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.

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.