Possible Side Effects of Animal Cuts

It's been difficult for Courtney Galiano, 27, to decipher whether her fatigue, flu-like symptoms, and stomach pain are symptoms of her multiple sclerosis (MS) or side effects from the drugs she's taking.

Since her diagnosis with MS in 2012, Galiano has tried different medications.

For a brief time, the dancer and actress, who lives in New York City, says she even stopped taking MS drugs completely — and actually felt better. But because she knew that her MS symptoms could recur, and that new ones could arise, she went back on the medication.

"At the beginning of [trying] each drug, I'd think what I was experiencing was a side effect, but I was on each one for six to eight months," she says. "So toward the end, I wasn't sure."

It's taken a lot of trial and error for Galiano to get to where she is now: taking just one medication, which has some minor fatigue as a side effect.

RELATED: 9 Common MS Symptoms

Galiano's experience isn't uncommon. For people who have MS, medication side effects are often confused with MS symptoms, and it can be a difficult to distinguish which is which, says Jonathan Howard, MD, a neurologist at the Multiple Sclerosis Comprehensive Care Center at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City.

Symptoms or Side Effects?

To help you differentiate between what could be symptoms or medication-related side effects (or both), we've put together the following list of common complaints:

Fatigue About 80 percent of people with MS experience fatigue as a symptom of MS, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. But some MS drugs can also cause fatigue.

Galiano says that she felt overwhelming fatigue while taking certain medications — as if she'd been hit by a car.

"Some of our medications can cause fatigue as a side effect, especially some of the medications we use to treat pain, spasticity, and depression," says Le Hua, MD, a neurologist at the Mellen Program for Multiple Sclerosis at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas.

That fatigue can be intensified if you're taking multiple medications, according to a study published in 2014 in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research. The researchers found that people with MS who took several medications had more memory problems, too.

Flu-like symptoms The interferon drugs used to treat MS often cause flu-like side effects. These drugs include Avonex and Rebif (both interferon beta-1a), Betaseron and Extavia (both interferon beta-1b), and Plegridy (long-acting interferon beta-1a). Achiness and fever typically occur about an hour after injection.

Galiano remembers feeling chills and exhaustion after getting Avonex injections.

Depression and mood changes Interferon medications may cause depression as a side effect, while other MS drugs can cause irritability or other mood changes, Dr. Hua says.

But MS lesions can also cause depression, as can the stress of living with a chronic illness or of experiencing increasing disability.

Gastrointestinal problems "Tecfidera made my stomach feel horrible," Galiano says. Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) is commonly associated with stomach pains, Dr. Howard says.

MS is not associated with stomach pain, but it can cause other problems along the digestive tract, including swallowing problems and bowel problems, particularly constipation.

What to Do About Symptoms and Side Effects

Always let your medical team know about any new side effects or symptoms so they can help you sort them out. "If it's a known side effect, we can help, such as by giving tips to reduce injection site reactions," Hua says. "If it's a symptom, we can help treat the symptom."

Your doctor may also have practical solutions. For instance, one medication that Galiano took made her tired, so her doctor said she could take it in the evening instead of the morning.

Your doctor may also suggest stopping a medication briefly or switching to another to see if that makes a difference in how you feel, Howard says.

Sometimes, your body may just need a couple of weeks to adjust to a new medication.

Possible Side Effects of Animal Cuts

Source: https://www.everydayhealth.com/multiple-sclerosis/symptoms/symptoms-or-side-effects/

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