What can I do to get my neurologist to try a less dangerous treatment?

[mary2010]

I am happy to say I am in full remission from my recent exacerbation, after having chelation therapy and will be back to work next week.  

My new neurologist who is now the third to diagnose me with MS, now wants to put me on Avonex to prevent relapses but I wanted to try a treatment called low dose naltrexone, but he refused. Avonex is very scary to me and I don't understand why he wont try this, since a lot of other MS patients have had incredible improvement from it, some who I know personally. Its a pill and not injected and is used in low doses so it doesnt have a lot of dangerous side effects like the CRAB drugs do.

According to Avonex pamphlet the doctor gave me :Avonex can cause serious liver damage, change in thyroid function, seizures,depression, heart problems, a drop in red or white blood cell levels.

The side effects are fever, chills, sweating etc. Not to mention injections are intramuscular which can be painful and frequent monitoring of your liver is necessary because the doctors know it can damage your liver.

How did this drug become approved by the FDA? It seems like my quality of life will go in the toilet if I go on this.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to approach a doctor who is rigidly set in deciding my treatment? He never even gave me an option as to which CRAB drug he would prescribe, trying to push Avonex off on me, never even told him I wanted a crab drug.

I am the patient, its my body and I should have the option to choose my treatment. The IV steroids given to me in the past caused fatty liver disease, which has been reversed, but I don't want to damage my liver again with any more harsh drugs.

My insurance company doesn't allow me to go to any neuro of my choice so I am stuck with this doctor and I want to be diplomatic but I don't know what to do to convince him to let me try LDN.

Any suggestions?


Mary

[essdipity]

First I want to say that Avonex is not dangerous. Every med out there has side effects, and you should know what they are, I agree. That does not mean that every patient will get them, or even one of them. It is required that any significant effects (more than placebo) be reported, but if you read these charts, you will find that relatively speaking, the incidence of effects is low.

Second, it is necessary to weigh the potential benefits against the negatives. For all of the CRAB drugs, the positives outweigh the negatives, in my opinion. Would you rather get manageable flu symptoms or be confined to a wheelchair? I know that's a pretty harsh assessment, but for some people, that's the reality.

Third, although liver function can be affected by the interferon class of DMDs (for a small minority) this can easily be monitored through blood tests. Very few patients have to be taken off the drug because of this, so that's not a reason not to give it a try. If necessary, the med can be stopped, and the patient can be switched to Copaxone. This is a rare occurence.

Fourth, LDN has not be shown to work against MS. It often makes people with various diseases feel better and have a better quality of life, which is a good thing, but it does not slow MS disease progression. The DMDs do. Your doctor is correct in not agreeing to this option.

Doctors have spent many years learning about all these factors. There is no reason to automatically assume a position of distrust. This is not to say that some docs aren't stinkers, because as we all know, there are plenty of those out there. But I urge you to rely on your doctor unless or until there is reason not to.

ess