copaxone and site reactions

I have been Copaxone for over a yr. I still get site reaction such as lumps, redness, heat, swelling..itching,,One thing you can try is to adjust the depth of your auto injector. I went to a lesser number on th auto inject. After several months, I was told that I need to adjust the needle depth on certain areas. Places that have more fat on them should be a bit deeper injection.

I had also heard that thigh area was bad for reactions and wanted to try to prevent this. Well, I soon afterwards, I got a huge hard lump at the site which as dimished a lot, but I can still feel it two days later. Does anyone know what the lump is, ie: is it fluid collecting under the skin? For my fourth shot, on my left outer thigh, I prepped by warming the injection site for 10 mins before the shot, and chilling it for 15 mins afterwards.

hi keely I have just read your comment regarding copaxone and im going through exactly the same reactions to it. I commenced on it two weeks ago too and i have really red big spots that are inflammed to the point you can feel the heat come off them. I first noticed this in my legs which i find to be the worst injection site for me personally. I did prefer to do it in the stomach but i did it there yesterday and that also has had the same reaction. its really sore and hurts.

Hi Does anyone else get blisters forming around their injection sites? l have ben on copaxone since may, and l've tried both the auto inject pen and manual injecting, however whichever method l use causes my legs to blister and weep within hours of injecting. My arms have also now have the same problem. Has anyone got any suggestions. Thank you.

I tried very dilligently to use Copaxone. My site reactions were just too severe. My welts itched so bad, and we're so large, when I got back to the site after a week, it was still terrible. I ended up looking like one swollen red spot. So I tried Beta Interferon and the same thing happened. I had to stop all treatment.

On a serious note, after taking Betaseron for 7 years, I started having injection site reactions. They would become red and swollen and nothing would take the swelling down -- I called my neurologist and he said if it is red and swollen, it is not MS related. See your family doctor immediately! The injection sites turned into Cellulitis and I ended up in the hospital receiving intravenous antibiotics. This happened about 10 times over the course of about 5 years.

I've been on Copaxone for 3-4 months now. I don't really have anything to add that db hasn't already said about the site reactions and effectiveness of it. I will say that from my own experience with it, I'm happy with it. My sister was on Rebif, and had flu side-effects. That's why I'm taking Copaxone. Other than the site reactions, and a very very mild post-injection reaction (face became hot and flushed), I've not had any problems with it.

Anyone on copaxone, anyone have their tastes changing? Putting on weight? Just wondering, things taste a bit strange since copaxone.

Ive been on copaxone for 6 months now. I have only gotten 3 site reactions - my skin would bubble up and turn all white and red. All three times happened using the auto2ject. I find using the auto2ject is more painfull. So i started doing it manually for all site's. I am starting to get so sick and tired of these daily injections, but hopefully my MRI on July 2nd will come back with positive news. Hope all is well with everyone!

t sit here and lie to you, injection site reactions ARE a part of using Copaxone. They just get less huge and less stinging and painful, the more you use it. I have NO side effects from the Copaxone at all, except for the injection site. No flu like side effects like with the Interferons and no pre-medicating with Tylemol or Advil, like I did when I was using the Interferons. I took Avonex for three years and it was a GREAT drug at slowing down the MS.

I am going to assume that you know all the injection tips of heat and ice and Tucks/witch hazel on the injection site to help with pain and swelling. But those are more for the lumps that form. I am trying to remember if I heard conversations about bruises - that is different. Are you using the autoinjector? If so, perhaps the settings are wrong (I would guess too shallow, but I'm no medical person.

Well, it looks like I can't take copaxone. I get injections site reactions the size of soft balls. Fire engine red and itchy for an entire week. What do you do when there is no DMD that you can take? That's the boat I'm in now. Copaxone was really my only hope as far as a dmd goes. I can't do the interferons because I also have lupus. (in lupus, your body makes interferon) I'm open to suggestions.

I’ve noticed members here post a common pattern with Copaxone injection site reactions. There seems to be an initial 'honeymoon' period that lasts a few weeks. During that time, we each seem to think we are one of the fortunate few who aren’t going to experience much for site reactions. Unfortunately, it appears our bodies use this time to ramp up defenses against Copaxone and/or the preservative contained in the solution.

With the autoject the worst spots for me were my arms and thighs, never really had a problem with my hips and belly but everyone is different with site reactions, while others have no problem with site reactions. I wish you luck with Copaxone. Well my neuro appointment went well. He told me he is proud of me for losing weight :) that made me feel real good. I told him that I switched to manual injections and that has helped me a lot.

So I just started Copaxone yesterday and injected my stomach, stung for a bit but otherwise okay. Today my husband injected my left arm and its been an hour and it still hurts like crazy and my arm all the way to my fingers feel almost numb? Does anyone know if this is normal and if so how long it usually lasts? (or was the injection done wrong?

Recently, I posted that I only had injection site reactions to Copaxone- but that has changed. I have taken a few days off, because of severe headache, nausea, and HUGE injection site reactions. They seem to keep getting bigger the longer I take the injections. The pain wakes me up, if I happen to roll over onto one. My neuro says the headache and nausea are "normal" as are the reactions I have been having.

Big, red, swallon, painful lumps - as bad as they are I can cope with that. But I am really struggling with the intense itching! Please, are any of you on Copaxone and did you suffer this itch?? I had my first sleepless night last night due to the itching and Im thinking tonights going to be another!! Does it get better in time??

m getting scared about site reactions and the sting pain as you inject. I know I have two days till I start but my copaxone is being delivered today and it's going to scare me having it in my house. Like a ticking time bomb or something. So I was just looking to see what side effects people are having and how bad they are and how you cope. If you have no side effect, I wana hear about that :).

I really like your screen name. I have been on Copaxone for exactly 6 months today. My experience has been that my site reactions have lessened greatly over time. When I started, I used the autoject and had welts. Over time, I learned to inject a little deeper and instead of welts I had lumps that would last up to 7 days or longer. After about 4 months, I started injecting manually, and found that the lumps decreased dramatically in size with the manual technique.

I was diagnosed in April 2010, and started taking Copaxone in November. I haven't had any of the tightness in my chest or rapid heart beats or anything, but at the injection sites I have been having massive swelling. I understand that there will be a reaction, but it is lasting for days, feels on fire through my pants, and is about the size of both of my fists put together and the patches are rock hard! Why?? Is anyone having any kind of reaction like that?

I've been on Copaxone for a year and a half. I have had probably 6 "reactions" in that time. Not all of them were the full-bown reaction that they warn of, altho I have had that and its awful. My question is..Is it ok or normal to get a huge hive-looking thing from the shot? It seems to only happen in the arm, but the welt is as big as my hand. It goes away after a while leaving a nickel sized red spot. It itches like crazy.

This is getting ridiculouser and ridiculouser. I decided to let the Copaxone folks have one more shot at solving my site reaction problem, and was politely told to ask my doctor! I pointed out that he would say that since Copaxone makes the stuff, they would be the most knowledgeable about side effects. Wrong, and too bad. They do not recommend any specific product. They claim they are not allowed to by the FDA.

I just started taking Copaxone, last Friday. The injection site reactions are the biggest side effects with Copaxone. I've had no other side effects other than a little bit of anxiety after a shot was given and a feeling of something being different--which has gone away. The injection site reactions looked pretty impressionable, at first. The first five days they were about the size of a baseball of red area with about a half-dollar sized fluid-filled middle area.

Copaxone and site reactions

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