40mg EOD - IPIRs?

[DizzyDean]

One conclusion of the glacier study that compared 20mg daily with 40mg EOD was that injection reaction adverse events (which includes IPIRs) occur ~50% less often. Sure sounds like adverse events are a function of how often you take it, not the dose you take.

But - a big question is: if you get an IPIR on 40mg dose, are the symptoms "twice as bad", do they last twice as long (or longer), etc. due to higher dosage?

Anybody experience an IPIR since switching to 40mg EOD? Any comparison to the "normal" IPIR on 20mg?

[kim-mastro]

copaxone 40

I'm new to this site and to Copaxone. Could you explain what an IPIR is?

[Seasha]

I'm new to this site and to Copaxone. Could you explain what an IPIR is?

Welcome kim-mastro! An IPIR when using Copaxone stands for Immediate Post Injection Reaction and sometimes people experience this as:

"Feeling like a heart attack
Unable to catch a breath (feeling like an asthma attack)
Severe panic/anxiety during attack
Nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea
Feeling like “I was freezing, causing my whole body to shake uncontrollably”
Lasted from 30 minutes to over an hour
Dizziness and feeling like “I was going to pass out” "

For more information, read http://ms.about.com/od/treatments/a/copaxone_IPIR.htm

I was on Copaxone for over 6 years and never had an IPIR.

[kim-mastro]

IPIRs

Seasha
Thanks! Fortunately, I haven't had any of that. Some stinging, redness, itching-pretty tolerable!