• 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