KerOpi - Have you tried manually injecting? I found that on the areas where I didn't have enough fat, going in at a 45 degree angle worked. I also found that I had more site reactions when I used the autoinjector and they would last a good week. It may be worth your while to give it a try.

When I was taking Copaxone, I got rid of the "auto-inflictor" after about 8 or 9 months and had my dad, a nurse, teach me how to manually inject myself. It was a lot less painful that way. Still hurt, but I didn't feel like I was harpooning myself every night.

I have three days left of the prednisone taper to go. That's one pill each a day for the next three days.

I felt better on like the second or third day of the taper, it's just as soon as it started to taper off, BOOM! Feeling worse again. It really sucks. I still don't have any energy. I want to take a shower, but I'm half tempted not to because I feel like I'm going to fall down.

still taking the b12, since it didn't seem to have hurt anything, and I didn't feel as physically sick after I started taking the b12.

I'm not that big a fan of taking the prednisone on an extended basis, because of all the funky things the prednisone can do to a person. I'm just feeling bad enough that I'm starting to wonder if a larger taper that lasts a bit longer might break whatever this flare is and allow me to build up some strength. I feel like my legs have been weak for months, and getting weaker.

I can feel where most of the problem is coming from. It's the middle of my low back. Probably around T12 (I know I have a lesion there)

just really really tired of feeling sick all the freaking time. And I can't exactly whine about it to the normal people around me, because that annoys them for some reason.

Erin do you have a shower chair and hand help shower head.

yes, I do have a shower chair and a hand held shower head. I still feel like I'm going to fall down when I'm getting in and out, and during the odd time or two that I have to stand up in the shower.

I just feel bad enough lately that I'm starting to think there's something either extremely bad going on with the MS, or there's something else going on.

Sorry that you are still dealing with a rough patch Erin.
Sure hope that things come around soon.

How are the renovations going?

With love, Erika

I called my regular doctor today to ask what to do. Kind of wondering if there's a way to get whatever MSish thing is going on to heal a little bit so I can stop feeling like crap all the time.

Like if I take some oral steroids for awhile, could the steroids help things feel better so that stuff could heal some. I just don't know how much longer I can deal with feeling constantly sick.

Erin - You may have something else going on besides the MS, maybe an infection (which taking steroids won't help). One of my local MS buddies was feeling poorly. She finally went to the ER because she thought she was having a flare. Turns out, she had a bad bladder infection which caused the flare. She was in the hospital for a couple of weeks and then a week of rehab. She had no clue that she had a bladder infection. Sometimes, it's an infection somewhere else in the body that we don't realize we have. Maybe schedule an appointment with your PCP and have some blood work done to make sure all is ok and normal.

they checked for UTI's already.

I called the doctor. They called back and said that I could do some IVSM in about a month or so. I did not know you have to wait about a month after you get done with an oral taper before you can do the IVSM.

just starting to think that my MS just likes to be a jerk and make me sick all the time.

I did get an appointment with a new physiatrist. I go see that doctor later this week. Maybe he can help me figure out the weird walking stuff. I really do think the last PT that I did, the physical therapists weren't really that serious in helping my walking issues. At least the shoulder got taken care of.

But I never did think that they were taking me serious at all about the walking problems. I was telling them that I didn't feel like what I was doing was helping, and that I felt things were getting worse. I was kind of feeling like they were making fun of me sometimes because I liked to talk about a tv show that I'm currently obsessed with.

Erin,

For what it's worth, as a physical therapist who has worked with all sorts of patients and other medical practitioners, the tendency of therapists and medical practitioners is to follow the patient's lead in many respects.

When patients are seemingly more interested in something other than their condition,therapy or treatment, then conversations tend to involve what the patient is interested in, and/or something other than their therapy.
I'm not saying that it is wrong to do that from either the practitioner's or the patient's side, because I've had some wonderful and enlightening conversations as both a patient and as a practitioner, especially when talking about a particular condition or treatment for the um-teeth time seemed to be of no benefit.

Maybe when you see your new physiatrist, try to hold your focus on your therapy and ask some specific questions about how you can improve your situation if they seem distracted. If you do that, you are more likely to get a better outcome, with greater involvement from them with respect to taking you seriously, than the experience that you had with your PTs and conversations about a TV show.

I hope things go really well for you and the relationship that you build with your new physiatrist, that you get some beneficial therapy and that you feel better soon. It has been such a long haul for you.
Hang in there

With love, Erika