Talking to Your Doctor About Multiple Sclerosis
Whether you have been living with multiple sclerosis (MS) a long time and have a lot of experience talking to healthcare professionals, or are newly diagnosed, it can be hard to remember everything you need to discuss during an office visit.
One of the things you can do before a visit with your healthcare team is to prepare a list of questions to bring with you.
To get you started, here are some examples of questions you might want to ask.
About Your Diagnosis...
- How do you know I have MS?
- What type of MS do I have?
- What is a relapse or attack?
- Will I recover? If so, how?
- What do my MRI results mean?
- What can I expect in the future?
About Living With MS...
- Do I need to take medication when I have no symptoms?
- Will I need periodic blood tests and MRIs?
- What lifestyle changes may I have to make?
- Is there anything my family/children need to know?
- Are there support groups or programs that can help me cope?
About Treatment...
- Can I take other medications with my MS therapy?
- How do I decide what medication is right for me?
- How long will I be on treatment?
- Why are you prescribing this treatment for me?
- What are the differences between the medications?
- High-dose versus low-dose medication?
- Frequently-dosed versus infrequently-dosed medications?
- Will I always be on the same dose of medication?
- What types of side effects should I expect?
- Are there ways to manage them?
The questions above are only suggestions. As you learn more about MS, you can create your own list.
Learn about the myths and facts concerning MS by clicking here, or explore some of the downloadable resources in the MS Resource Center.
INDICATIONS AND USAGE
BETASERON® (interferon beta-1b) is indicated for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis to reduce the frequency of clinical exacerbations. Patients with multiple sclerosis in whom efficacy has been demonstrated include patients who have experienced a first clinical episode and have MRI features consistent with multiple sclerosis.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
The most commonly reported adverse reactions are lymphopenia, injection-site reaction, asthenia, flu-like symptom complex, headache, and pain. Gradual dose titration and use of analgesics during treatment initiation may help reduce flu-like symptoms. BETASERON should be used with caution in patients with depression. Injection-site necrosis has been reported in 4% of patients in controlled trials. Patients should be advised of the importance of rotating injection sites. Female patients should be warned about the potential risk to pregnancy. Cases of anaphylaxis have been reported rarely. See "Warnings," "Precautions," and "Adverse Reactions" sections of full Prescribing Information.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
For important risk and use information, please see the full prescribing information.
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- Consider MS Treatments
- When considering treatments, take a closer look at BETASERON.
- Why Choose Betaseron?
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- Why Choose Betaseron?
- Consider MS Treatments
- When considering treatments, take a closer look at BETASERON.
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** In a survey of 199 physicians conducted by JZM/Phoenix Healthcare Practice, BETAPLUS, an MS patient support program for those on Betaseron, was rated "best" for affordable therapy, copay assistance, and nurse access and training, compared to MS support programs from Avonex, Copaxone, and Rebif. Attitude, Awareness and Use Tracking Study Among Physicians June 2008.
- Consider MS Treatments
- When considering treatments, take a closer look at BETASERON.
