hi everyone, i have recently ben diagnosed with MS and my consultant has spoke to me about putting me on copaxone to nip it in the bud as early as possible as i am 22. however, i have close family friends that have gone down the herbal non drug related side of dealing with MS, through diet and lifestyle. id just like to hear all your experiences on copaxone or the natural way as i am unsure how to tackle this.
hope you are all safe and well
yannick
Hello Yannick
How unlucky to be diagnosed with MS as young as you are. You have my sympathy.
I took Copaxone for 5 years and didn’t have any trouble with it. For most of those years I was relapse free. So there’s no reason why I’d suggest anything else. Except that there are a lot of more effective disease modifying drugs. Have a look at: https://www.mstrust.org.uk/about-ms/ms-treatments/ms-decisions-aid All the available DMDs are detailed on there. It seems to me that trying a more effective drug might be a better option.
For example, has your neurologist not suggested Tecfidera? A tablet rather than an injection. More effective (reduces relapses by average 50% rather than 30ish%). Copaxone seems a bit old hat to me now.
I actually tried to take Copaxone again last year (last chance saloon!) and had nasty injection site reactions. Not that I want to put you off a drug I had no trouble with in the past, just that every drug has the potential for side effects.
Have a look at https://www.mstrust.org.uk/about-ms/ms-treatments/ms-decisions-aid for all the currently available disease modifying drugs (DMDs). Then perhaps have a conversation with your MS nurse (assuming you have one) or neurologist, if possible.
If you’d sooner look at the various diets and alternative therapies available, then do. Many people rely on non prescription treatments for MS. They’re not my cup of tea, but then I’ve failed on many different prescription DMDs. So maybe it’s worth looking at!!
What I am totally in favour of though is fitness, get as fit as you possibly can, in particular make sure your core stays strong. It’s something I wish I’d been told years ago. It makes a big difference later on. If you have relapses that have the potential to disable you, having strong muscles will do you so much good.
Best of luck.
Sue
Hi Yannick, sorry you’ve joined our exclusive club. I can’t comment on Copaxone as I’ve never taken it. I’ve been on Tecfidera 23 months with no side effects. Bloods, MRI’s all good. In terms of lifestyle, I don’t drink or smoke and am vegetarian. I take care of my fitness, supplemented by certain vitamins. I’ve been relapse free for 31 months or so. Give your body the best chance possible. My feeling is a suitable DMT along with the right lifestyle choices are the way to go with RRMS. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Good luck.
Hey, sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I echo what retrovirus has written above about combining a DMD with a healthy lifestyle. I was torn between tecfidera and copaxone (at least I assume it was copaxone). Haven’t been offered anything stronger yet. So far I’ve been on tecfidera just over two weeks and not had anything too bad side-effect wise. Just a bit of flushing, but the last few days not even that. One thing I do get is stomach pain, which started many years ago so nothing to do with the drug. It comes and goes and at the moment it’s bad - could just be a coincidence or could be the tec aggravating an already existing problem. I’m going to ride it out and see.
In terms of lifestyle if you google overcoming ms you will find the overcoming ms website and I follow the lifestyle outlined on that as best I can. In a nutshell it’s a very healthy diet, lots of vitamin d and exercise. So certainly nothing that can hurt if you wanted to give some lifestyle changes a try. If nothing else, it’s great for your overall health and well-being anyway