Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection Treatment Report : PatientsLikeMe

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Home > Community Treatment Reports and Side Effects > Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection Treatment Report

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What is Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection?

Interferon beta-1a is an immunomodulator used to prevent episodes of symptoms and slow the development of disability in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. It comes as a solution to inject subcutaneously (under the skin) three times a week, ideally the same 3 days each week.

Reported Purpose & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Purpose	# of patients	# of patients with evaluations Efficacy
MS (Multiple Sclerosis)	2320	660
Other	49	12
Stiffness/Spasticity	26	6
Fatigue	20	1
General health	16	9
Improve mobility	9	4

See all 39 reasons taken ▼

See all 1824 patients currently taking Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection

Mouse over the table for more information

Reported Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe	142
Moderate	212
Mild	266
None	78

Commonly reported side effects, conditions, and hospitalizations associated with Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection

See all 204 reported side effects ▼ See top 6 reported side effects ▲
Injection site redness	169	169
Generalized muscle aches	151	151
Headaches	140	140
Chills/fever	120	120
Injection site pain	86	86
Flu like symptoms	68	68
Injection site itching	47	47
Injection site burning	43	43
Muscle aches	40	40
Fatigue	39	39
Migraine headaches	35	35
Injection site reaction	25	25
Injection site bruising	19	19
Tingling	14	14
Red blotches	13	13
Depressed mood	11	11
Body Aches	9	9
Elevated liver enzymes	9	9
Nausea	9	9
Fever	8	8
Chills	7	7
Insomnia	6	6
Rash or skin problems	6	6
Bruising	5	5
Hair loss (alopecia)	5	5
Muscle and joint pain	5	5
Hospitalization	4	4
Injection site swelling	4	4
Depression with anxiety	4	4
Joint pain	3	3
Rashes (redness, swelling)	3	3
Flu like symptoms on night of shot	3	3
Dizziness	3	3
Depression with suicidal thoughts	3	3
Pain	3	3
Occasional flu like symptoms	3	3
Hypothyroidism	2	2
Shortness of breath (dyspnea)	2	2
Stiffness/Spasticity	2	2
Injection site knots	2	2
Pressure headaches	2	2
Injection site scar	2	2
Stomach pain	2	2
Joints ache	2	2
Increased or worsened depression	2	2
Bone Pain	2	2
Weight gain	2	2
Anxious mood	2	2
Burning sensation	2	2
Thrombocytopenia (low platelet count)	2	2
Nasal congestion	2	2
Low white blood cell count (leukopenia)	2	2
Breathing difficulty	2	2
Injection site soreness	2	2
Increased fatigue	2	2
Generalized weakness (asthenia)	2	2
Joints ache (whole body)	2	2
Muscle pain	2	2
Hives (urticaria)	2	2
Heart palpitations	2	2
Constipation	2	2
Weakness in legs	2	2
Cramps in calf muscles	2	2
Racing heart feeling	2	2
Suicidal thoughts or urges	2	2
Body tremor	2	2
Dry mouth (xerostomia)	2	2
Frustration	2	2
Mood swings	2	2
Exhaustion	2	2
Swelling in feet	1	1
Outburst of anger	1	1
Thyroid disorder	1	1
Liver failure (acute)	1	1
Body cramp	1	1
couldn't walk for 6-8 hour afterwards	1	1
Headaches in morning	1	1
Liver damage	1	1
Diarrhea chronic	1	1
Skin pain	1	1
Injection site numbness	1	1
Cramps in stomach	1	1
Body Twitches	1	1
Achiness	1	1
loss of enthusiam	1	1
Spasms in arms	1	1
can't slow brain down at night	1	1
Injection site indentations	1	1
occasional "medicine head"	1	1
Short period flu like symptoms	1	1
Worsening depression	1	1
Injection site irritation	1	1
Low grade fever	1	1
Possible back aches	1	1
Chest tightness	1	1
Borderline Mild Depression	1	1
Skin necrosis	1	1
Multiple lesions	1	1
Hot and cold flashes	1	1
Feelings of deep sadness	1	1
i have big red places that feels like a bruise & they stay there for about 2 weeks at a time. it hard to find a new place sometimes.	1	1
Cold chills	1	1
Muscle spasms in legs	1	1
pseudo relapses	1	1
Skin breakdown	1	1
Extreme flu like malaise	1	1
sinus drainage and vomiting	1	1
Insomnia (less then 2 hours sleep)	1	1
Edema (fluid retention)	1	1
Injection site welt	1	1
Tired legs	1	1
after time increased exascerbation symptoms	1	1
Flu symptoms and low white count	1	1
Stomach ache	1	1
Reaction to medication	1	1
Deep skin inflammation	1	1
Thumb twitching on left hand	1	1
Injection site heated	1	1
Injection site scabbing	1	1
Soft fingernails	1	1
Full body restless syndrome	1	1
Headaches with neck stiffness	1	1
MS symptoms worsened	1	1
Sporadic sharp chest pain	1	1
Thickening of skin	1	1
Skin lesions	1	1
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome	1	1
Pancreatitis	1	1
Psoriasis	1	1
Cellulitis	1	1
Liver Impairment	1	1
Iron Deficiency Anemia	1	1
Anaphylaxis	1	1
Mild Depression	1	1
Feeling out of it	1	1
Crying	1	1
Memory problems	1	1
Acid reflux	1	1
Temperature dysregulation	1	1
Heat and cold exacerbate symptoms	1	1
Optic neuritis (optic nerve inflammation)	1	1
Blurry vision	1	1
MS hug (tight chest or torso)	1	1
Cognitive Confusion	1	1
Nighttime leg spasms	1	1
Stiffness in legs	1	1
Malaise	1	1
Night sweats	1	1
Sweating	1	1
Awakening due to pain	1	1
Pain in back of head	1	1
Decreased appetite	1	1
Anemia	1	1
Mouth sores (ulcers)	1	1
Bruxism (teeth grinding)	1	1
Restless feeling in legs	1	1
Elevated blood pressure	1	1
Muscle spasm in stomach	1	1
Problems concentrating	1	1
Sneezing	1	1
Muscle weakness	1	1
Burning sensation in legs	1	1
Aching burning throbbing body pain	1	1
Body smell changed	1	1
Suicidal	1	1
Sweating excessive	1	1
Sleeplessness	1	1
Cold hands and feet	1	1
Pain in hips	1	1
Muscle fatigue	1	1
Social withdrawal	1	1
Pain in lower back	1	1
Tiredness	1	1
Irritability	1	1
Low potassium (hypokalemia)	1	1
Raynaud's phenomenon	1	1
Feeling hot	1	1
Increased appetite	1	1
Shakiness	1	1
Dizziness and feeling faint	1	1
Hangover effect	1	1
Itchy rash	1	1
Head pain	1	1
Withdrawal effects	1	1
Nausea sometimes	1	1
Head pressure	1	1
Bruising of legs	1	1
Stiffness in neck	1	1
Still have bruise one year later	1	1
Allergic reaction	1	1
slight chills in the first month	1	1
Dizziness (vertigo)	1	1
body rejected	1	1
Neutropenia (low neutrophils)	1	1
Swelling in legs, feet and ankles	1	1
Decreased alcohol tolerance	1	1
Soreness	1	1
Counting at night/can't sleep	1	1
Vitamin D deficiency	1	1
Excessive thirst (polydipsia)	1	1
Large unexplained bruises all over legs	1	1
Swelling in hands	1	1
Abscess	1	1
hives/swelling of lips and tongue	1	1

