site reactions with beta?

[salamandertom]

I did not have any red spots or area soreness at first with my injections. I started a month ago and I am supposed to move up to my .75 dose Monday - but the doctor told me because I have had headaches since i started to draw out this titration for an extra week.

Anyhow, my thighs hurt and bled - but every other site was fine and I generally couldn't even find the injection sites the next day. Now, the last one on my stomach is all red and a little sore (from 6 days ago), the last arm one (4 days ago) is red and a bit sore and the one on my arm from the last injection is really sore and has a good amount of pink surrounding it. It is even warm to the touch. Should I call the beta nurse? Are these just normal site reactions?

[rdmc]

I did not have any red spots or area soreness at first with my injections. I started a month ago and I am supposed to move up to my .75 dose Monday - but the doctor told me because I have had headaches since i started to draw out this titration for an extra week.

Anyhow, my thighs hurt and bled - but every other site was fine and I generally couldn't even find the injection sites the next day. Now, the last one on my stomach is all red and a little sore (from 6 days ago), the last arm one (4 days ago) is red and a bit sore and the one on my arm from the last injection is really sore and has a good amount of pink surrounding it. It is even warm to the touch. Should I call the beta nurse? Are these just normal site reactions?

I've been using Betaseron for 7 years. I still get a morning headache the day after, but have never had flu like symptoms. The headache eases with some ibuprophen.

As to the site reactions, I still get them with every shot. They are about the size of a quarter (maybe a little larger), feel warm to the touch, turn bright red and itchy a couple days after the injection, and hang around, although in a constant state of fading, for about a month. So at any one time I have about 15 injections sites I can spot.

I gave up on my thighs, well, not completely, sometimes I inject high up on my right thigh because it's numb there

But other places on my thigh were itchier (is that a word) than the ones on my belly. So I use my belly and hips mostly. There are lots of methods to try in order to avoid the site reactions, just none of them worked for me.

You can try cortisone cream or benadryl cream if they itch.

Now here's the "up" side to site reactions. Since we're not supposed to inject in the same places over and over, because the site reactions hang around, it's easy to tell where you've injected so you can avoid that area.

[mtngl]

Injection site reactions

Hi there,
I've been on Betaseron since 2005. I have had some bad injection site reactions, some of and which led to tissue necrosis on my abdomen. These spots have since healed over, but left some awful scars. Needless to say, they were quite painful.

Now I still have spots that are uncomfortable and it can be difficult to find areas that aren't still healing when I need to inject.

I agree that hydrocortisone cream or benadryl cream can help to ease the discomfort. I also use ice after injections, too.

Hope that helps. Good luck with it.

Regards,

mtngl

[phoebe.]

I started Beta in Sept '10 and initially had no site reactions at all. It wasn't until I started at either .75 or 1 ml that I started seeing red welts and bruising. They last about 10 days or so. While I still get the welts they do seem to be getting a bit less as time goes on. They are a little bit sore but not too bad.

I don't get the welts at every injection site - just the thighs and abdomen.

About every other time I inject in my thighs it is painful & bleeds a little. I haven't figured out yet what it is I am doing differently when it hurts, other than I am either hitting muscle and/or blood vessel. If I inject into the upper thigh and slightly toward the side it usually doesn't hurt so much.

I use a chilled preparation H wipe to press on the injection site afterwards and that does seem to help with the redness and soreness.

Hope this helps.
phoebe.

[salamandertom]

I use a chilled preparation H wipe to press on the injection site afterwards and that does seem to help with the redness and soreness.

phoebe.

Phoebe,
Do you mean you prepare a hydrocortizone wipe and chill it in the freezer or you buy wipes of hydrocorizone then put them in the freezer? I would imagine that would help a lot. I have a mild bleeding disorder so the cold compress would probably help - I just find it interesting that I wasn't having any reactions until now. Thank you all.

[phoebe.]

I buy the packet of preparation H medicated wipes (with witch hazel) and put them in the refrigerator. I think this chills them well enough without being too shockingly cold.

I also found it interesting that I didn't have any site reactions until the dosage got high. At first I thought I was going to be lucky and not have any reactions! Oh well.

[roargue]

Preparation H is Good Stuff!

I have been on Betaseron since 2008. I always use a cold spot on the area I plan to inject for at least 20 minutes. I rub the spot after the injection for 5 minutes and still get those lovely red spots the next day or so and Preparation H does work wonders in removing that red spot! I have been a believer in doing that since my Neuro. recommended it. I was also directed to only take Tylenol prior to injecting and not ibuprofen...so I listened to that too. So far all of that info has helped me. So, hang in there and keep your chin up! Ok?

[Lendi]

I was on beta for oh a good couple of years. On the lower dose I didn't have any problems at all. I did have the redness etc. on the higher doses. then, they got worse and worse and worse over time until they were 3-4 " around and lasted for several months. They got very, very painful like a bad, bad bruise so even brushing across them hurt. I finally ran out of places to inject in all sites and my neuro said I was having too much of a reaction. I had hoped it would be ok and that my reaction to rebif was from the preservative but nope, it just took a bit longer.

I took copaxone inbetween rebif and beta but I broke out with it. Now I'm on tysabri and have been for over a year. It's working much, much better for me.

Beta worked well for me for quite awhile, though and the nurses were wonderful.

[salamandertom]

Another tip I got was to add an air bubble and keep the needle in the skin for 20-30 seconds after I inject. If I immediately pull the needle out I noticed that some of the medicine was oozing back out. This is another cause of irritation to our skin. The air bubble helps keep the medicine from being at the surface. I also stopped using the alcohol wipes. Instead I wash the area with soap and water.


Good luck. It helps to know we're not alone on our shot nights

Thank you. I appreciate your help. I will try it. I am confused by this step though. Can you explain this further? I also have very sensitive skin - what do you mean with the air bubble? I do always leave the needle in longer than I need to.

[mulli9149]

I also just moved up in dosage. I am also getting the site reactions. I hope they do not get too bad. I am also thinking about calling the beta nurse again. That is what they are there for. This is a battle I had not planned on facing, but so far so good.

[Luv2Worship]

I have the same issue happening as soon as I moved up to .75! I have a welt on each of my arms and I am always being asked what happened! I'm going to skip my arms for now because it gets really hot where i live (although last week was in the 90's, today it snowed, go figure!) anyhow, I am always in sleeveless shirts & I don't want to spend the summer explaining whats wrong.

At least with my legs my shorts are longer and I don't wear a bikini so no problems there.

I have found that if I take my shot by 5pm, I really can sleep through the majority of the side effects, the next day I'm just tired.

[salamandertom]

I tried ice on my stomach injection the other night and while it hurts to the touch - there is no welt there!!! So that is progress. I am going to get some preperation H wipes and try those on my arms - tonight I am working the THIGHS back into the rotation for the first time. YIKES. I hate the thighs. They bled and reacted with the .25 dose. LOL. This won't be pretty.

I did speak with the beta nurses. My doctor's nurse said to hold at .5 for now until I get my blood work done. Fun stuff.

Thanks for sharing all your experiences and advice!!!