Chain Reaction: I've started Copaxone

Friday, February 20, 2009

I've started Copaxone

Day Two on Copaxone. While I do like that this drug has the least amount of side effects, I am not pleased about the huge welt like site reactions I get. I've taken Copaxone about 4 years ago for 1 year then I just stopped. I stopped because my body and I could not stand these bad site reactions. Difference is now I know I have spinal MS, then I didn't know. Now I'll deal with the site reactions and never miss a shot again.

2 comments:

~Erin~ said...: I go through the same thing with copaxone--horrible welts and swellings at the injection sites. Then I bruise, and by the time I've rotated through all the sites and gone back to square one, the bruises are still there. I look like I've been beaten!!; February 20, 2009
Herrad said...: How horrible but does the drug help enough to put up with the pain of injecting and bruising etc?; February 21, 2009

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For those who don't know MS first hand - An Important Excerpt from Wikipedia on MS:

The person with MS can suffer almost any neurological symptom or sign, including changes in sensation (hypoesthesias and paraesthesias), muscle weakness, muscle spasms, or difficulty in moving;^[15] difficulties with coordination and balance (ataxia);^[15] problems in speech (dysarthria) or swallowing (dysphagia),^[16] visual problems (nystagmus, optic neuritis, or diplopia),^[17] fatigue, acute or chronic pain,^[18]^[19] and bladder and bowel difficulties.^[19]^[20] Cognitive impairment of varying degrees and emotional symptoms of depression or unstable mood are also common.^[21]^[22] The main clinical measure of disability progression and symptom severity is the Expanded Disability Status Scale or EDSS.^[23]

Multiple sclerosis relapses are often unpredictable, occurring without warning and without obvious inciting factors. Some attacks, however, are preceded by common triggers. Relapses occur more frequently during spring and summer.^[24] Infections such as the common cold, influenza, or gastroenteritis increase the risk of relapse.^[25]^[26] Stress may also trigger an attack.