Why am I writing this?
Most of the medications on the market for MS are a type of Interferon. For most people, this is just fine... however - the body can create what is called a "neutralizing antibody to interferon" - which in effect means that the medication is neutralized in the system & you might as well be injecting saline solution into your body.
I was diagnosed with MS almost 6 years ago. I immediately began on Rebif - then had to stop due to pregnancy. Beyond that I tried some clinical trials, but was kicked off of those within a year due to low heart rate & liver enzyme issues. Over the last 2 or 3 years (up until late last summer) I was on Avonex. Currently, I'm on the oral medication, Gilenya, that was released to market late last year.
I never knew anything about the body creating this 'neutralizing antibody to interferon' - and was NEVER tested for it until I was fighting to get on the new oral. I just found out this last week that I possess this antibody - so basically the treatments that I've been on have pretty much been worthless for me.
Could explain a heck of a lot.
So - now I'm on my little platform - informing everyone I can possibly imagine - posting nearly everywhere I can think of - begging MS patients to request this test from their neurologists before wasting more money & exerting more frustrations over medications that may not be working in their body.
PLEASE - Spread the Word to any MS patients you know of that are currently on an injectable MS treatment plan. Isn't it worth the few bucks - to confirm whether or not the medication they take can/will actually work in their system?
Unfortunately, this is NOT A STANDARD TEST for some reason. I would think that this should be something the neurologists test every MS patient for BEFORE starting them on any treatment plan!
I asked my neurologist what this meant for me - should the Gilenya (not an interferon by the way) not work. For me, the next step would be Tysabri... so we'll give the Gilenya a try & hopefully it will work! :)
