Sending hugs and prayers to all going through pain or tough times. I am glad we can come here to share and get empathy from our friends. I hate it when any of us suffers but I am so thankful for all of you.

apple, watch out. Erin is getting a bigger desk. She is going to need new gadgets!!!

It's not making the working space of the desk any bigger. It's just relocating my linen cabinet.

and I just realized the front of my desk cabinets have completely different door fronts than the ones on the linen cabinet. (linen cabinet matches the bathroom cabinet doors) Oh well. I'm willing to live with it. If I ever sell the house, someone's going to kvetch (complain) about that. Future potential owners can deal with it. I'm not going to. Cabinet doors are expensive. The drawer pulls are different too. Oh well...

I only got about five and a half hours of sleep. Maybe even only four hours. I might be napping on the couch upstairs while they're taking the walls down in my room. (the wall I originally wanted to move, and then another bit of a wall that we decided on yesterday)

At least I slept some. Better than yesterday. Kind of wondering if being forced to get up at 730am every day for the next few weeks will help reboot my brain into sleeping at better hours.

Think I'll go take my oral prednisone a little early and eat something.

So I started my Copaxone injections two weeks ago. The nurse that came and did my training said I needed to use a 4mm setting because I have no fat at the injection sites.

I was fine doing that except I would get this blister looking bump after the injection which I assumed was the med under the skin.

The in home nurse said that was most likely the case and as long as it appeared to absorb with in a few hours it was fine.

On Saturday I got my first sight reaction to my Friday night shot - red, hot, itching, and swollen. I called Shared Solutions 24 hour nurse hot line to ask if I should seek medical attention.

She said it was a standard site reaction and if it did not go away in 48 hours or look worse it would be fine. She was very concerned when I told her about the blister bump I usually see right after injecting the Copaxone.

She was adamant that I was not injecting deep enough and that I needed to adjust the needle setting until I did not see that blister bump. I told her repeatedly that I do not have fat at the injection sites.

So that night I tried a 6mm setting, still had a blister bump. Sunday night we tried a 8mm setting, sill had a blister bump but it was 1/8 the size - figured that was better we should stick with that.

Last night I did my abdomen with a 8mm and it obviously hit muscle judging by the fact that I felt like I was in the final stages of labor with my abdomen rolling and spasmming like crazy, not to mention the pain.

I called Shared Solutions 24 hour nurse again to verify I did in fact hit muscle.

The nurse who called back was talking to me as if English was my second language. Talking down to me as if I were a child, telling me how the drug had not been tested on intra-musclar injections and the needle is the wrong type for going into a muscle. As if I did that on purpose! Asking me why I was setting it so deep. I was finally able to get a sentence out and explain what the nurse on Saturday had told me. And again I explained that I don't have fat at the injection sites.

I asked her about the blister bump and she just kept saying "We want to minimize those injection sight reactions." The blister bump doesn't bother me and goes away after a few hours. I finally asked her point blank, "With the blister bump, am I getting the therapeutic dose into my body?"

It took three tries before she finally answered "Yes."

Then she gave me a whole run down on if you can pinch 2 inches use 8mm, 1 1/2 use 7mm, 1 inch use 6mm, 1/2 inc use 5mm or 4mm. I told her I can't pinch 1/2 inch on any site but my stomach.

I am going back to 4mm. I don't think the nurse on Saturday took me seriously when I said I had no fat at the injection sites. I recently dropped 20 lbs and am still losing, we're not sure why. I'm 5' 5" and weigh 120 lbs.

Thank you for reading the vent. My stomach is still sore today but completely tolerable.

Are you using heat and ice as directed? It helps minimize the swelling. I used to get those bumps a lot until my neuro suggested setting the autoject pen at a low setting so the med didn't get too deep. Just don't rub the site afterwards...it's a crystal and it will hurt like heck...

When I use heat and ice it seems to be worse. The ice was making the welt/blister thing much bigger but flatter. I tried the heat first and ended up with a bruise. I'm still trying to figure this out. Good to here someone else got that blister/welt thing at first.

If you can gain some weight it will help with the reactions. I was almost as thin as you in the beginning and it was much more difficult to deal with the shots. I have no problem gaining and now I have slightly too much fat. A little bit of fat won't hurt you, but I know there are some who cannot gain weight even if they try.

I'm definitely one of those who cannot gain easily. I only gained 25 lbs when I was pregnant and I was eating 5000-6000 calories a day.

I had gained weight for the first time in my life about a year before I started my GF diet and as I've been eating GF I'm less hungry and eat a normal 2000 calories now. My doc thinks that why I'm loosing. My usual weight is 115-120.

My hubby is trying to lose 100lbs so are diet is very stripped down and clean. Maybe I should go back to having a constant stash of cookies in my desk.

I'm glad that your mood is lifting. <3

KerOpi, 5-5 at 120 pounds is a beautiful weight. But not enough fat for the injection, it seems.
I am reporting that I am MUCH better after two and a half days on Swank. This ALWAYS happens. But I forget and have to relearn.
I know that others may not get this benefit from the diet. But I mention it just in case there is someone who is like me on the board.
My eyes are better, my exhaustion is less. I slept through without a leg jerk or spasm. I am still anxious and tense and I think it is because the pcp changed my synthroid to 88 mg instead of 100, and the pill has "blue lake dye" in it. I will ask him to go back to 100 mg and skip a dose once every ten days. I am not sure that's it, but it's likely.