I have put my thighs on permanent vacation from the shots. I had too many issues/reactions with my thighs.

Great advice, Cheryl. Make sure you have enough "fat" to pinch up to inject.

I try to make sure I'm as relaxed as one can get prior to stabbing oneself with a sharp needle and caustic medicine.

I sit down, sometimes I'll recline back and try to do the shots that way.

Sometimes I'll get my dad to give me the shots. (in areas that I cant reach)

I'm trying to get up the nerve to give myself a shot right now. I was sick last week, and just couldnt make myself do my shots. I need to start doing them again before I just totally quit. It's just frustrating at times. I hate this part about the MS. Stupid needles.

My thighs are my WORST area, so I got creative. I was ready to give up.

First, after EVERY injection. Arm/leg/tummy Auto injector OR manual doesnt matter. After the injection, wipe the area with a damp cloth to remove any spilled or leaked med, and PUSH straight down into the injected area. FIRM pressure. For copaxone DONT RUB, DONT RUB, DONT RUB! Copaxone is a sharp crystal type med, and you will break the crystals if you rub on them. Just push straight into it for 15 to 30 seconds. It pushes the med from the upper layer of fat, into the deeper layers of fat. it will be absorbed more quickly.

Ok, onto the thighs. The front of your thighs has some of the strongest muscles in the body. Thick and strong, and really hard to avoid. pull over to the SIDE of your thigh, or even towards the back side of your thigh. LOTS of fat pad there. Even chunky girls have trouble finding enough fat on the front of their thighs to shoot properly. Head over to the side and ta da! nice fat pads even on skinny girls. If you cant get that inch pinched up, or still hit muscle, you may need to switch to manual at a 45 degree angle.

The AI (auto inject) goes straight in on 90 degrees, so a manual at an angle (doesnt have to be perfect) will help with that.

With copaxone after 24 hours, you can hand massage with lotions or oils. After 48 hours you can use a machine massager. pound those lumps into butter.

I hope that helps.

Same here, I was on it for six+ years and into about the 3rd year, the skin of both my thighs and upper arms was just too tough and pitted, I went to belly only for the remaining 3 years and never had a problem. Let me qualify this with the fact that I have plenty of belly to work with!

What the problem is I think is inpart do too the autoinjector ( I'm glad I got it or I would't be able to do my shots because I don't think I'll ever be able to do manual.)It takes me alittle while to do all my shots,but my thighs I literally sit in the bathroom for about 2 hours before I can press the damn button it's the damn noise of the autoinjector and it startles me every time(it's like I'm paralyzed with fear or something). I wish they would come out with a Silent or at least near silent autoinjector. And it's the angle issue too. Maybe I need to be on some anxiety pills or something I don't know maybe that would help me. Well, I got to leave for work now. See, you guys later Kristi

For copax, I've learned to shoot a little off center for the thigh. I use my hand to go straight down from my knee and go a little to the left or right of that line. I found it hurts the worse if it's too close to the knee or centered in that line down from the knee.

I'm still flexible enough, ***knock on wood***, to curl one leg under the other so the leg of the thigh I'm shooting is kinda drapped and relaxed. My legs shake sometimes with muscle fatigue, so can't do it standing up.

I generally play music in the back ground with a heavy bass or drum section. Kinda covers up the loud "click" of the injector for me.

I agree Kristi. That's one reason why I quit doing the shots with that autoiflinctor as I came to call it. I did mine all manually. It's much easier.


I hope you have better luck!

I never thought I could do a manual injection either. I finally got tired of the hugenormous welts the autoject was leaving me with. They were so painful I couldnt do a shot every day. Because I was waiting for welts from a week before to go down and heal so that I could inject. It was impossible for me to rotate because the welts were so huge.

I finally got totally frustrated, quit for a week or two, and then got my dad (he's a nurse) to teach me how to do manual injections. (my copaxone nurse took about 2 1/2 months to show up to teach me to use the autoject after I first got my Rx, I wasnt about to wait for her to show up again)

Thighs are my worst. The tummy is the worst burn, but the thighs take the medal home as the hardest to inject (as Dej mentioned, due to finding adequate fat), avoiding stretch marks/veins, and the after-bump.

On the sides is the easiest solution. Don't inject too far back however. I did that once, and wow, I had dull pain all down my leg. Made walking difficult.

Push down on the area after the injection, don't 'rub'. That'll help with the amount of bump that appears.

you've gotten some great advice.
i use the AJ and my thighs can be painful too. i feel it's easier to sit down. that way you can reach your legs easily and pinch up the flesh.

one thing that helped me was to experiment with the depth setting of the AJ.
if you have a lot of fat you may to go a bit deeper to get into the fat layer. and if you're skinnier you may need to back off. finding the right setting can make a big difference.

also, to trick you mind try putting on some music or burn a scented candle with your shots. it may be more relaxing. and get out of the bathroom (associated with fear) and sit in a comfortable chair. lay out all your supplies and go for it.

i hope your shooting improves.