Multiple Sclerosis and My Doctor Visit

My doctor has talked to me about participating in an upcoming drug study related to multiple sclerosis. This is not a study for a multiple sclerosis disease-modifying drug but rather a test to see if those of us on Rebif and Betaseron are developing antibodies to the drug. If you develop antibodies to one of these drugs while taking it, the drug may no longer be effective for you in dealing with your multiple sclerosis.

I thought the premise of this study was very interesting. They are measuring whether or not you build up antibodies and then evaluating whether or not your doctor does anything with the information (at least that is what I understand). Will your doctor recommend a different disease-modifying drug if you develop antibodies toward your current therapy? Have we all developed these antibodies to our DMDs? I was in awe that our doctors wouldn't be doing this anyway and letting us know if the drug they prescribed for us was no longer effective.

The promising thing for me was that as I was parting from my doctor, she was very excited about what is on the horizon with new multiple sclerosis drugs -- particularly those that are in oral form. This made me very hopeful - as my doctor (like many others) knows there is simply not anything to help someone with multiple sclerosis to eliminate it from their lives.

I believe there will be something within 5 years that radically changes how multiple sclerosis affects our daily living.