• Effectiveness

  Slight (for CNS lupus)
• Side effects

  Mild (for Overall) (bone marrow suppression)
• Adherence

  Usually
• Burden

  Not at all hard to take

Advice & Tips: This is a muscle relaxer and theoretically should have no effect on nerve pain, but when I went off of it for a short time because my insurance wanted me to try a different drug, I immediately started having worse nerve pain in my feet.  Now I've been back on it for about a week and I think the pain is better.  Of course, it could be placebo effect, but that doesn't matter to me, does it?

Cost: < $25 monthly

• Effectiveness

  Major (for CNS lupus)
• Side effects

  Severe (for Overall) (bone marrow suppression)
• Adherence

  Never taken as prescribed
• Burden

  Very hard to take

Advice & Tips: This is Cytoxen, a chemotherapy drug.  I had monthly treatments for nine months, became so anemic that I got dehydrated from low blood volume and went into renal failure twice.  It did stop my seizures, episodes of amnesia and other neuropsychiatric symptoms for a long time.  It was worth the risks.

Cost: $200+ monthly

• Effectiveness

  Major (for used to kill immune system)
• Effectiveness

  Moderate (for multiple sclerosis)
• Side effects

  Moderate (for Overall) (brain fog)
• Adherence

  Always
• Burden

  Somewhat hard to take

Dosage: 2 g Monthly

Advice & Tips: it worked wonderfully for we'll over a year! My disease then started to take over again. Taking this drug for my MS was one thing, taking it to kill my immune system to prepare me for my transplant was another completely.

Cost: < $25 monthly

• Effectiveness

  Can't tell (for multiple sclerosis)
• Side effects

  None (for Overall)
• Adherence

  Never taken as prescribed
• Burden

  Not at all hard to take

Advice & Tips: I put this treatment in as a mistake

Cost: < $25 monthly