Both paracetamol and ibuprofen are equally effective in managing flu-like symptoms in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients during interferon beta-1a (AVONEX®) therapy

Interferon beta-la is an established therapy for patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). Adverse effects in the first weeks of treatment are common. This open-label, multicenter, randomized, prospective study compared treatment of flu-like symptoms (FLS) with paracetamol versus ibuprofen administered 48 h within interferon injection. The percentage of patients with FLS was comparable between both treatment groups and improved during the course of the study (baseline: paracetamol 92%, ibuprofen 90%; week 12: paracetamol 60%, ibuprofen 57%). More than 75% of patients receiving either paracetamol or ibuprofen reported no or only mild impairment of daily activities. There was no significant difference in general satisfaction or incidence of additional symptoms (weakness, nausea, headache; paracetamol 84.6% patients, ibuprofen 86.0% patients) between the two groups. A significant overall improvement from baseline to week 12 was observed for all parameters studied (paracetamol and ibuprofen groups were pooled). These results indicate that neither the paracetamol nor the ibuprofen treatment regimen is better.