Additional injection sites or other ideas?

[sardi_g]

I must be allergic to the solution. I still get large red painful welts that slowly shrink and go away after about a month.

I guess in addition to upper hips I can move to the bum? lol. Top of thighs are out of the question. I rotate around belly and upper arms. I still often (not always) skip a dose in a week bc I don't want to inject near the hard lumps. If I have to inject near a welt what distance would you use?

I'm injecting manually using a heating pack, pressure, and ice pack. I don't use benedryl bc it's not itchy really just a bit painful for a week. Can you think of any other ideas? I really want to stay on copaxone.

I just realized I could use the sides at my waist. Anything I'm missing?

Thanks!

[malaholic]

Hi sardi_g -

When I asked Shared Solutions about it they say they aren't able to recommend any alternate injection sites, but that your doctor can. My doctor seems to think that you can go "off the map" so to speak and inject in other fatty-ish areas if needed, but you might want to check with yours too.

You mention top of thighs being out of the question - I'm just curious is that the only area where you get the really large welts? I ask because while I get small lumps elsewhere that usually go away in a couple days, on my thighs the bump spreads much larger and lasts much longer, and I'm wondering if you are experiencing the same. Mine are really, really itchy though and it sounds like yours aren't.

The SS nurses said that if I was getting large welts I was probably injecting too shallow, but I've gone deep enough to hit muscle (ow!) and still had the issue. My current theory is that since I tend to be walking soon after the shot, the motion drives some of the medication back up/out into shallower skin layers. Next time I rotate to a thigh injection I'm going to try doing it on the couch or in bed and then just staying perfectly sedentary for a while to see if that helps.

[sardi_g]

Thank you. I asked my doc and she referred me to the shared solutions nurse who came by to check out the bumps but she couldn't give any specific advice. I guess common sense tells me to find any place where I can pinch an inch. ;-)

She said to stay away from the thighs bc I have minimal fat and high muscle tone (inline skating - which I've now stopped) and the reactions are stronger there. That's interesting about how walking could affect the flow of medicine. I do get a similar reaction as yours. I was in the hospital and a nurse injected into the fattiest area on my leg. The welt is gone but now there's also discoloration there. Weird stuff.

Anyway thanks again and I hope the resting has a positive effect for you. I might summon the nerve to try that area again.

Bye now,
S

[Mamabug]

I had a similar problem with Copaxone. And, yes. Shared Solutions also told me that they could not recommend alternate injection sites, but that my doctor could.

What I ended up doing is requesting my doctor's approval to inject only 4 days per week, rather than daily. I used four sites in my abdomen, as that was the only spot where I did not have injection site problems. I'd read about some studies that indicated that every other day was just as effective as daily.

I've been doing that since 2008, and it has been effective for me.

Another alternative to consider, now that Copaxone has come out with Copaxone 40, is to request a switch to that. Copaxone 40 has 2x as much Copaxone as Copaxone 20 and only requires injections 3x per week, rather than daily. Some insurances, however, cover Copaxone 20, but not Copaxone 40, so you may wish to check into that.

Hope you can find an effective solution to your problem.

[sardi_g]

Thank you. Actually I do take the 40 mg so once in a while I'll just take two per week.

I think I remember someone saying it's the solution not the medicine that causes this but one idea is to switch to the 20 and take it 4 times a week.

Glad your regimen works. I'm sure I'll find one that works.
S

[kim-mastro]

I, too, have welts but mine itch like crazy! The welts are red and warm for a couple of days then bruise for a week or two (depending on where they are).

[jstinnett]

I wore out the spots above my knees, and behind my upper arms in the first year. The sites just took forever to recover and be injectable again. I, like others here, have moved around to find other places.

I have found that around my mid-section there are a few choice fatty places that can be rotated in and so I rotate those in to the pattern.
Still get marbles here and there, but better than being all messed up from relapses.