Very nervous

[deludel]

Thank you all for the advice.. I have my injections in the fridge waiting for shared solutions too call me!!

How is it going? You are a few weeks ahead of me: my Copaxone arrives today, the auto-inject thingy arrives later this week, and I'm waiting for a call from the SS nurse.

Curious how your first few weeks are!

[Sicilian650]

It's going good... It was the funniest thing.. The nurse came to my house to show me how to inject and I happen to know her... The shots haven't been bad only the slight stinging after the injection!!! How are you doing? Have you started them yet?

[Cat Mom]

It's going good... It was the funniest thing.. The nurse came to my house to show me how to inject and I happen to know her...

In keeping with your Disney theme.... "It's a small world after all."

Glad things are going well!

Jen

[Don2480]

You are not alone with this. The only way I got over this was Klonopin and time.

[Dreams008]

The actual injection is nothing. It's done so fast with the auto-injector, you don't even feel it. It's the effect afterwards that stings like a *********! I would welt up for about a 1/2 hour and have to put ice packs on the injection site. The rotating becomes a pain in the butt too. Hips were the hardest part for me to do alone. Stomach was the easiest. I found that injecting more toward the inside of the thighs was easier on me and less pain. Tops of thighs are awful. That was where the nurse taught me to give my first injection and man, that is an awful place to start. I'm sooooo glad I don't have to do that anymore. I am now on Tecfidera and wouldn't go back. Plus, Tecfidera has been proven to be more effective against Copaxone and still has a great safety profile. Good luck.

[enjoytodaytoday]

Tattoos & Copaxone

Is there anyone who has been on Copaxone for a long period of time who also has a great deal of Ink in one of the injection sites? I'm trying to stay 2" away from the ink on . My right thigh.....but that leaves me with only a few spots to rotate through....and in only 3 1/2 months I'm already getting a dimpling effect. Has anyone has success injecting closer than the recommended 2"?

[distantshores]

Hi Sicilian! Using the autojet idea is great because you don't see the needle! Definitely, schedule the training session with the nurse through Shared Solutions, I believe, at the time you arrange for your injectable medicine - Copaxone. Fear is not 'useless'; it keeps us from hurting ourselves. Here you have to tell yourself why you are giving yourself a shot and you have to allow it because it is a medication, because ultimately it is good for you. Best of luck.

[Sicilian650]

It is going ok... I am use to it now.. Only thing now is that it itching last for 2 weeks or so... It's so bad some times that I'm almost bleeding because it itches so bad... Also the bruising is super bad.. My legs are seriously full of bruises... I don't know what's going on but it's like I bruise it spits that I don't even inject at... And it takes forever for the bruises to heal... So frustrating..

[hmarie47]

Re: tattoos AND re: itching

Has anyone has success injecting closer than the recommended 2"?

I have a lot of tattoos, on my arms, sides, hips, etc. I was told the 2 inches thing. I gave following it because I don't want to inject in the same tiny spot on my hip every time, and I'm not going to skip an entire arm. I've only been on copaxone for about six months though, so I am as curious as you are to see what happens long term.

I don't inject directly in to any ink and it's been ok, except when a weird migrating bump happened (under a very solid tattoo that is a cover up). The worst thing I might be worried about is if I had really detailed color work in those spots that a series of bumps might distort the ink. So far, all of my (solid black, pretty large) tattoos have been unaffected.

about the itching: about two months after I started copaxone the itching got CRAZY BAD. Then a couple of months later it went away, almost entirely. Every now and then I get a spot that itches for a little while, but nothing like the awfulness before. So hopefully that's your experience too! Such a relief not to be sneakily trying to scratch inappropriate parts of my body while avoiding welts...... yuck.

If I wasn't categorically opposed to doing something Teva needs done just because of patent nonsense (i.e. they have to keep changing things or generics could exist) I'd suspect the 3x/week thing would be gentler on my tattoos. BUT patent law is gross.