Filter by: patients
Home > Community Treatment Reports and Side Effects > 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.

Reported Purpose & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Purpose # of patients
# of patients with evaluations Efficacy
Major
Moderate
Slight
None
Can’t tell
ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) 1428 282 Efficacy_major Efficacy_moderate Efficacy_slight Efficacy_none Efficacy_cant_tell
PMA (Progressive Muscular Atrophy) 30 13 Efficacy_moderate Efficacy_none Efficacy_cant_tell
PLS (Primary Lateral Sclerosis) 24 6 Efficacy_none Efficacy_cant_tell
Other 15 1 Efficacy_cant_tell
General health 14 5 Efficacy_moderate Efficacy_slight Efficacy_none Efficacy_cant_tell
Don't know 8 1 Efficacy_cant_tell

See all 1162 patients currently taking Riluzole

Mouse over the table for more information

Reported Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe
 24
Moderate
 46
Mild
 62
None
 184

Commonly reported side effects, conditions, and hospitalizations associated with Riluzole

Fatigue 30
Nausea 18
Tiredness 9
Stomach pain 9
Abdominal pain 8
Weakness in lips 7
See all 67 reported side effects ▼ See top 6 reported side effects ▲

Reported Dosages

Frequently reported dosages based on patients currently taking Riluzole. See all 25 dosages ►

  daily 1 mg daily 2 mg daily 50 mg weekly 20 mg daily 50 mg daily 100 mg daily 150 mg daily 200 mg daily 300 mg daily
  70 Number of Patients: 70 3 Number of Patients: 3 3 Number of Patients: 3 2 Number of Patients: 2 4 Number of Patients: 4 176 Number of Patients: 176 1049 Number of Patients: 1049 9 Number of Patients: 9 13 Number of Patients: 13 2 Number of Patients: 2  

Reported Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Riluzole (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason # Patients Percentage of patients
Side effects too severe 146   Side effects too severe: 40%
Did not seem to work 135   Did not seem to work: 37%
Expense 64   Expense: 18%
Other 49   Other: 13%
Doctor's advice 47   Doctor's advice: 13%
Personal research 37   Personal research: 10%
Not indicated 13   Not indicated: 4%
Course of treatment ended 8   Course of treatment ended: 2%
Change in health plan coverage 8   Change in health plan coverage: 2%

See all 351 patients who’ve stopped taking Riluzole

Reported Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼

Currently Taking Riluzole

A bar graph

0-1 month 1-3 months 3-6 months 6 months-1year 1-2 years 2 years or more

Stopped Taking Riluzole

A bar graph

0-1 month 1-3 months 3-6 months 6 months-1year 1-2 years 2 years or more

Reported Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Adherence of Riluzole

Always
 261 83%
Usually
 29 9%
Sometimes
 9 3%
Never
 17 5%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Burden of Riluzole

Very
 6 2%
Somewhat
 35 11%
A little
 57 18%
Not at all
 218 69%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

Cost of Riluzole

$200+
 56 25%
$100-199
 10 4%
$50-99
 24 11%
$25-49
 33 15%
< $25
 100 44%

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

Report created on May 27, 2012.