You wont reek of alcohol. The smell goes away pretty much once it evaporates.

and, yes, I wipe down a huge area, because I HAVE been having problems with dull needles, and sometimes have to try again with the manual shots because I cant get the stupid thing into my skin. (if it really wont go in, out goes that needle, and I just get another one out. I hate dull needles)

I've been bad about my shots for the past month or two. I skipped a month, and then didnt refill the Rx until after the pharmacy got mad at me because I would never answer the phone when they called me to set up the refill.

I started back up last week, but then was having problems with side effects from a different medication, so I just quit all medications except for Tylenol for the past few days. Tried to inject last night, and got the dull needle, so I'm just going to try to do the leg stab in a few minutes before I go to bed...or maybe I'll do the stomach stab instead...it was the leg that didnt want to get the shot last night.

Honestly, I have had spots where I have trouble injecting the needle (more pain than usual). I don't switch spots though, I just suck it up and jab haha!

I forgot to add that I take out of the fridge 5 days at a time for my shots. Put it in the handy dandy bag they gave me for the AI. I found the 24 hour warm up period to be less painful than than the one hour prior to injection, at least for me.

I've had one really bad experience with dull needles. Luckily it was my arm. The needle was so dull it wouldn't penetrate the skin even with the AI. :eek: I had to keep the injector against my arm and head for someplace I could release it without the Copax going all over the room. Then scrub the med off my arm so it wouldn't burn the skin.

I'm with the others of doing a wide wipe down with the alcohol pad and letting it dry.

I take my needles out for the week, stick them in the travel case, in my cabinet. Then I don't have to worry about forgetting to warm it up ahead of time.

The only reason why I can find we should give at room temp is because otherwise it can be very painful.

As far as dull needles. If you are using the Auto-Inject, I suppose there's no way to really know. For those of us manually injecting, you can look at the tip of the needle. Now I've yet to see a dull needle, and I'm close to my 1 year milestone.
When you look at these needles, it's easy to see why one would suspect there are dull needles. The tip of the needle is angled.

I just think sometimes some of the areas of skin that we try to penetrate are tougher than others.

If you are going to continue to give yourself a cold shot, I'd reconsider hot packing the area prior to shot.

Sounds like you are having a hard time following the suggested rules for injection? Might be something you want to speak with your doctor about?

I know it's tough to be young, have kids, and suddenly have this tough disease tossed into your lap. Remember, compliance with the medical how-to could be what saves your health in the long run. I don't feel that playing around with this type of med could be good for the long-run of your health. MS is no joking matter.

Best of Luck to you as you figure out how to best give yourself your medicine.

I gave up the autoject when I couldnt take the ginormous hives I was getting after using it.

I think it's the force that the autoject shoots that was causing the huge welts. As soon as I switched to manual injections (my dad taught me) the welts werent so bad, and sometimes I dont even get a welt or pain.

I was one of those people who thought that I could never manually inject myself with a needle. Took me less than a year to get tired of the autoject and to start doing the shots manually. (I think this week is my one year anniversary of starting Copaxone)

Call Shared Solutions and ask them to send the nurse back out. Get her to show you how to manually inject, and maybe the injections will get better.

Manual you just have so much more control over the situation I find, and no loud noise of the autoinjector going off.

I hated the autoinflictor but used it. Still did manual injections occasionally (hips mainly) because I found that I would sometimes leave the autoinflictor at home when I went somewhere overnight. Then you have a syringe and no injector and HAVE to do it manually. Just muster up the courage every once in a while to do it manually.

Depth is really important on the autoinflictor. That can make a HUGE difference. SS should be able to assist you with that but it really IS a matter of trial and error to see what works best for you.

I'm with the 7 day supply out of the fridge group. That's how I functioned. And when I got to the last syringe, I refilled THAT night so my next shot wasn't cold. BTW, under the boob or under the arm works well to warm it to body temp.

Still, I got bumps, black and blue marks, some bleeding, stinging (differed with different batches) and sometimes BADLY, pain, etc. Didn't matter WHAT I did.

LOL You're NOT going to smell like alcohol. Besides, once the injection's done you can wipe the area off gently with a damp towel or something. It's not like you have a huge gaping wound. It's just an injection!

I see what you did here Gaztastic ;)

REd, first, let me say I am sorry you are having troubles, the early days are the hardest while you get used to the meds, and the routine. I had stinging that would last an hour sometimes. it gets MUCH better. hang in there.

IF you are already pulling the cap off to check the needle (AI OR NOT) pull back on the plunger a bit. This pulls the meds OUT of the needle, and into the syringe. I have found that if any of the meds are sitting in the needle tip, or a tiny lil drip is hanging on the end, the shot is 50x more painful. So, I pull back on the plunger a tiny bit, and then wipe the needle with an alcohol wipe to be sure no residue remains on the needle.

As far as alchol wipes for your skin, unless you live in a bus station, you really dont need them. For those who are having bad skin reactions, one of the first things SS tells them to do is stop using alcohol wipes.

I have TOUGH skin, so sometimes no matter how sharp the needle, it takes some pressure to pop that sucker through the skin. I manually shoot, and find that popping it through the skin, and then pushing slowly till I reach the depth I want it less trauma for my skin. The AI SLAMS it into your skin.

Also if you passed through a capillary bed, or some nerve endings, it can make it ALOT more painful.

My routine.

1. take out needle 30 minutes before
2. hold it against body. (in bra, waistband, whatever)
3. wipe wide area with alcohol, so it dont matter if I miss
4. pull back on plunger, wipe needle
5. let BOTH areas dry.
6. pop through skin, push meds slow
7. withdraw needle
8. push directly into the injection area for 15 to 30 seconds.
HOLD FIRM PRESSURE BUT DONT RUB!
9. slather on benedryl cream
10. ice pack for a few minutes.

Since pushing the lumps/itch/ reactions and stings are way less.

Hope that helps.

I'm going to try adding the Benedryl to the nightly routine, thanks for that tip :)