Fampridine
Fampridine or Fampyra is a drug offered to people with MS and some of them can walk faster. It allows messages to pass along nerves more quickly. This is very noticeable where damage to the nerve has occurred and the speed of conduction is quicker. For reasons that are not understood, some people respond well to fampridine and experience improved mobility, but others do not.
About a third of people find that fampridine improves mobility, The initial two to four week trial is currently funded by the manufacturer.
At the moment it is not licensed by NICE to be prescribed in England. A clinical test by NICE, a part of the development of the 2014 MS Clinical Guideline, concluded that fampridine had a positive effect on walking speed compared with placebo. There was little good evidence for an appreciable effect on EDSS. Another argument was that although walking speed increases your balance and safety do not improve.
The National Hospital of Neurology in London will provide Fampridine to people who show an increase to their walking speed of about 25%. The drug can be prescribed in Wales and it will be reviewed in Scotland in March 2020
I’m a lucky guy Fampridine works for me
I take Fampridine and use an FES or Functional Electrical Stimulator, they both improve my quality of life. I can only walk with a rollator and it is agonisingly slow. Without them I would have to use a wheelchair. OK. my left leg is useless courtesy MS but I do have an excellent right leg. […]
Multiple sclerosis is such an unpredictable disease
I am getting my life back onto an even keel. Botox is working, Fampridine looks like it’s a winner and spring is in the air. Just when I think all is looking hunky dory and everything is under control ,BANG, something hit me in the solar plexus. Multiple sclerosis is such an unpredictable disease. It […]
Three weeks of taking Fampridine
Friday, 22 December, I think that date will be etched on my memory for many years. Three weeks of taking Fampridine. I knew it’d helped me but the icy test was going to be measuring my new walking speed. Had Fampridine increased my walking speed enough for me to receive it on prescription? Three weeks […]
My MS clock has gone back a couple of years
I started taking Fampridine just over a couple of weeks ago. Yes, YEs, YES it really has worked. Right now I’m not too sure if my walking speed has increased sufficiently to receive the drug beyond the trial period. That it will be a bummer. Put walking speed to one side then so many other […]
Will Fampridine improve my quality of life
The physiotherapists at Queens Square neurological hospital offered me Fampridine in the summer of 2017. I knew that Fampridine also known as Fampyra could improve my walking speed. Sadly it doesn’t make the process any safer. None the less I reckoned it was worth trying out. Will Fampridine improve my quality of life When I […]
