Disease Modifying Therapy vs Symptomatic Management for MS

Here is My Question:
After visiting my GP he suggested to maybe think about using Avonex. My MS is inactive but he said this would slow things down as I have nerve pain and after activity things get worse. He said this medicine works before it gets bad or active. He was talking about injections once a week. Any advice on this?

Answer:
Avonex, similar to the other disease modifying therapies, have been shown to do 3 main things:  1) cut down on the frequency of MS relapses, 2) cut down the number of new lesions on the MRI scans, and 3) reduce the accumulation of disability in the short term (and likely long term).  Based on your question, I have reservations about the use of Avonex (or any disease modifying therapy) to help your "nerve pain" that gets worse after activity.  It sounds to me that you are experiencing the fluctuating symptoms of MS that occur due to old MS scars/damage.  In that case, use of symptomatic (rather then disease modifying) therapies are in order.

For MS to truly be "inactive", we look for no clinical relapses, new MRI activity, or accumulated disability over time.  To answer this question, it requires the expert care of an MS specialist.  I would encourage you to see one of these specialists to answer your question regarding a need to use Avonex (or similar therapy) versus symptomatic management.

Here is a link to help you find an MS specialist/MS team in your area http://www.healthcarejourney.com/just-been-diagnosed-with-ms.html

A. Scott Nielsen MD MMSc
Virginia Mason Multiple Sclerosis Center