Rebif was a godsend. With MS gripping my life Rebif turned me around. I can’t say enough about how well Rebif worked for controlling my MS and I would consider taking it again if I needed to. That said, Rebif was no picnic.
It didn’t take long for the flu-like symptoms and chronic pain to take over my life again while on Rebif. With three shots per week I was just be feeling better when it was time for another shot. By 18 months I was weak, in pain and unmotivated. The weight began to pile on again due to inactivity. The shots were as tolerable as Copaxone but shot phobia creeped in and soon the anxiety of it made giving the shot nearly impossible. I took a two-week break and felt freedom from injections for the first time in eight and a half years.
Fearful of consequences, I returned to the medication. The side effects grew worse until I was so weak the day after a shot that I could hardly move. I stopped the injections again for two weeks and then one final shot, I threw in the towel. The medication was worse than the illness at that point. I did not return to a treatment plan for 21 months. By then my MS was so out of control that the doctor insisted I return to a medication immediately. Gileyna gave me an oral treatment plan for the first time and boy was I excited.
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