TEC. I used to take Copax so the shots are no big deal. I will wait until they find a way to deal with the side-effects.

[22cyclist]

I took Copaxone too. It was a relatively easy drug to take. I had no side effects either, except for some injection site reactions. Then one year I had 4 exacerbations in 1 year on it. Copaxone has a 30% efficacy for preventing new lesions and for preventing new exacerbations. Tec has a 50% efficacy for preventing new lesions and for stopping new exacerbations. It doesn't seem like a big difference, but it is. Tec is also a pill and easier to take. The only one more effective at preventing new lesions is Tysabri at 80% efficacy. Tec is a good choice on efficacy alone. There are other things to consider though. You should look into the side effects, and see if you can tolerate them in the first month or so (they generally get better after that), but you can read about experiences here in the medication section.

References:

http://www.themcfox.com/multiple-scl...ectiveness.htm

http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/bi...ing/2013-03-28

Hope you can make the choice that best fits your lifestyle.
Take care
Lisa

[Cher561]

Thank you for your input, I will definitely check this out further.

[Mable]

Hey Lisa, When you were on Copaxone, before your relapses, were you also free of lesion activity on your MRIs? I mean, did all the disease activity start all at once for you? Or was it smoldering?

Cher, I take Copaxone because Tec wasn't available when I was diagnosed two years ago. I've responded really well to it--so now I don't want to change to find out I don't respond to something else.

But remember, this isn't a permanent decision. Try one, and then if you don't like it, you've got a whole bunch of other things you can try. That's the one benefit of getting MS in 2014 instead of 2004 or 1994 or 1984!

My feeling is that your goal is to stop attacks and lesions (NEDA--no evidence of disease activity). Different drugs do that for different people. Switch until you find the one that does that for you.