Copaxone Wisdom Needed

[nagem78]

I have just started Copaxone (4 days so far)

So far not too bad, although I am renaming the autoinjector the Yellow Jacket since I have so much stinging. Good thing it goes away after 15-20 minutes or someone would be chasing me around the house everyday.

Only had one time I passed out immediatly after the injection, no worries since it has not happened again.

I was wondering when people switch from the autoinjector to manual injections how do you control the depth?

Just a steady hand?

I am assuming the Copaxone is the stingy culprit, I wonder if I ever switched how I inject this would change.

Does the stinging or welts ever go away for anyone?

Thanks for any/all posts, I appreciate all advice.

[SwedishPrince]

That autoject thing scares me, so I don't use it. The home visit nurse made me use it once, just to be sure I could do it, but I prefer the manual injections. Luckily my wife injects where I can't reach.

When I remove the cap from the needle, there is always a tiny droplet of Copaxone at the tip, I think because of the warming of the syringe from fridge to room temp. I believe I recall the nurse instructing me to "tap" the syringe to knock the drop off (don't touch the needle tip to anything so as not to contaminate).

She seemed to indicate that the stinging/burning sensation would be worse if the Copaxone gets on the surface of the skin with that little droplet. Maybe using the autoject means you can't see or get rid of that little drop?

[moonglow]

Copaxone- My experience and Opinion

I have been on Copaxone for more than 2 years. The auto-injector causes welts because of the medicine going in so quickly at one time. Use a cold ice pack after doing shot to help relieve some of the stinging. If it itches try taking Benadryl 20 mins before your shot or try topical Benadryl around the area once shot is done. Also try heating the area with a warm pack before doing shot. Never use heat after your shot has been done. Also making sure the auto injector is set to the right depth. 24 hours after the shot you can massage the welt gently.

Manual is a bit harder if you do not have a steady hand and some places are hard to reach. But making sure you grab enough skin before sticking the needle in your skin helps. I believe you release the skin before you start injecting the medicine. Making sure you push medicine in slowly but steadily also helps. Manual does not cause a welt but the stinging, burning, and itching is often still there because it is the medicine causing this not the auto-injector.


It does take time and you will find what works for you. Just stick with it!

[Cat Mom]

Been taking COpaxone for just over 5 years, I passed out once at the beginning too, haven't had that happen since but that incident was what made me pack up the auto injector (LOVE your nickname for it!) and go manual. Here's what works for me...

- I sterilize the area with baby bum wipes or just good old soap and water, not alcohol swabs

- rather than try to guess depth, I pinch a good sized area and inject right into it... I am pretty thin, not an issue trying to find fat to inject into this way, I do not need a steady hand

- if you get that bump/welt after the needle comes out, push directly down on it for approx 30 seconds... do not rub, just push down (I know... sounds strange but it works)

- ice the area then apply Benadryl cream (or any anti itch cream), I prefer this to taking a pill form of Benadryl due to the sleepiness it causes me to have

I hope you find a method that is easy for you and cuts down on that sting. I know it's intimidating at first but once you get used to it, it becomes part of your daily routine. Best of luck, please let us know how you are making out.
Jen

[MarkLavelle]

I was wondering when people switch from the autoinjector to manual injections how do you control the depth?

Just a steady hand?

I am assuming the Copaxone is the stingy culprit, I wonder if I ever switched how I inject this would change.

Does the stinging or welts ever go away for anyone?

I use the autoject for my hips and arms and manually inject for the stomach and thighs. For manual, the depth is controlled by the angle of the needle. At 45 degrees it goes in half as far as at 90 degrees (straight in). Your training nurse should have mentioned that (and if you didn't get trained, you really should!).

Yes, Copaxone sure can sting, but after several months it stopped stinging every day. I haven't noticed any difference between manual and auto. I do make sure the syringe didn't drip, though.

[nagem78]

thighs...ugh

Thanks for all the advice, I tried the pressing for 30 seconds technique today on my other thigh.

I am not sure if it helped since I was busy swearing for 10 minutes after the yellow jacket got me...

Happy I get to move onto another area tomorrow, hoping for less drama in the tummy spots...

Thanks again!

[dart12]

Hey I've been taking copaxone for one month so I'm another newbie! I thought first week was fine, no problems at all, stings after injections but really not that bad.
2nd week was more difficult and I really felt like giving up on copaxone. I stuck with it and reduced frequency of injection in arms and thighs, and I'm doing fine with injections now. I also stopped using auto injector, pressed down for at least 30 sec and made sure that copaxone did not touch my skin before injection.
I found cold packing really relieved sting after injection but it made lump worse next day so I stopped cold packing: injection does sing for a few mins but reaction following day is much reduced.
Not sure if any of this helps you and I'm still learning with it so best o luck :-)

[newbie but goodie]

I found that taking the shot, then hopping in the shower reduced my pain, stinging, itching, and the lump more than ice did. I think the gentle heat helped with the lump, the water helped with the "runoff" and stinging. It is contrary to what shared solutions will suggest but they can only recommend what they did during their clinical trials. Everyone is different so don't be afraid to try something that works for you.

Also, keep in mind that it does usually get better with time. Weeks 2-4 were the worst for me then the shots stopped hurting so bad.

[LilStep]

This is my second time around with Copax. Copax was my first treatment of choice. I would only do the autoinject because I was terrified of needles. It gave me large whelps and stung for hours. I then switched to Tysabri, then Rebif because of antibodies I had built up with Copax. I could not tolerate side effects of Ty or Rebif so I went back to Copax.

Now I manually inject. No more whelps or stinging. I was instructed by a nurse to pick skin and insert needle all the way in. Administer the med slowly. Also, before injecting tap syringe to remove any of the med that may be at tip of needle. After removing syringe press and hold the area for a few secs.

This procedure has helped me tremendously and I hope this may help you. It's kinda funny because now I'm no longer terrified of needles, but now the autoinject.

[masterharper]

I have been on Copaxone for about a year and a half now. I had terrible welts with the auto-injector. I will admit that I was worried about manually injecting it at first, but now it is old hat.

The stinging and welts went away after a few months, but every once in a while, a shot will still sting. I had to completely give up giving myself shots in the arm. The welts were huge and stayed for days. My neuro told me it was OK to skip that site and just increase the time between the others.

Don't know if this helped you any, but it will get better. Good luck!

[onlyairfare]

I was on Copaxone for over 6 years and always did manual injections. I didn't get one of those "home nurse trainers" so I didn't understand how to use the auto-injector. However, my husband is an RN so he showed me how to do the manual injections, and that is all I ever did. I still had some welts and redness and a little stinging, so those can't be blamed on the auto-injector.

I tried heat, I tried cold, and I didn't notice any difference. I did think that pressing on the injection site for about 30 seconds after the shot did seem to reduce stinging and redness. The arm injections always seemed the reddest and stinging-est so I alternated one arm one week, the other arm the next week, instead of the right arm on Friday, the left arm on Saturday. Over the course of a week I gave the "extra" 7th injection in the stomach area. I am not fat, but there is enough padding there, my stomach could take the extra shot!