I broke my foot last year which has left a marked difference on my walking ability. The further i walk, the more tired and off balance I get. Considering most of the time i look like I am drunk when i walk, you can imagine what it is like if i walk further!
I am on Plegridy (inj. fortnightly) and am not convinced this is helping me.
I went to my GP today and she prescribed me 100mg og Amantadine daily. I was just wondering if anyone has any reviews on this drug, and indeed Plegridy, in relation to walking?
Amantadine isn’t generally prescribed for walking problems. It’s used for fatigue. So if you have suffered with fatigue, then that’s why it’s been prescribed for you. In general, it’s more usually prescribed initially by neurologists so it’s quite unusual for a GP to be prescribing it.
Equally, Plegrigy is a DMD or a disease modifying drug. It’s used to reduce relapses and reduce the severity of relapses. For what reason do you think it’s not helping? Are you still having MS relapses whilst taking it? If so, perhaps you could talk to your neurologist about changing to a more effective DMD. Plegridy is supposed to reduce relapses by about 30-35%, whereas Tecfidera for instance is expected to reduce relapses by about 50%. And Tysabri by 70%.
Perhaps you should be seeing a physiotherapist with regard to your walking problems? Or talking to an MS nurse about your drug therapies, including your DMD and Amantadine as well as your walking issues?
After I retired, I stopped amantadine and discovered sleep again. I became more relaxed along with taking ani-depressants. (Citalopram). It sounds a bit drastic but my GP said that most people with a chronic illness benefit from this type of drug. I had over fifteen years of depression denial but it has been life-changing. Physio is really helpful with walking. I think you need to be really specific in explaining how you feel and what you want. If you are vague with a physio they can end up being vague back-thay are human aafter all.
I think I’ve been prescribed amantadine before but can’t remember what exactly although I’m sure it wasnt for fatigue, so I had a quick search and found that although it is used to treat fatigue in ms it is also used to help treat tremor, muscle stiffness and slow movement in people with parkinsons. I think that was why I had it as I had a strange spasm episode that swept over me from my toes upwards and slowed my walking right down for 10 mins or so while I was having the spasm. But to be honest my walking is still not as good as it used to be but then again I did used to walk at a veey quick pace & now I lag slightly behind everyone. if you’re not, why not speak to your gp who prescribed it & discuss it with your ms nurse. I badly sprained my ankle last year just after my spasm relapse and my ankle’s not been right since. It’s difficult to explain to specialists that its not right when you have numbness in the same area due to ms. If you think you’re ankle’s still needs treatment go back. They want me to have an operation on my anlke to tighten a ligament but I’ve chosen not to proceed for the time being due to other (not ms) health issues. Sharon x
Hi I was amantadine for a few years, for fatigue. It was only when I came off I realised that I had been living in a brain fog the whole time. Yes it helped with the fatigue but it caused me cognitive problems and I just wasn’t with it. When I came off them and they eventually came out of my system, I was able to return to work, something I never thought possible. But that’s only my experience, it may effect people differently. xx