Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection Report for Patients Like You

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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)	2441	705
Other	48	12
Stiffness/Spasticity	26	6
Fatigue	20	1
General health	16	9
Improve mobility	9	4

See all 41 reasons taken ▼

See all 1882 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	152
Moderate	229
Mild	276
None	86

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

See all 221 reported side effects ▼ See top 6 reported side effects ▲
Injection site redness	171	171
Generalized muscle aches	151	151
Headaches	146	146
Chills/fever	127	127
Injection site pain	89	89
Flu like symptoms	80	80
Injection site itching	48	48
Injection site burning	43	43
Fatigue	42	42
Muscle aches	41	41
Migraine headaches	37	37
Injection site reaction	31	31
Injection site bruising	21	21
Tingling	14	14
Body Aches	14	14
Depressed mood	13	13
Red blotches	13	13
Elevated liver enzymes	10	10
Nausea	10	10
Fever	8	8
Chills	8	8
Rash or skin problems	6	6
Depression with anxiety	6	6
Bruising	6	6
Insomnia	6	6
Muscle and joint pain	6	6
Hair loss	5	5
Hospitalization	5	5
Injection site swelling	4	4
Pain	4	4
Rashes (redness, swelling)	4	4
Flu like symptoms on night of shot	3	3
Joint pain	3	3
Occasional flu like symptoms	3	3
Heart palpitations	3	3
Shortness of breath (dyspnea)	3	3
Dizziness	3	3
Depression with suicidal thoughts	3	3
Thrombocytopenia (low platelet count)	2	2
Nausea sometimes	2	2
Joints ache (whole body)	2	2
Burning sensation	2	2
Stomach pain	2	2
Weight gain	2	2
Bone Pain	2	2
Muscle pain	2	2
Malaise	2	2
Hives (urticaria)	2	2
Increased or worsened depression	2	2
Breathing difficulty	2	2
Injection site irritation	2	2
Cramps in calf muscles	2	2
Racing heart feeling	2	2
Joints ache	2	2
Dry mouth (xerostomia)	2	2
Injection site knots	2	2
Mood swings	2	2
Anxious mood	2	2
Body tremor	2	2
Suicidal thoughts or urges	2	2
Generalized weakness (asthenia)	2	2
Injection site scar	2	2
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome	2	2
Hypothyroidism	2	2
Frustration	2	2
Constipation	2	2
Pressure headaches	2	2
Exhaustion	2	2
MS hug (tight chest or torso)	2	2
Increased fatigue	2	2
Low white blood cell count (leukopenia)	2	2
Stiffness/Spasticity	2	2
Injection site soreness	2	2
Nasal congestion	2	2
Swelling in hands	1	1
Abscess	1	1
hives/swelling of lips and tongue	1	1
Swelling in feet	1	1
Outburst of anger	1	1
Feeling out of it	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
Suicidal behavior	1	1
can't slow brain down at night	1	1
Developed Antibodies	1	1
Injection site indentations	1	1
occasional "medicine head"	1	1
Short period flu like symptoms	1	1
Worsening depression	1	1
Headache on right side of head	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
"Out of Sorts" for approx. 1 day	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
Injection site tenderness	1	1
MS symptoms worsened	1	1
Sporadic sharp chest pain	1	1
Thickening of skin	1	1
Skin lesions	1	1
Generalized Anxiety Disorder	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
Reactive Depression	1	1
Hospitalization	1	1
Atrophy of muscles	1	1
Itching (pruritus)	1	1
Crying	1	1
Weakness in legs	1	1
Bowel problems	1	1
Memory problems	1	1
Acid reflux	1	1
Temperature dysregulation	1	1
Heat and cold exacerbate symptoms	1	1
Optic nerve inflammation (Optic neuritis)	1	1
Blurry vision	1	1
Memory lapses (brain blinks)	1	1
Cognitive Confusion	1	1
Nighttime leg spasms	1	1
Stiffness in legs	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
Lipodystrophy (lipoatrophy or loss of fatty tissue)	1	1
Muscle weakness	1	1
Everything i touch feels like coarse sandpaper	1	1
Burning sensation in legs	1	1
Aching burning throbbing body pain	1	1
Uncontrollable crying	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
General freezing of entire body	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
Lumps and bumps	1	1
Dizziness and feeling faint	1	1
Hangover effect	1	1
Itchy rash	1	1
Head pain	1	1
Withdrawal effects	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
Muscle spasms	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

Reported Dosages

Frequently reported dosages based on patients currently taking Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection. See all 149 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
146	57	152	41	726	78	157	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	567
Did not seem to work	375
Doctor's advice	314
Other	219
Expense	65
Personal research	52
Course of treatment ended	22
Not indicated	22
Change in health plan coverage	20

See all 1145 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	9	11	42	70	307

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
52	114	149	219	216	373

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

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Adherence of Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection

Always	583	78%
Usually	121	16%
Sometimes	19	3%
Never	20	3%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Burden of Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection

Very	97	13%
Somewhat	194	26%
A little	260	35%
Not at all	192	26%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

Cost of Interferon beta-1a SubQ injection

$200+	52	9%
$100-199	31	6%
$50-99	128	23%
$25-49	146	26%
< $25	197	36%

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

Patient Evaluations

See all 743 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 743 patient evaluations

Report created on May 27, 2012.

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