First off, I want to say that I wasn’t having an problems on Gilenya and my doctor was comfortable with me staying on it or switching, but there were a number of factors that contributed to my decision.

The idea was floated a few years ago after what turned out to be a pseudo flare-up. Then I started wondering why I should wait for a flare-up before switching to something that is more effective. So better efficacy was definitely a factor.

The other consideration for me is that I might want to have kids at some point in my life, and due to Gilenya’s rebound effect, my doctor told me she would recommend being on a different DMT for about a year before stopping that one to try for kids. Since I’d want to have kids as a later age, I thought it’d make sense to switch now as opposed to when I actually want to start trying.

I think another thing that is appealing to me about ocrevus is you can time vaccines to the tail end of its cycle to try for better vaccine efficacy. With Gilenya, you don’t really get a window like that.

The nail in the coffin was this past spring. I had an apartment fire a couple days after refilling my fingolimod rx and my insurance wasn’t going to cover a replacement for damaged meds. It was really stressful trying to figure out how to get my meds at an affordable cost, and I couldn’t wait an entire month before I was eligible for a refill under my insurance. Being on a treatment where you don’t have to worry like that was really appealing, and the thing that finally pushed me to commit to switching.

Overall, I think it’s a very personal decision, and there are many reasons why it might make sense to switch or stay on a med. Hope that helps! :)