Tec recommended today

[VikingKitty]

hi,

just got back from the neuro. he recommended switching from C to Tec after reviewing my cervical and thoracic spinal mri. I have lesions in the area of C1, C2, C5 & C6 along with mid back and a little below that. He said that i need to be on something more effective than C.

For those of you on it, what has been your experience? he mentioned about diarrhea, stomach aches, etc. i know everyone is different, but if you did experience diarrhea, many days did it last before it subsided? I want to know if if i should wait until the weekend or a few days off from work. i don't want to be having those kinds of issues while driving or at work if i can help it. How about flushing, etc. Racing heart? Please share. Thx.

[hogerfeld]

stomach issues

When I was on the full dose of tec, I had diarrhea occasionally at 1st. It was never right away though. Maybe the next day. Sadly my stomach issues got worse instead of better. But I'm happy to say I am now taking just the half dose and having no problems at all. Keep in mind it's different for every person. Good luck!

[Mkc3031]

I have been on Tec for over eight months-knock wood, have not had any side effects at all. Good luck and God bless.

[jessiesmom]

My Tecfidera Experience

Hi VikingKitty. I started Tecfidera about 4 months ago. I had been on Rebif for the previous 7 years. I switched because my liver function numbers had been steadily increasing and my neuro felt we had to put a stop to it somehow. They have dropped and are now approaching normal again.

In an abundance of caution my neuro had me do the 120mg dose capsules for 2 weeks rather than the 1 week that Biogen recommends. I then went up to the 240mg capsules and have been taking those ever since. I have not had any problems with racing heart. The 1st 2 weeks I did have some of the expected flushing but it would be gone within 30 minutes. It felt like my scalp, face and upper chest were on fire - looked that way too. I was mildly nauseous but only actually vomited once. As to diarrhea, that probably lasted 10 days. It wasn't a constant problem but was probably only once a day then it stopped.

When I went up to the full 240mg dose I figured it would be much the same. It wasn't. It was better. The flushing only happens once in a while and I've only had gastrointestinal issues a couple of time. It sure beats injections any day.

If I were you I would definitely plan on starting Tecfidera on Saturday - assuming you have a Monday through Friday type of job. You can never be sure how you will react. I don't think it is necessary to plan on taking any days off work. If it happens that the side effects are more than you can handle while at work then you can take a sick day. You shouldn't expect for bad things to happen. Many people take Tec with no significant issues.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

[hope32]

I haven't noticed my heart racing. I've had flushing twice in 5.5 weeks. With the GI issues, I've had a few times when it was bad but it was maybe 4 days out of about 40 days that I would have wanted to stay home from work/not go out. (I'm a stay-at-home mom so I have *some* flexibility outside of taking my boys to school, etc.) Overall I'm doing well but I do think it makes sense to start on a weekend just to be safe.