Reported Dosages

Frequently reported dosages based on patients currently taking Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection. See all 143 dosages ►

3 times a week	44 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	22 mcg/0.5 mL 3 times a week	30 mcg/0.5 mL 3 times a week	44 mcg/0.5 mL 3 times a week	44 mcg	3 x 44 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	44 mg	44 mcg	44 mcg/0.5 mL daily
142	55	147	41	686	78	156	68	32	71

Reported Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason	# Patients	Percentage of patients
Side effects too severe	545
Did not seem to work	355
Doctor's advice	296
Other	206
Expense	63
Personal research	51
Course of treatment ended	22
Not indicated	21
Change in health plan coverage	19

See all 1091 patients who’ve stopped taking Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection

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

Currently Taking Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection

A bar graph

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
2	8	26	39	84	399

Stopped Taking Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection

A bar graph

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
48	110	148	210	209	347

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

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Adherence of Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection

Always	548	79%
Usually	114	16%
Sometimes	17	2%
Never	19	3%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Burden of Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection

Very	90	13%
Somewhat	179	26%
A little	249	36%
Not at all	180	26%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

Cost of Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection

$200+	49	9%
$100-199	30	6%
$50-99	124	24%
$25-49	137	26%
< $25	185	35%

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

Patient Evaluations

See all 698 patient evaluations

A Prayer a day

Sex: F

Sensation: Moderate

Overall: Moderate

Cognition: moderate

Vision: moderate

Speech: mild

Swallowing: none

Upper limb: moderate

Walking: moderate
A Prayer a day

3 x 44 mcg/0.5 mL weekly

since Jun 22, 2009
Efficacy Moderate for MS (Multiple Sclerosis)
Side Effects None
Advice/Tips Do what I do. Take Motrin and your Rebif shot just before bedtime and you will sleep right through it. I guess I do take sleep meds. See full evaluation

yakaras64

Sex: F

Sensation: Moderate

Overall: Moderate

Cognition: moderate

Vision: mild

Speech: moderate

Swallowing: moderate

Upper limb: moderate

Walking: moderate
yakaras64

since Jun 06, 2011
Efficacy Major for MS (Multiple Sclerosis)
Side Effects Mild
Advice/Tips Ice area to be injected for 5-10 min before injecting. This helps reduce reaction. Ice area 10-15 min after injection. If you get mild red raised reaction sp... See full evaluation

anne ball

Sex: F

Sensation: Moderate

Overall: Moderate

Cognition: moderate

Vision: moderate

Speech: moderate

Swallowing: moderate

Upper limb: moderate

Walking: moderate
anne ball

22 mcg/0.5 mL daily

since May 23, 2009
Efficacy ?Can't tell for MS (Multiple Sclerosis)
Side Effects Moderate
Advice/Tips massage cold pack around injection site prior & after injection See full evaluation

See all 698 patient evaluations

Report created on February 10, 2012.

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