I started Aubagio on 1/9, so today will be my sixth dose. I see lots of posts from people wondering about this new med and what it's like to take it, so I thought I'd give my thoughts now, and in the future, of people are interested. I'm on 14mg/day; there is a 7mg pack available as well.
It took a full month to get the med, but that is mostly because it is new to the market. It should be as easy to obtain as any other MS med by this point. In order to start the med I needed a negative tuberculosis test, a negative blood pregnancy test (as well as highly effective birth control plans; even men on this med need to take precautions not to get a female partner pregnant, as the med is carried in the semen, and this is a pregnancy category X med), and a baseline liver/blood count check. Liver values will be checked monthly for the first 6 months.
The pill comes in a blister pack in a cardboard envelope, itself inside another sleeve. Each pill has "Day 1," etc. next to it, and there is a place to write down the day you took the first pill of the pack so you can count back and see if you missed a pill. The pill itself is a very small light blue hexagon, easy to swallow.
So far, I haven't noticed a single thing I can attribute to Aubagio. The most common side effects (still in 10% or less as compared to placebo) are nausea, diarrhea, mild hair loss, and liver issues. I'm on day 6, so can't speak to the future, but on Copaxone the nausea had begun by this point, so I'm hopeful I will avoid it with Aubagio. It's possible (TMI alert!) that I'm having looser stools the last couple of days, but again, nothing radically outside of normal, and not enough days yet to really make that call.
So far, so good!
It took a full month to get the med, but that is mostly because it is new to the market. It should be as easy to obtain as any other MS med by this point. In order to start the med I needed a negative tuberculosis test, a negative blood pregnancy test (as well as highly effective birth control plans; even men on this med need to take precautions not to get a female partner pregnant, as the med is carried in the semen, and this is a pregnancy category X med), and a baseline liver/blood count check. Liver values will be checked monthly for the first 6 months.
The pill comes in a blister pack in a cardboard envelope, itself inside another sleeve. Each pill has "Day 1," etc. next to it, and there is a place to write down the day you took the first pill of the pack so you can count back and see if you missed a pill. The pill itself is a very small light blue hexagon, easy to swallow.
So far, I haven't noticed a single thing I can attribute to Aubagio. The most common side effects (still in 10% or less as compared to placebo) are nausea, diarrhea, mild hair loss, and liver issues. I'm on day 6, so can't speak to the future, but on Copaxone the nausea had begun by this point, so I'm hopeful I will avoid it with Aubagio. It's possible (TMI alert!) that I'm having looser stools the last couple of days, but again, nothing radically outside of normal, and not enough days yet to really make that call.
So far, so good!
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