PatientsLikeMe : Interferon beta-1a IM Injection Treatment Report

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What is Interferon beta-1a IM Injection?

Interferon beta-1a is a drug in the interferon family used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS). It is produced by mammalian cells while Interferon beta-1b is produced in modified E. coli. Interferons have been shown to have about a 30–35% reduction in the rate of MS relapses, and to slow the progression of disability in MS patients.

Reasons taken & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Reasons taken	# of patients	# of patients evaluated by
Slow my MS progress	1304	291
Other	49	10
General health	19	5
Fatigue	11	1
Don't know	10	3
Stiffness/Spasticity	10	1
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)	9	2
Mobility	7	3
Vision	4	1
1st MS treatment 2001-2002	2	1
disease-related symptoms	2	1
Cognition	2	0
Pain	2	0
Sensation	2	0
Bladder problems, concentration	1	1
Preventative therapy	1	1
Right leg weakness	1	0
extreme Fatigue	1	0
lost vision in one eye	1	1
Stuffy head and ear pain	1	0
slow or stop more lesions	1	0
slow progression of MS	1	0
Avonex or placebo - part of CombiRx trial regimen	1	0
Optic neuritis (inflammation, optic nerve)	1	0
Was treated for all other things from 2001-2009, It was MS the whole time..	1	1
Assistive communication	1	0
Numbness, tingling, pins & needles (paresthesia)	1	1
Support another treatment	1	0
Brain fog	1	0
help with balance, exhaustion, numbness in limbs	1	1
Sexual dysfunction	1	0
Bladder problems	1	0

See all 32 reasons taken ▼

See all 1007 patients currently taking Interferon beta-1a IM Injection

Mouse over the table for more information

Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe	61	19%
Moderate	124	39%
Mild	106	34%
None	23	7%

Most commonly reported side effects

Flu-like symptoms	181	58%
Chills/fever	163	52%
Body Aches	145	46%
Muscle ache, whole body	132	42%
joint pain	84	27%
general muscle achiness	76	24%
Headaches	73	23%
Lethargy	72	23%
tiredness	60	19%
Fever	47	15%
shivering	33	11%
Migraine Headaches	33	11%
stabbing headache	31	10%
Nausea	22	7%
Dizziness	20	6%
Injection site scar	16	5%
Depression	4	1%
hair loss	3	1%
Injection site bruising	2	1%
low neutrophills	1	0%
Pain, fatigue, shivering, sweats, chills, sleepiness	1	0%
walk slower,left legg and foot swollen	1	0%
Depression with suicidal thoughts	1	0%
Injection site pain	1	0%
muscle and flesh at injection site seems to have a changed quality and much more difficult to find a "good" spot	1	0%
slight headache	1	0%
low patelets	1	0%
Low platelet count	1	0%
Major Depressive Disorder	1	0%
tremors, body	1	0%
palpatations	1	0%
Need to stretch	1	0%
Suicidal thoughts	1	0%
Injection site irritation	1	0%
numbness/tingling thighs	1	0%
headache	1	0%
needle phobia	1	0%
Disturbed sleep	1	0%
fainting	1	0%
Fatigue	1	0%

Mild
Moderate
Severe

See all 40 reported side effects ▼

Dosages

Top 10 dosages based on patients currently taking Interferon beta-1a IM Injection. See all 57 dosages ►

300mcg as needed	daily	weekly	0.05 mcg weekly	0.25 mg weekly	0.25 mL weekly	0.325 mcg weekly	0.5 mcg weekly	0.5 mg weekly	0.5 ml weekly	0.5 mL weekly	0.5 weekly	1 mcg weekly	1 mg weekly	1 mL weekly	1 other weekly	1 weekly	1.5 mcg weekly	1.5 mg weekly	4 weekly	5 mcg weekly	30 mcg monthly	30 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	10 mg weekly	13.2 mg weekly	2 mcg daily	15 mcg weekly	15 mg weekly	30 mcg every other week	33 mcg every other week	20 mcg weekly	22 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	24 mcg weekly	30 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	30 mcg weekly	30 mg weekly	30 mmol/L weekly	30 weekly	33 mcg weekly	35 mcg weekly	37 mcg weekly	44 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	44 mg weekly	50 mcg weekly	50 mg weekly	60 mcg weekly	3 x 22 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	80 mg weekly	100 mcg weekly	125 mcg weekly	3 x 44 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	200 mcg weekly	30 mcg/0.5 mL daily	30 mcg daily	30.1 mcg daily	44 mcg/0.5 mL daily	360 mg weekly
1	1	169	1	2	1	1	6	2	1	1	2	18	10	4	3	10	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	2	2	1	226	386	25	1	10	3	1	1	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	1	1	7	29	20	1	2	1

Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Interferon beta-1a IM Injection (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason	# Patients	Percentage of patients
Side effects too severe	287	42%
Did not seem to work	242	35%
Doctor's advice	214	31%
Other	123	18%
Expense	28	4%
Personal research	21	3%
Not indicated	10	1%
Course of treatment ended	8	1%

