Copaxone
 

Oh dear, my precious. What's become of you?

I've been pointing and shooting manually since May 10, 2008. Without much issue. That is, until the last oh, 2-3 months.

The arms. :mad:

No matter WHERE I inject on that blasted chart, my arms ache and spasm. Horribly. For at least 30 minutes following the injection.

Are my arms getting over-saturated with the medication? What's going on? I'm pretty sure I'm not hitting a muscle every single time I inject here, and this certainly wasn't an issue within the first 6 glorious months of stabbing myself.

I know the arms have been an issue for others... and it's been mentioned about doubling up on bum bum injections (which doesn't sound bad, those are a break from everything else!).

Thoughts? Am I alone in this misery? Oh yeah.. still dealing with the 27's as well. Canada won't see the 29's till the summer at least.. but I'm happy no price hike and I just picked up another box of C tonight.

Have you tried going in at a 45 degree angle instead of 90? When I do my arms, I have to go in at a 45 degree angle. That is the only way I can get them done. You may want to give that a try and see if it is any better.

As for the pain/spasms - this happens to me every time I shoot in my legs. I stopped shooting in my legs and haven't injected in them for the past 2 years.

Nope, I haven't tried but sounds like a viable option, thanks :)

The arms are horrible what moron decided this was a good place to inject? obviously a man.... and obviously a neuro. I decided Sunday instead of doing my other arm ( I try to keep my rotations on the same day of the week) anyways, I skipped the arm and went straight in the tush. Aside from the usual bee sting effect afterwards, it seemed to do pretty well. I think it's because I have so much fat back there. Changing the angle sounds reasonable. I do the autoject so my angle really doesn't change. Not brave enough to do a manual injection yet.

I inject manually at a 45 degree angle everywhere. Even at a 45 degree angle I hit muscle anytime I try injecting in my arms.

My neurologist called teva and they told him that my reaction to copaxone the other day could not be due to the copaxone ( not a normal side effect) because they had never heard of anyone having cold chills and shaking. So maybe I should try again (their opinion). My neuro does think it is an allergic reactions and said no. The same thing happened to me after the IPIR's I experienced last year.

As far as the arm goes, it does seem to be the hardest place to inject. I would sometimes skip that area and do my stomach twice in one week (left side - right side). You meed to be careful when injecting in the tush that you do not hit a nerve,

if you shoot shallow, make sure to push the area, to help it sink deeper into the fat.

I have given up on my arms. Fat or no fat, they hurt, they swell, they stay tender, and sore. I spent days being protective of them because they hurt afterwards! so, I do double bum bum shots, or double legs, or double tummy shots instead.

feel better! :hug:

I had to give up on my arms after about a year of Copaxone. I used the heinie area an extra time instead. I started getting some dents and they've filled in somewhat in the nearly 2 1/2 years since I stopped taking it.

I don't know why the arms were so difficult. The thighs were tough to do also for me but I kept using them because I didn't have the denting problems as much. I think if I'd gained more weight that might not have been an issue but I don't know. I'd put on nearly ten pounds as it was.

I think part of my problem was using the autoinjector for the first year. If I'd been doing manual injections it wouldn't have gotten so bad. In hindsight, I'd have had DH do the arm injections manually since those spots were harder for me to reach and judge the depth while keeping my hand steady. At least doing the heinie I had a big target, lol. :D

I've seen you, Wiz...a large heinie you do not have...:p
we all must have one area that gets aggravated more than the others...mine is my thighs. The nurse at SS told me to talk to the neuro about abandoning that site...I will when I see him in two weeks...

Laura and others sorry yall having issues with the injections, you do know that chart they use isn't written in stone, for the longest time I dreaded using the stomach, but that one turned out the be the easiest one to do:Bang-Head: i tend to feel guilty on threads like this cause I am numb enough I don't feel any shots on my left side and lately the right side too, so for me to know what yall are going through I don't sorry, but i am sorry your having troubles, hope changing the angle helps you out:hug: