Okay, I have to confess - I stopped using the alcohol wipes....I kept forgetting and then when I did it, I realized that it stung more when I used them - which I see is apparently from not letting it dry.

On other issues - No problem with the med not making it to the fat layer. I'm all fat layer. LOL. "very cushioned" - I like that phrase, thx, Fin Lady.

When the Copax nurse came out a while back to train me - she walked in my house, tiny little thing that she was, looked at me - and said, "Oh, you're a big girl, this is gonna be easy!" ...and I thought to myself, "I think she just called me fat!"

The pain went away after about 20 minutes last night.

I'm not brave enough to try the heat again. However, I took out the shot in the morning and it is now after 10pm and I will use it shortly. Sigh.

One day I may be brave and try the manual inject. Eeeek.

But my question still remains: HOW can you tell if the needle is dull??

~Keri

Beats me if you're using the AI, since it's concealed. I always visually inspect the tip of my needles before injecting Also look for the cloudiness in them (this is my fault, I sometimes forget to look at the liquid inside).

No issues so far for mine.

You really should be using the wipes. There is a chance you can accidentally get an infection. Just let the alcohol dry before you use the Auto Inflictor.

Erin - I agree....I know I am "bad" by not using the alcohol wipes....but I also have this strange thing - when I do use the wipes....by the time it has dried, my eyes have lost the spot that I had selected to do the shot!! (I guess it's such a vaaaaaaaaaaaaaast area!) LOL

I definitely do not like the "warm" shots. I wonder if SS "has" to say use it warmed up b/c that was the latest recommendation from the FDA apparently - but for years and years there were positive results without the shots being brought to room temperature. However, now more than ever, I'm way too chicken to risk it. So warm shots and pain for me!

Okay - edited to add: I just read Batman's post....and realized I should just use the wipes on a huge area...so this way I'm bound to hit a good spot. But then again, then my body will stink like alcohol wipes. Sigh.

~Keri

(4 to 7 months left and counting!)

Oh, Laura - I look at the needles after I take them out of the doo-hicky. I can't tell if they're dull or not. I guess it's a needle rupturing your skin - it's gonna hurt either way....but I swear, the first 3 weeks I did it in January, I had NO reactions.

I wipe a HUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGE area with the alcohol and let it dry. Then I'm not worrying about if I missed a spot

Dunno about the needles then... I've never noticed a problem with the needles themselves, only that the AI hurts terribly on me cept in the hips.

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.

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!