Abby,
I have primary progressive MS. Ten years ago, I was on a two-year trial of Rituxan, which, as I'm sure you know, is a cancer drug. I was infused every two or three months at OHSU, in Portland. I handled the drug extremely well, and my wife and I believe that at the very least my progression was halted while I was on it. To say that my symptoms lessened might be going too far, but I was certainly doing a one heck of a lot better back than that I am now. I stopped taking Rituxan because the trial concluded that the drug does not help people with MS, but it turns out that conclusion was likely drawn due to the test results of the many relapsing remitting MSers in the trial. There is a next-generation drug that I believe is a "tuned" Rituxan, called Ocrelizumab (sp?), that is seeking FDA approval. The trials that have been using this new generation drug have had very good results for people with PPMS. If approved, it will be the first drug specifically marketed for PPMS. I am eager to get this new drug into my system, and I'm glad I could share this information with you. Let me know if you have other questions.

I've been on it for 1.5 years now - the good news is my lesions that were advancing in size and highly inflammatory when I started in July 2014 and my largest lesion was on my brainstem - the rituxan stopped the lesions from advancing in size and they are no longer inflammatory. I have had no new lesions so my doctors are happy but my symptoms are still progressing. That's the bad news.

Good luck to you, Abby. Let us know what kind of results you get – I hope they are stellar. Cheers.

@hotmail.com any body try Patient Profiles: Justin Loizos on Treating Aggressive Multiple Sclerosis with Cannabis prety cool.

I am awaiting infusion #2. I receive mine every three months. I have high hopes for it. Fingers are crossed!