I am 26, newly diagnosed, and have been on Copaxone for just over 3 months now. First DMD I've tried. Started out OK with just the typical site reactions. But for the past month or so, no matter what I do, every shot is extremely painful from the moment I hit the switch on the autoject up to almost an hour after sometimes.
I have tried everything - heat and/or cold packs before and/or after, different depths, no alcohol swab beforehand, ALWAYS rotating to all sites, recording everything, etc. I even had a nurse come back to review with me. Called Shared Solutions and all the rep could do was tell me what I already knew and insist that I am doing something wrong.
I was so frustrated! My neurologist told me I could stop and just go on steroids until Copaxone becomes available in the 3x/week dose at the beginning of 2014, or switch to one of the pills. But the hubby and I hope to have kids someday, so the pills are still too risky for me. I am at my wit's end.
Having horrible site reactions afterward that swell and bruise and itch and remain painful for days at a time. Is this normal? I am switching to an MS specialist in January, but I don't know what to do in the mean time. Is it supposed to be this painful? I didn't change anything after the first 2 months and all of a sudden this started happening. I want to cry.
** Moderator's note - Post broken into paragraphs for easier reading. Many people with MS have visual difficulties that prevent them from reading large blocks of print. **
I have tried everything - heat and/or cold packs before and/or after, different depths, no alcohol swab beforehand, ALWAYS rotating to all sites, recording everything, etc. I even had a nurse come back to review with me. Called Shared Solutions and all the rep could do was tell me what I already knew and insist that I am doing something wrong.
I was so frustrated! My neurologist told me I could stop and just go on steroids until Copaxone becomes available in the 3x/week dose at the beginning of 2014, or switch to one of the pills. But the hubby and I hope to have kids someday, so the pills are still too risky for me. I am at my wit's end.
Having horrible site reactions afterward that swell and bruise and itch and remain painful for days at a time. Is this normal? I am switching to an MS specialist in January, but I don't know what to do in the mean time. Is it supposed to be this painful? I didn't change anything after the first 2 months and all of a sudden this started happening. I want to cry.
** Moderator's note - Post broken into paragraphs for easier reading. Many people with MS have visual difficulties that prevent them from reading large blocks of print. **
). You can also control how fast the medication is injected this way. (Maybe you could call Shared Solutions and request training for that? ) 
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