Oral treatment for MS, Tecfidera, approved for use in Canada(08/05/13)

A new oral treatment for those living with multiple sclerosis has been approved for use in Canada.

Tecfidera is an oral medication recently approved by Health Canada.

It becomes just the second oral drug available in the country to treat multiple sclerosis – other treatments are done by injections.

Julie Kelndorfer has spent nine years living with MS and says it’s been a rollercoaster ride.

“It’s been an interesting journey for all of us, my whole family,” Kelndorfer.

Multiple sclerosis attacks the protective covering or myelin, of the brain and spinal cord, interrupting the flow of nerve pulses which affects vision, hearing, memory, balance and mobility.

Kelndorfer has a form of MS called relapsing-remitting.

She recently experienced an episode she’d never been through before.

“It was actually the MS attacking my brain stem so my balance was off, it was like I was having seizures, I was in a convulsion,” she said. “It was scary.”

After that episode, Kelndorfer stopped taking the daily injection medication she had been on for years.

She has since spent months researching Tecfidera to see if it will work for her.

“When something is new and exciting, at the same time you’re hesitant to be the first one out of the gate,” she said.

Kelndorfer is holding out hope that Tecfidera will mean fewer muscle spasms.