Thursday 26 January 2023

another reason to love ocrevus

One thing I forgot to mention from when I spoke to the MS Nurse recently. She effectively said that Ocrevus was the reason why I'd got all of these infections

I've written in the past about how effective it is as an immunosuppressant, stamping down on my immune response for up to six months following each infusion. Previously this has caused me to delay having Covid vaccines and my annual flu jab, simply because Ocrevus is so good at its job. There's no point in having a vaccine when your body is unable to provide an immune response. 

But does this also mean that in the future I'm going to be leaving myself open to every single virus that's going around? At a time when years of social distancing means that nobody has built up any immunity? 

I can't help feeling - yet again - that I wish I'd not had to move to Ocrevus. It's almost like the drug exists to keep me weak and isolated. Previously when I was on Tysabri I was actually pretty healthy. I never really caught anything that was doing the rounds. Plus it was easier to fit vaccines around my infusions. 

Now every time I have an infusion I need to socially distance for a month, according to a note I was given in October (at the end of my first full infusion!).

But really, what are my options? I can't go back to Tysabri because of my rising JC Virus count. And as far as I can tell, Ocrevus is my last option as far as medication is concerned. 

I've heard that changing to a medication with lower efficacy has been shown to increase disability. So is Ocrevus really the last horse in town?

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