Calling all Copaxone Users!
 

First I got a box of dull needles! I call Shared Solutions....they send me a box of replacement med....

After 4 doses of this med I have extreme site reactions....I didn't put two and two together until I was talking on the phone with the nurse at SS....

My short experience with Copaxone hasn't been too reassuring! (The medicine itself, not the Shared Solutions!) First box of bad needles...then a batch of something wrong with the med.....

They offered to send me replacements, but I'm thinking I'd rather have the dull needles and the "good" med! So I tell her I'll use what I have! LOL

Have you had any problems with the medicine or the needles?

Not yet Bird - did mention the dull needle question to my neuro's nurse when I went in for my lesson and she said that Copaxone had had complaints and had corrected the problem - apparently not enough !! Did you look at the needles to see if the Copaxone was discolored or was grainy ?

karen has a good point.
the medicine should be clear.

i havn't had any problems but i've heard a lot about them.
hope your next box is a charm.

oh, whatta pain in the derrierre!

it was for reasons JUST like you listed, that I "ceased and desisted" with the Copaxone, back a few years ago.

and two lost packages as well... argh! (I lived in a very rural area then, and it was around Christmas, with all the "temp" UPS drivers...)

I never got dull needles, but I DID get ones that failed to function.

and one box that gave me gnarly site reactions from Hades.

good luck untangling the problems, and hang in there, honey!

:hug:

I've had two rather impressive site reactions since I started doing the shots manually (the autoject injections were giving me site reactions that were MORE than impressive, which made it really difficult to do the shots every day)

I think I've had a couple of dull needles, but a dull needle is nothing compared to shooting myself with the autoject...that hurts way more!

Wow - the autoinject is what I use (and my husband too) - the needle doesn't go in quite as far as it does manually even when set to 10 - I guess it is an individual thing - for me the manual hurts and the auto doesn't - and no site reaction other then some redness and swelling that goes away in half an hour - don't know if you know that there's a way to adjust the needle depth on the autoinject and I found that if I press hard into the area I'm injecting with the autoinject - I do get a bruise - so I hold it against my skin but don't use too much force - my husband's been doing it for me and he's been holding the front of autoinject flush with my skin and applying very little downward pressure - so far so good -

Huh. Coming up on two years, and never had a problem with the product yet.

Hey Bird. I use auto inject so I can't tell if the needle is dull or not. It goes in so fast I haven't noticed.

When I first started taking C I would get huge warm welts. now I hardly have any reaction.

Hope it gets better for you:hug:

I use the autoinject. Been on it since May, and I've gotten better at knowing where to shoot myself. But I've had some award winning site reactions in the beginning, and if I'm a little off of the "good" areas to shoot in - I get a wonderful red welt.

Not sure if the reactions went down because my bod is getting used to the medicine or because I make sure to wipe the injection site with a warm wet washcloth to make sure no med is on my skin.

I've lucked out and haven't had any dull needles yet. I do always make sure the med in the shot is clear. I disposed of one syringe because it looked discolored, but that only happened once. The nurse who came out advised that any discoloration or if there was something that looked like dandruff in the med means that syringe should not be used. If more than one in a box, report to Shared Solutions immediately.

Thank you for all your responses....

I do do it manually, but my nurse that trained me after the first week or so advised me to no put the needle all the way in....so after he trained me the pain I was having left....still get itches now and then or some pain for a short while, but nothing like before...

These reactions are above and beyond what the others are/were....in fact two of them from days ago are still red and hurting....

Dull needles aren't fixed! so if you autoinject or if you have never used a needle before, you might not notice....

Sounds like a well thought out letter to them may be in order .....

well my friend i have not, but then i inject on my left side, because i cant feel anythiong, so who knows if i have had bad needles:eek:

hopefully they will get it right real soon so you dont have any more bad experiences:hug:

I had a few that didn't empty all the way last year when that was a problem but the amount was so tiny I didn't think much of it and it was only maybe 10syringes. Never had any other problems, knock wood/antijinx.