See all 661 patients who’ve stopped taking Interferon beta-1a IM Injection

Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼

Currently Taking Interferon beta-1a IM Injection

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
6	18	30	67	72	194

Stopped Taking Interferon beta-1a IM Injection

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
21	41	59	130	117	286

Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Always	266	85%
Usually	45	14%
Sometimes	1	0%
Never	2	1%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Very	42	13%
Somewhat	95	30%
A little	111	35%
Not at all	66	21%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

$200+	23	7%
$100-199	16	5%
$50-99	35	11%
$25-49	47	15%
< $25	102	32%

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

Patient Evaluations

See all 314 patient evaluations

thunderdoodle

Sex: M

Sensation: Moderate

Overall: Mild

Cognition: moderate

Vision: mild

Speech: mild

Swallowing: mild

Upper limb: moderate

Walking: moderate

See profile
thunderdoodle

30 mcg weekly

since Aug 18, 2009
Efficacy Can't tell for Slow my MS progress
Side Effects Moderate
See full evaluation

anjane

Sex: F

Sensation: Moderate

Overall: Mild

Cognition: mild

Vision: mild

Speech: mild

Swallowing: mild

Upper limb: mild

Walking: moderate

See profile
anjane

since Jun 27, 2009
Efficacy Can't tell for Slow my MS progress
Side Effects Moderate
See full evaluation

grandma2009

Sex: F

Sensation: Severe

Overall: Moderate

Cognition: moderate

Vision: mild

Speech: mild

Swallowing: moderate

Upper limb: moderate

Walking: moderate

See profile
grandma2009

30 mcg/0.5 mL weekly

since May 11, 2009
Efficacy Can't tell for Slow my MS progress
Side Effects Mild
Advice/Tips I take 1 benydril when I take my shot to avoid the side effects of fever, aches and pains. I also take one of my darvocet for the pain since I can't take adv... See full evaluation

See all 314 patient evaluations

Forum

See 252 topics tagged with Avonex

There are 5498 posts in our forum about Interferon beta-1a IM Injection. Join now and see what people are saying.

Report created on November 21, 2009.

300mcg as needed	daily	weekly	0.05 mcg weekly	0.25 mg weekly	0.25 mL weekly	0.325 mcg weekly	0.5 mcg weekly	0.5 mg weekly	0.5 ml weekly	0.5 mL weekly	0.5 weekly	1 mcg weekly	1 mg weekly	1 mL weekly	1 other weekly	1 weekly	1.5 mcg weekly	1.5 mg weekly	4 weekly	5 mcg weekly	30 mcg monthly	30 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	10 mg weekly	13.2 mg weekly	2 mcg daily	15 mcg weekly	15 mg weekly	30 mcg every other week	33 mcg every other week	20 mcg weekly	22 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	24 mcg weekly	30 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	30 mcg weekly	30 mg weekly	30 mmol/L weekly	30 weekly	33 mcg weekly	35 mcg weekly	37 mcg weekly	44 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	44 mg weekly	50 mcg weekly	50 mg weekly	60 mcg weekly	3 x 22 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	80 mg weekly	100 mcg weekly	125 mcg weekly	3 x 44 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	200 mcg weekly	30 mcg/0.5 mL daily	30 mcg daily	30.1 mcg daily	44 mcg/0.5 mL daily	360 mg weekly
1	1	169	1	2	1	1	6	2	1	1	2	18	10	4	3	10	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	2	2	1	226	386	25	1	10	3	1	1	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	1	1	7	29	20	1	2	1

300mcg as needed	daily	weekly	0.05 mcg weekly	0.25 mg weekly	0.25 mL weekly	0.325 mcg weekly	0.5 mcg weekly	0.5 mg weekly	0.5 ml weekly	0.5 mL weekly	0.5 weekly	1 mcg weekly	1 mg weekly	1 mL weekly	1 other weekly	1 weekly	1.5 mcg weekly	1.5 mg weekly	4 weekly	5 mcg weekly	30 mcg monthly	30 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	10 mg weekly	13.2 mg weekly	2 mcg daily	15 mcg weekly	15 mg weekly	30 mcg every other week	33 mcg every other week	20 mcg weekly	22 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	24 mcg weekly	30 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	30 mcg weekly	30 mg weekly	30 mmol/L weekly	30 weekly	33 mcg weekly	35 mcg weekly	37 mcg weekly	44 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	44 mg weekly	50 mcg weekly	50 mg weekly	60 mcg weekly	3 x 22 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	80 mg weekly	100 mcg weekly	125 mcg weekly	3 x 44 mcg/0.5 mL weekly	200 mcg weekly	30 mcg/0.5 mL daily	30 mcg daily	30.1 mcg daily	44 mcg/0.5 mL daily	360 mg weekly
1	1	169	1	2	1	1	6	2	1	1	2	18	10	4	3	10	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	2	2	1	226	386	25	1	10	3	1	1	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	1	1	7	29	20	1	2	1

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Interferon beta-1a IM Injection Treatment Report