Copaxone injecting areas...

[diomed]

Hi,
I know that you are supposed to inject Copaxone in the different areas on your body. I am new to this and just started but I do have a question about areas with very little body fat. I have very little fat in some of the areas suggested for injection. I did my first injection on my stomach, which happens to be my fattest spot other than the bottom of my buttocks..lol. Anyways, that injection was not painful at all. No swelling, etc. It just stung for a few minutes and it was gone. My second injection was on my thigh. It HURT and I have a lump like a bee sting. Of course, the top of my thighs have very little fat on them. I did adjust the needle length too. I have the same low fat issue with my arms and hips. I wish I could inject just where the fat is(around my stomach) but in different spots. I am not looking forward to injecting in my other thigh, hips or my arms.

[jenphilly]

I went over injection sites with my neuro, my arms are more a problem for me. She said to split the stomach into left and right and use them for two sites a week and then everything is kinda rotating 6 days instead of 7.

For the thighs, I have found that the outside is less painful then using the tops. My neuro said you can also try the inside if you have a spot on your thighs that has more sub-q fat / tissue.

For the arms, if you can get somebody else to do the injection for you, I have found that kinda using the back to slight underside of the arm was the least painful. But, I have opted to skip my arms for a bit. If my legs give me a problem, might use the arm every once in a while, but....

For the hip, I go further down towards the butt where its more fleshy. Just be careful and don't go too close to the center of your back / butt.

Have you tried going with a 4 setting? Is that still a problem? I vary my depths quite a bit and also found that if you hold the autoinjector in a way so that you can not press it as much into the skin, but use your hand to release the safety, it helps too.

Worst case, talk to your doctor about other options for sites. My neuro said she has one patient who does like every other shot in her stomach because she is a cyclist and has literally no body fat. She just very carefully maps her shots so the sites are as far apart as possible.

Good luck! I'm still new to copax myself, but found I had the problem pretty quick with my legs I'm same as you, don't even realize I take a shot in the stomach!

Jen

[twisterred]

Finding areas that are more fatty can get to be somewhat of a game.
Part of making Copaxone work in ones life is how to keep it simple.

Rotating shots is important. Give your body as much time as possible to heal before injecting again.

Consider areas such as the inner thigh area.
It's off of he charted areas approved for Copaxone, but it works.

I also inject in my upper hamstring area, staying away from the center-back. There are larger veins, arteries and the Sciatic nerve back there.

The sides of the leg work well. I make those injections more shallow since there are veins, etc closer to the skin.
And, my shot goes slower there.

The buttocks area has more possible areas. I reach around and inject upper buttock areas, DH get to inject areas I can't see.

As for areas without fat, since you are so thin, it might work to skip the arms all together. After telling my neuro how much it hurt for 3+ days after an arm injection, he simply stated to skip that area.

The lumps are normal for quite a few days after an injection. It will get better after a long time. Months later there will be a difference. Think really, really, long term.

Hurting is normal too. It is very painful at first, but it does get better. Take an aspirin before to help. For myself, I try to distract myself by injecting in the morning and then starting my day.

It might seem like too much since you are new, but injecting manually is a good way to give you more control injecting.
Doing this allows me to pause and inject slower than normal.
I usually count slowly to 10. Some areas I only get to 5.

I've been injecting for over 14 years. When I do the math, it scares me to think how many times I have poked a needle in myself! I only think of my today shot to keep it simple.

Relax because it will get better.
Believe me, I am the last person ever who thought I could ever give myself a shot.

Good luck!!

[heathercarr05]

Copaxone injection areas

Hi

I do not take copaxone, I am on rebif right but thinking of changing. I have found that with rebif autoinjector the shots were painful and I bruised alot. I took the step to manual injections and I have not had any problems, and I am very tiny, 110lbs 5'4". I am not sure where the injection sites are that they recomend for copaxone, but with rebif it is inner thigh not top where there is large muscle, stomach, under arm between elbow and shoulder, and butt in fatty area at top. All these sites are on both sides of the body so you have 8 different areas that you can rotate through. Also doing manual injections you can pinch the skin to make sure the needle does not hit a muscle. Hope this helps.

[Cat Mom]

I manually inject my Copaxone and have been taking it since 2007. I always pinch a chunk of skin/fat where I'm going to inject and inject the needle in there. You can do this with the autoinjector too but I feel more control by doing it manually. Good luck!

[jbell2435]

Good timing I was going to post this question myself! I am on day 10 of shots and just now starting to go back to areas I started with and dreading the thighs!

Today was 'thigh day', so I went to a fattier area on the inside instead of the top. Oh the burn and the needle hurt going in, some redness, and a small bump that soon went away. By far my worst area.

I have plenty of padding elsewhere, so hoping I could skip the thigh. Thanks for the advise!

Also, anyone else have a sore spot at the injection that lasts for at least a week?? It's not bruised, just sore. At least I can remember where I shot the last few times!

[cosake]

I had site reactions in my legs that caused me to limp for up to three days, and oh joy ! then it was on to inject the other leg . . .

I often had sore spots that lasted for 5-7 days.

While finishing Copaxone, I was only injecting into hips/upper buttocks and into stomach. Dr. told me to cut stomach into quarters to have 4 stomach areas - upper right, lower right, upper left, lower left.

I had problems with betaseron as well.

I have very sensitive skin and injections just don't agree with me.

Now I'm scheduled to start Gilenya on Tuesday.