Maybe ignorance is bliss. LOL. I probably have had needles that were dull as they didn't go in on the 1st try. But I just assumed I chickened out towards the end and slowed down on my "dart" throw.:eek:

I always look at the medicine in the syringe before I inject. If it looks suspicious, I get a new one (letting it warm up 1st, of course).

Even though I have been on C for a couple of years now, my site reactions vary from time to time. Sometimes I will still get a larger welt that itches and is sore for a few days. There are areas that I always get reactions. Hence, I no longer do my thighs.

In the 2 years I have been on C I have only had 1 dreaded reaction. Although a little scary, I knew what it was and just relaxed until it passed.

Let us know what happens after you write that letter. I'd be interested in knowing what they say.

I sure will!

Thanks for all your answers....

I really think that most C users are using the autoinject, so they surely don't notice the needle having trouble going in! I did get a form letter from them stating that they had fixed the dull needle problem already...

I don't know! Last night I had a REALLY dull one! I realized the 2nd batch of needles weren't dull, but I can't put that med in me!!!

Try the autoinject Bird - just give it a try -

hey bird. :)

i've been switched to 'em just about a month ago & i've not have a problem yet other than the first few days. then it was just these weird little red dots almost six inches all the way around the area that went away after a week. i've not had 'em since tho so i'm thinking all is well.

i'm crossing my fingers here girl! :p

Update on Copax shots!

I am doing this reaction with the old med and the dull dull needles now! I will call SS and let them know that the other meds apparently aren't bad, for whatever reason I'm getting these awful red lumpy things that last about a week, turning into a bruise....

Sometimes they itch, sometimes not, and sometimes, I don't get the ones that hang around....

From what you guys are saying you have had this too....

I am very fair skinned, and they told me at SS that the fairer you are, the more site reactions you have or something along those lines! probably worse ones!

Thanks guys!

That explains it! I'm not as fair skinned as most of my family is. (Irish-Luxembourg on my dad's side, English/American Indian on my mom's side)

I got more of my mom's coloring (dark hair, skin that tans instead of burning) I do have enough of my dad's coloring that I'm probably still considered fair skinned.

That would explain the bee sting reactions on my thighs. I dont always get the bee sting when I do my stomach...

I've had two or three C injections this week that didnt want to inject all the way. One because I'm pretty sure I hit a vein, I got a good portion of it to inject, but it was really difficult the further the plunger went down. So, I quit and removed the needle because I was worried that I would hurt myself if I forced it.

The others were in my stomach, and I encountered resistance when it got to the black line that's close to the needle end of the syringe.

I'm pretty sure most of my needles have been dull, because I've really got to push to get those needles in. I've only got 8 syringes left from that particular box, so I'm not sure if I'll call SS and complain about it.

Erin, I think you ought to let them know. When they offer to replace the ones left, just tell them you've already injected almost all of them!

They do need to know that the needles aren't corrected...

And ask them about resistance pushing in the med....that sounds really odd....

I'll call them tomorrow. I wonder if there's a way to email them or contact them thru the SS website??

I agree with Bird - let them know and then let us know what they say about the resistance pushing the med in - that is odd - haven't had that problem - have had a little of it oozing back out so leave needle in until count to thirty - that seemed to work for that problem -

I would have been more then a little paranoid - why did you stop the Copaxone ??

Was on a very slow decline til last October then had a bad relapse out of no where and continue to. Have been on Copax since October but recently stopped due to 2 bad reactions from Copax.

I've been on Copaxone for 5 months now and so far so good.I had only one IRPI reaction it was with my first shot. I hate doing my shots in my thighs it hurts alot,but I think almost everybody hates that injection area.

It's really funny about those thighs...I couldn't stand them with Rebif (subcu), but I don't mind them with Copax....

Avonex (intramuscular) had to go straight down anyway, so I didn't mind them there either with Avonex....

J, did you have the "dreaded" reaction or allergic reaction? or what?