Changing to Copaxone
 

Been on Beta since 2006. Dr feels it is no longer working, so I am in the process of changing over to Copaxone. Any advice? Thanks.

One piece of advice I have if you use the autoject, is to hold the red tip 'up' so the air bubble rises towards the red cap, then pull the cap straight upwards when pulling it off and that will pull the bubble out at the same time. This way you will eliminate the little 'air bubble', which can be a cause of irritation.

I also found that my stomach was the best place for the shots and that is because I am 'padded' pretty good there, along with the bum.

Good luck to you! I hope 'C' works well for you!

in the early days it has a bit of a bite to it. please know that this WILL get better and better. it will not always be that way. I was upset that no one warned me it was a stinger in the early days.

ROTATE! make sure you pick an area, lets say your thigh, make six spots on that thigh or even 4. that way you only hit that one area once a month, not once a week. Have a rotation schedule. Wednesday was tummy day for me, because it was the middle of the week, and the middle of my body. Saturday and Sunday I sat on my bum, so it was bum shots. Monday I strong armed my way back into the week so Monday was an arm. and so forth. just make sure to use a WIDE area of the body part you choose.

Use the SIDE wall of your thigh and you will find much more fat there. The picture shows the top side of the thigh, but its so close to the muscle that I kept doing muscle pops and those hurt! so, I switched to the side wall and was extremely happy.

drink loads of water each day. keep yourself flushed out.

Copaxone can take six months to a year to start being very effective. it took the full year for me.

DONT SKIP shots. either do it or dont do it. dont be a middle of the road girl. Pick a lane.

Learn to manually inject. even if you never intend to do it. If you know how and your auto injector is broken there is no panic or wait. Shared solutions is awesome at overnighting things to you, but you will have to skip a day if you dont know how.

Call Shared Solutions AFTER your first shot and ask for all the goodies! they have yoga CDs, shot boxes that you can keep the shots in your fridge, or travel boxes to carry them in your suitcase, and magnets, and cool wraps, and ice packs, and tons of fun stuff. make sure to ask for a goodie basket. They wont send any stuff till the nurse who teaches you registers that you did the first shot.

Breathe, relax! dont stress. Make shot time ME time. A time to sit for 15 mins and do nothing else. rest, stare off into space.

Sometimes it stings and sometimes it doesn't. Haven't been able to figure out why but in any event I have gotten used to the sensation. I also shoot in the more padded areas as well as my butt. I've been very happy on Copaxone for 6 years.

Good luck!

:Wave-Hello: Hi Friend, nice to see you again. Wacha been up to?

Good luck with the Copaxone. I hope it works well for you.:hug:

Benadryl Gel is your friend. Gently smear it on the area after you do your shot and it greatly reduces the itchy burning feeling. Don't rub, that will make it worse...just gently coat the area with it. Also, not sure if it is true, but I was told not to release the bubble when removing the cap as the bubble helps make sure all the medicine is pushed out of the needle and helps "seal" the injection site so the med doesn't leak back out. As was said above, it hurts like the dickens early on, but after a few weeks or a month it starts getting better. I actually liked Copaxone better than the Rebif I am on now because other than the skin irritation I had no side effects. Rebif makes me feel like crap.

I have been on C for three years with no significant problems. I started out following their rotation guide then gradually started my own. I do not do my arms. There just isn't' much area to rotate there...I do have small indentations on my arms so I quit that area...I like to go sleeveless when it is hot. My stomach gets the inj's the most...lots of fat there and also my inner thighs. Make sure it is at room temperature. It takes a while to learn the needle setting for your different spots. If the needle is too short and doesn't go in to the fat...it can really sting. Yeah, I still get some red bumps or itchy spots but I just have to deal with that. Good luck to you!

Almost identical to my experience. I no longer use my arms. They are not so skinny anymore but it was a painful area to shoot and I don't want indentations there. I use my heinie and tummy the most. I use the autoinjector for the heinie. I keep a calendar showing the following to keep track. For example:

Right butt high = RBH

or, RBHO = Right butt high outer

Left stomach high inner = LSHI

and so on....

I try not to repeat any one spot more than once in two weeks. This really works! Good luck!

Thanks all for the good advice...I'm waiting to hear from the nurse and for the paperwork to go through. Glad for a little break from shots while I wait. :wink:

Hi Sally! Seems like my energy level has been so low that I haven't been on here much. But I've missed everyone. Hope I get to feeling more like it soon. :hug: