Vision is acting up on me for the last few weeks. I had steroids started on the 4th for severe leg pain and vision. Only problem is everytime I have had steroids they have helped the leg pain but never the eyes. I can't do hardly anything without them showing some damage from good old optic neuritus. I can't drive because of it and any lights or reflective glare makes them go bonkers. I wish there was something out there to help. On a different note started Copaxone on Monday and have been getting some knots but no flu like symtoms. So question is it heat then cold or cold then heat afterwards. Also why do you have to wait a day before massaging the knot. Thanks in advance and hugs to all

sorry bout your vision. both eyes have optic neuritis? and have you had NMO antibodies checked? i think many would say use cold first to reduce inflammation, but it would slow the diffusion of the medication--whereas warmth would help it diffuse out and not stay in a knot. massaging the knot would knead the medication where injected and may have bad effects on aggravating the muscle it's in.

I am sorry you are not feeling well. ON is a bear to deal with.

Copaxone is a tricky buggar too. Some folks love heat and some folks love ice. The Shared Solutions folks say ICE. 2 to 3 minutes. I leave mine on between 5 and 10 minutes. I try to just distract myself.

DONT RUB COPAXONEGive it at least 24 hours before you massage. it is designed to not be rubbed immediatly after the injection. The interferons require you to rub them after, but C is different.

Copaxone is a sharp crystal style med, and if you rub it, you fracture the crystals and it can cause fat destruction, and ruin the crystal that was carrying the meds. please wait at least 24 hours, and then hand massage it with some lotion or oils. After 48 hours, you can use a machine massager, and pound them into butter. I have lumps that can last anywhere from one day to 10 days. Please pick a new section of that body part on the next rotation that you shoot.

Rotate, rotate, rotate. its so important to avoid the tissue damage. Alot of folks found Claritin or Zyrtec products during the early months really helped and the lumps were smaller. I like Claritin cause it was non drowsy, but found Zyrtec did a better job for me.

As time marches forward that sting gets less and less. its gets quite manageable. in the early days I felt like I injected bees on steroids, and they were not happy! it quickly got better.

Make sure to take time to rest your eyes. Do non stressful visual things. I hope you are up and at um in no time.

Thanks for the help yesterday I injected into the thigh for the first time and let me tell you that was painful. I did accidently rub it not thinking about it because it hurt so freakin bad and it felt like a bunch of bees attacking at once. I am hoping maybe by adjustin the depth next time to maybe a 3 instead of a 8. I injected into my belly and hips and only felt the sting for a little bit but not instantly.So thigh is not my first choice

Ah, thighs are tricky. That lil chart they give only shows the FRONT side of the thigh. I roll over and take the SIDE wall of the thigh. Grab the fat on the front of your thigh, now reach over to the side and grab a hand full. Which one offers you a better fat pad? I have even gone as far as to almost reach UNDER the thigh, as far as I could see and still reach. TONS of fat there, where as the top side of my thigh is so muscular.

I PROMISE it gets MUCH better. The bee stinger feeling gets less and less. Slap an ice pack on it, and try to do something, any thing to distract yourself. Watch a movie, sew, knit, talk on the phone, do a puzzle, play on the computer, have your activity ready before hand, so you can grab your ice pack and just go plop down and do it. In the early days I would yelp and tell the husband to MOVE! Just get out of my way! It was hard to pick something after the shot to distract me, so I started setting something up before hand. After a few months, you will be able to stand and wash dishes, or play with the animals, or talk comfortably on the phone. The sting gets MUCH less intense, and lasts for a much shorter period of time.

DONT RUB! If you must do something, you can PUSH directly into the injected area. If you have an area that is not very cushy, and more muscle, you will have to shoot shallow, and that leaves a white lump on the top of the skin. Grab your cotton pad or wet paper towel (which I use to wipe away any med that leaks out, that also helps stop the burn) and PUSH directly into the injected area. DONT RUB, dont wiggle, just push straight into it, and hold for 15 or so seconds. This pushes the meds from the top layer of skin into the deeper layer of fat. Firm direct pressure, no rubbing. After your 15 seconds of pushing, plop an ice pack on it, and distract yourself. DONT do this in areas where you have a big ol fat pat to shoot into. Only in those places that needed a shallow poke, like the top of your thigh.

I havent shot the topside of my thigh in a long time. Not enough fat there. Grab the side. Same for your arm, dont shoot straight at the bicep area, go for that fat pad area (bat wing) that hangs towards the under side.

That lil chart they give you is a guideline, and you dont have to be exact with it. As my MD says, if you have better fat a few inches south, go for the better fat.

btw, Congrats on starting Copaxone. it really does get easier. PM me if you want/need advice.

[QUOTE=MdotDdot;535590]sorry bout your vision. both eyes have optic neuritis? and have you had NMO antibodies checked?


I have damage to both eyes but had optic neuritus on several occasions damaging my right eye really bad and my left not terribly horrible as right but can tell damage. I kid you not some nights we have to eat in almost complete darkness because they are bothering me so bad. Sorry do not know what NMO antibodies are.

[QUOTE=coletaterbug;535650]NMO is NeuroMyelitis Optica. Similar to MS. Usually attacks females more than males, and is probably nastier than MS. You usually have more vision problems. I think they find more lesions in the spine with NMO and not much or any in the brain. It's also called Devic's Disease. There's a blood test for it where they test for antibodies. I had the test when I was getting my MS diagnosis.

I'm just remembering this off the top of my head, so if I said anything that isnt accurate, sorry!