Quote:
Originally Posted by Blues Girl
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. |
I never quite understood the whole "warm compress" thing...especially if the injection site is swelling. I was always taught by my dad that you put something cold on something that's swelling like a bee sting. Mostly because heat can pull hives up. Learned that the hard way when I took some antibiotics once and then went to take a hot bath. I had mononucleosis (PA at my dr's office misdiagnosed it as a sinus infection and gave me some sort of penicillin)
So, the mononucleosis that my aunt told me I had (told me to get it confirmed by the doctor) was pretty much confirmed by the reaction. (penicillins + mononucleosis = hives)
Heat draws out hives. (and I had to wait 2hrs for my mom to get home with the Benadryl...she'd stopped to eat dinner on the way home...apparently she didnt quite understand the urgency)
I dont like Shared Solutions much...they send me too much junk mail, and they're pushy and rude when they call me. I like the fact that they're paying most of my co-pay for my C ($50...I pay $10) but other than that, I dont like them.
Oh, and according to my pharmacy, Shared Solutions is 2 months behind on paying my co-pay...I keep getting bills in the mail from the pharmacy.