Vacation, MRI and DMDs

This post has a little good, bad and ugly...

I will start with the good. I had a great vacation in California. The weather was lovely and the beach was awesome. I got plenty of sun but not too much. I also never got too hot.

We had a great time with my husband's family. We got to meet and hang out with our new baby niece for the first time. She is one of the cutest, sweetest babies I have ever seen and I have known a lot of babies. The whole famiy spent a good deal of the time just watching her. She was a great source of entertainment. This week's joke: "How many adults does it take to care for one baby?" We found it took at least four or five. Our time with her was really special. I may post a few pictures in the next few days.

Vacation was extremely relaxing and enjoyable. That was a good thing because now I will get into the bad...

I got the results from my MRI and I have three new lesions. My neurologist is suggesting that I go on a DMD. He wants me to choose between Copaxone, Rebif and Avonex.

While the results of my MRI were not surprising, considering this summer's symptoms, I am bummed. I have long been hoping that my diagnosis might miraculously change. I was also hoping my lesions would shrink or at least stay the same. My neurologist told me not to worry too much about the fact that I now have five lesions because MRIs can vary a lot from one time to the next but he did say that these results indicate that my lesions are active. My initial diagnosis was benign MS but alas, that is out the window now. I am sad to know my MS is progressing because I have worked so hard to treat my disease without meds. I eat healthy and get plenty of excercise. I still have full physical function and I work full time. I am afraid that going on a DMD is going to further complicate my life and make it harder to keep up with my rigorous full time job. I am now giving careful consideration to how I should proceed from here. I am hoping the MS community will sound off on the questions I have posted below.

Here are my questions.
1) Why did you choose to go on DMDs if you are on one?
2) Which DMDs have you been on?
3) What were the side effects with each drug you tried?
4) How much did the drug/s cost?
5) Based on your experience, which drug would you recommend and why?

Thanks so much for your help. This is a hard decision for me and frankly, not one I ever planned to make. I know, denial is not a river in Egypt :)