Anyone else dealing with this? I've only got so many options when it comes to subcutaneous injection locations and now, am seeing divits in my thighs.

I know now that I have to warm the medication and be even more diligent about rotating locations within locations (arms, legs, tummy and haunches) but am afraid I might be one of those people who gets 'dented' anyway.

I'm too young to give up on my bodily appearance - I'm 44 now but don't want to hasten my approach toward being 'body-ambivalent'. I've no doubt that I'll enjoy my golden years but am not there yet.

Interferons aren't an option for me but I'm a little bit vain, still!!! What to do.

Just looking for varied perspectives on this. I welcome all comments. Thanks!

Hi Becca. I didn't have that problem with Copaxone, but a Friend did and she finally, after 5 yrs, had to give it up. Poor thing looked like a road map. She went back on Avacarp.

Hasn't Teva come up with the pill form of Copax. yet? It seems like they've been working on that forever....sheesh.

Good Luck!!

I asked that question yesterday when I contacted a nurse (and then was transfered to a pharmacist) at Shared Solutions. they implied it was 3-5 years out. Perhaps it was an off the cuff prediction on their part, I don't know. It was disappointing. Thanks Sally.

I too have "body dents" from Copaxone. The backs of my arms are way concave. Unfortunately, they still wave above and below the dents. Yuck! I have given up sleeveless shirts cuz I feel deformed.

My hips on the other hand are concave too, but it looks like I am ripped. LOL I certainly have no muscle definition but it looks like it.

My thighs never dented but are lumpy to the touch. My doc took me off and put me on Imuran (Azithioprine) and I have not had a side effect that I can determine through my other meds side effects.

I had tried Methotrexate out here (CO) preferred by doc. I had a mild siezure at a low dose. So reluctantly he put me on Imuran which I was on for several years in OH with good results. No relapses in OH or since I started in Dec '06. I had 4 episodes in 2006.

Definitely, get off it if possible, IMHO. There are other options out there. Good luck.
Beth

I was on copaxon for a while as well, all though I thought the shot was working it was leaving awful dents in my arms, legs and hips, and where there was no dents I had these lumps that were not going away. It got to the point that I did not know where to put the injections. I went to a dermatologist and they checked me and said that it was causing allergic reactions to my skin and that it was going to get worse. I was advised to quit taking the shots and still almost a year latter I have those lumps and the dents never got better either. What a shame though I thought maybe this would be the shot that would help, and it did other that with the skin thing.

Hiya Tootsie!

If I recall correctly, Joce had the very same problem when she was on Rebif. Even though she went off of it, the indentations are still there.

Might want to e-her.

Ah, will do. Thanks Cecers.

This condition in Copaxone users is a high-level side-effect that Teva, the drug maker, rarely mentions to potential users. It's called Lipoatrophy and in many cases it is there for life!!

The University of Ottawa MS Clinic studied several hundred Copaxone users a few years ago and found about 45% of them ended up with various levels of this condition. They went on to say that it was far too high a percentage for patients to be suffering from this and that more help should be provided to the patients by Teva, the manufacturer.

Harry

Thanks Harry. Yeah, I've been searching 'lipoatrophy' for a couple days now. I caught wind of a study that put the percentage around 45%. Perhaps it was the same one...
After talking to the nurse at Shared Solutions she was polite, to a point, but seemed to get more defensive when I told her I was disappointed that the drug literature didn't stress this side effect. She told me "it's there in the patient's only section", which it is of course, but when I told HER that was virtually the same in my eyes as burying the facts in fine print and CYA ('cover your ***') by technicality she couldn't pass me to the pharmacy department fast enough.

I was told my "after market experience" would be reported and recorded.
...which makes it all better (dripping with sarcasm of course).

becca44

Becca,

This is my opinion on the CRAB drugs....all four companies who make them are constantly in a battle for market share. The revenue generation in just a few percentage point shift in this area results in millions of $$$ since the approved MS drug market is huge!

So the last thing any of these companies wants is ANY kind of negative advertising about their MS drug. Consequently, like you stated, this kind of info is "buried" in the fine print which often gets missed or glossed over by the user.

It's all about the money, Becca and that isn't going to change.

Harry