I have recently been diagnosed with MS (RRMS). My neurologist recommended I take medication and suggested either tecfidera or cladribine and I now have to decide which one but I just don’t know as they seem like strong medication with some possible scary side effects!
My main symptoms at the moment are tingling/pins and needles in left hand and MS hug. I am mobile and have a pretty active lifestyle at the moment so am really worried MS will really change my life!
Can anyone offer any advice on medication?
Hi Shaz. First up I’m sorry that you are going through this. It’s all a bit (removed by moderator)really. Being relatively new to this myself ( 1 year and counting) I can’t offer a direct comparison between the two drugs. I’m on Tecfidera, so I’ll restrict my comments to that. The list of side effects does seem pretty daunting however most of the serious ones are pretty rare so try not to worry about them. Personally I only experienced pretty minor hot flushes before things settled down and I never had any gastric problems. What is important to note is that in the case of Tecfidera (I assume mavenclad is the same) it won’t do anything for your current symptoms rather it will reduce the likelihood of relapses in the future.
Now some positives, your life isn’t over. Yes MS will change things but I’m still pretty active at the gym as well as cycling regularly. I sometimes have to walk with a pole but my symptoms are mainly in my legs rather than hands. Concentrate on what you can still do and enjoy it as much as you can.
Hi Shaz, I was diagnosed with RRMS nearly 3 years ago and have been taking Tecfidera twice a day with food for nearly the same amount of time. Aside from the odd hot flush when I just started I have no side effects at all. My annual MRI’s have all been clear too since then, I have only good things to say about it tbh. There can be some serious side effects but these are vanishingly rare, so acknowledge that risk but don’t dwell on it.
I keep active too and my general health is good, apart from me feeling my balance is not as good when I’m out running, my life is pretty normal. If you start on Tec you will have blood tests every 3 months to make sure all is well. I wish you well.
Retro.