Tecfidera Relapse

[TVW1249]

Question: I was on Tysabri from June 2007, switched to Tecfidera in 2013 have been on Tecfidera ever since.
I have been very stable and relapse free for 10 years until last week. Just finished 3 days of Steroids. No relief so far.
Do you think my system could be rejecting Tecfidera since I have been on it for 4 years. Maybe back to Tysabri. Any thoughts??

[REG53]

Hello TVW1249,

I don't know the answer to your question but I was on Tecfidera for I believe 4+ yrs and MRI showed some progression so neuro took me off and is putting me on Ocrevus.

I wish you all the best.

[OlivierSPb]

Not such an easy question

First of all neither Tecfidera or Tysabri or any other drug pretend that there will never be any relapse.
The clinical trials have shown that the relapse are less frequent, that's all.
Nevertheless a specific drug can be less effective a on a specific individual. This is why Medicine is not a science but an art.
So relapsing occurs for sure, but may be Tecfidera poorly works with you.
Only a qualified neurologist can give you an advice either to stay on Tecfidera or to switch back to Tysabri

[TVW1249]

Saw neurologist. Since I have no new leisions or inflammation everything is very stable and has been for years, he called what I'm experiencing is an "Acute Flair". He has increased my Gabepentin to 300MG 3x daily. It does seem to have helped with burning. Now just wait and ride it out.

[Leah27]

I had a relapse and new lesions appear on Tecfidera. It's true-- the medicines just reduce the rate of relapses- doesn't stop them all together.

We considered Octrevus, but I decided to stay on Tecfidera for now. It's impossible to know how many relapses I would have had without it!

[carriefromMI]

similar story. Was on tec for 3 years, then copaxone for 6 months which drove a flare, then back to tec since copaxone isn't strong enough for me anymore. I have been back on tec for 7 months now. guess what another flare. That makes it 2 in less than a year which is VERY unusual for me.

I believe I have seen statistically an MS person would get an MS attack every 1.89 years or something like that and the meds reduce it from there. Therefore I deduce tec would average an attack every 3.78 years. Now not everyone is average. your best predictor is future behavior is past behavior. I rarely have attacks and when I do they are mild. They are about every 2-3 years over the last almost 14 years. Minus the hiccup with copaxone, I have successfully taken tec a total of 3 years 7 months and have only had 1 attack in that time. I would say that's right about average for the drug and better than average for me. My doctor does not feel I need to change medications due to this attack. just because you have an attack doesn't mean your medication isn't working. It's the frequency of those attacks and frequency of lesions showing on an MRI vs how you have been in the past and what is statistically average. Don't get me wrong during my visit this week we did discuss changing and what would be my next option and why or why not but he felt a change was not needed and I agreed.

I have used Avonex, Copaxone, Tysabri (only twice), and Tecfidera over the last 14 years. My other concern is I don't want to run out of options of what medications I can take so I don't want to switch every time I get an attack. Some I cannot take due to other medical issues so I am limited.