I was on copaxone for several years. Never a problem. Just the expected "normal" redness and stinging at the injection site.

I had always given myself the shot with a syringe and needle. Didn't care for the injection gadget. I'm a nurse and have given thousands of injections to others, so I already knew about sterile technique. So for several years I did the C without any problems.

Then one day I did my injection and within 10 minutes the injection site was the size of a softball, red and hard, raised between an 1/8 and a 1/4 of an inch high, and hot. Not to mention, extremely painful. I called my neuro after several hours of no change. He worked me in that afternoon, said I had developed an allergy to the med, and had me DC the med.

Two days later, when SS was notified by my doc about DC'ing the med, they called me. I was told by SS to use a warm compress(yeah, that'll keep it from swelling to softball size) before injecting. They questioned my technique. Then told me that I should have contacted them first!!! Contacted them.........a drug company first? Huh! So SS was now playing doctor? What a joke! I could not believe what I was hearing.

I'm sorry to go off like this, but I really feel the need to share the bad experience I had with SS.

To anyone who reads this, please always contact your neuro first if you ever have an unusual or severe reaction. Please.