Experience(s) with Copaxone iTracker v2

[DisneyCaptive]

I started this thread so that we can share any tips and techniques that we discover along the way. I'll start with mine.

I downloaded the new Copaxone iTracker to my iPhone 5s pretty much as soon as it was available. I am only two weeks into Copaxone so I never really had any experience with the previous version, though I get the impression that it was a bit buggy.

As a disclaimer, I am an IT guy am usually pretty good at figuring things out. However, I'm not infallible (as many will attest) and I don't claim to be. If I've got something wrong please don't hesitate to let me know. I'm big on learning.

Setup is fairly simple. It asks you if you are on 3x40 or 7x20 and it walks you through setting up your rotation. When you record your injections it tells you where it expects you to inject (based on the date and your rotation), the needle depth (Autoject2) or manual, injection rating (1-5), physical rating (1-5), mood rating (1-5), and any notes that you would like to make. You can then send this information for any period via email to anyone who needs to see it.

It has an injection reminder which is where I think I found a problem. My phone is set up for military time and I scheduled an alarm for 1900 (7 PM). It goes off just fine. It goes off again at midnight (0000) and when I look at the reminder setting it says 0000. I expected that the alarm would go off at the same time every day but that appears not to be the case. I choose to call this a bug and have reported it.

When it comes to the actual injection, I find it useful to start the app and begin recording the injection before I actually do it. It tells me what location is being injected (which should be correct if you set up your rotation correctly) and it asks me a depth (a nice reminder to make sure it is correct). It then brings up the location being injected with the grid and it allows me identify which grid location I plan to inject. I then give myself the injection and, when I'm done, I finish recording the injection.

This is where I have a second issue with the app. This is not a bug but could be a really nice feature if it was implemented. When the location with the grid comes up on the screen, it would be really nice if it showed the date that each grid location was injected. That would eliminate the need to know which location is next. Just choose the oldest one, select it, and aim to inject there.

I have not tried "speaking" to app (Claire) on the phone but I will eventually give that a try. As time allows I'm going to dig a little deeper into the app. I'm sure there are useful features that I haven't found yet and will report anything interesting that I find.

In the meanwhile, if any of you have any problems with this and think I might be able to help please don't hesitate to contact me by leaving a message on this thread.

Joe

[artteacher]

No lomger using app

I gave up on using the app. I used it for about 5 months. I found it took longer to open the app than to give the shot. I am now using the planner that Shared Solutiions sends.

I am not sure if I was using the version that is out there now but I found a few problems with it. There was a time where it did not keep my shot rotation correct. I knew what site was next and it would had reset itself. I would set it up again and it still did not save the rotation correctly.

I agree that the dates should be seen in the grid. You might not know but it you touch and hold on a grid square then release, it will show you the date for that area. But who wants to do that for each of the used grid spots.

I also did not like how the used grid spot colors were not consistant. I once used a spot that I had just used because the used square on the grid was the same color as an unused square on another body part. Maybe they need a key showing which color on the grid has been used.

The final straw that got me to change to the paper and pencil method is when the app went down. I could not open it for about 2 weeks. And when it did come back, all of my records were gone.-all the grids were blank so I had no idea where I had shot or not.

[MarkLavelle]

When the location with the grid comes up on the screen, it would be really nice if it showed the date that each grid location was injected. That would eliminate the need to know which location is next. Just choose the oldest one, select it, and aim to inject there.

MedNotesPlus (for Android) has a main screen that just shows you the most recent shot sites, but when you add a new entry it fills in the most recent date for every spot in the grid.

MedNotesPlus lets you make notes and set reminders, too, but it doesn't know anything specific about Copaxone 20 or 40 (the sites are common to many meds, like insulin). The site/date "mapping" is the only function I really use, so that's fine with me. I'll bet that's all you'll care about in a few months, too, when you're an old hand at it...

[DisneyCaptive]

That's good information artteacher. Thanks.

What you said is consistent with everything that I heard about the old version. If you did this 5 months ago you definitely had the old version. The v2 was just released a couple of weeks ago or so. We will see how that works out.

[DisneyCaptive]

Mark, thanks for the info on MedNotesPro. I have an Android tablet and will check it out. It sounds like it may be closer to what I am looking for.

[DisneyCaptive]

Follow-up to original post

I just had my first problem with the iTracker, but I was the problem. I got partway through recording my injection and I did something that caused it to say I finished recording. When I went back to try and fix it there was a message that I had to contact Shared Solutions because the data had already been sent.

I didn't know the data went to them but I guess I'm not surprised. Some of you who are concerned with the privacy of your data might want to take that into account before deciding to use the app.

I called Shared Solutions but, unsurprisingly, not everyone is familiar with the ins and outs of the app. They are going to have someone from IT call me tomorrow.

I was wrong about one thing in my original post. I did see a screen that showed the human body with all the zones and grids. The places I recorded for previous injections were all shaded which is sort of what I was looking for. I'm going to pay closer attention to this when I record tomorrow's injection. Hopefully I won't mess that one up too.

Joe

[MarkLavelle]

Some of you who are concerned with the privacy of your data might want to take that into account before deciding to use the app.

That's actually a big part of why I haven't tried the Android version (besides already being happy with MedNotesPlus). But now I'm curious about how good or bad it is, so I think I'll install it for a day or two just to check it out (said the curious engineer)...

[Barrister16]

Thank you posting this informative thread