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Home > Community Treatment Reports > Riluzole Treatment Report
What is Riluzole?

Riluzole is the first drug to be approved for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Riluzole, available as Rilutek®, does not cure ALS or improve symptoms, but may extend survival or the time to tracheostomy.

Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe
7 7%
Moderate
12 12%
Mild
11 11%
None
72 71%

Most commonly reported side effects

Fatigue
16 16%
weakness in lips
6 6%
Muscle weakness
5 5%
nausea, stomach and intestinal pain
5 5%
Sensation in tongue
5 5%
Loose stools
3 3%
  • Mild
  • Moderate
  • Severe

Dosages

Top 10 dosages based on patients currently taking Riluzole. See all 21 dosages ►

  daily 1 mg daily 2 mg daily 2 other daily 5 mg daily 20 mg daily 25 mg daily 30 mg daily 50 mg daily 60 mg daily 75 mg daily 80 mg daily 100 daily 100 mg daily 125 mg daily 150 mg daily 200 mg daily 300 mg daily 500 mg daily 512 mg daily 7500 mg daily
  73 Number of Patients: 73 2 Number of Patients: 2 2 Number of Patients: 2 1 Number of Patients: 1 1 Number of Patients: 1 5 Number of Patients: 5 1 Number of Patients: 1 1 Number of Patients: 1 116 Number of Patients: 116 2 Number of Patients: 2 1 Number of Patients: 1 1 Number of Patients: 1 1 Number of Patients: 1 757 Number of Patients: 757 1 Number of Patients: 1 8 Number of Patients: 8 8 Number of Patients: 8 4 Number of Patients: 4 1 Number of Patients: 1 1 Number of Patients: 1 1 Number of Patients: 1  

Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Riluzole (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason # Patients Percentage of patients
Side effects too severe
77 40% Side effects too severe: 40%
Did not seem to work
58 30% Did not seem to work: 30%
Expense
30 16% Expense: 16%
Other
27 14% Other: 14%
Doctor's advice
24 12% Doctor's advice: 12%
Personal research
16 8% Personal research: 8%
Not indicated
11 6% Not indicated: 6%
Course of treatment ended
4 2% Course of treatment ended: 2%

See all 192 patients who’ve stopped taking Riluzole

Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼

Currently Taking Riluzole

0-1 month 1-3 months 3-6 months 6 months-1year 1-2 years 2 years or more
2
11
35
91
127
192

Stopped Taking Riluzole

0-1 month 1-3 months 3-6 months 6 months-1year 1-2 years 2 years or more
19
34
28
33
35
43

Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Always
83 81%
Usually
14 14%
Sometimes
4 4%
Never
1 1%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Very
4 4%
Somewhat
8 8%
A little
16 16%
Not at all
74 73%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

$200+
10 10%
$100-199
3 3%
$50-99
10 10%
$25-49
10 10%
< $25
40 39%

See more information, including instructions, precautions, side effects, and interactions.

Report created on November 23, 2009.