Copaxone

[willowwoman7]

Anyone on copaxone, anyone have their tastes changing? Putting on weight? Just wondering, things taste a bit strange since copaxone. Injection site reactions for me, but it's worth it if it shortens relapses (which I'm in one now)

[HVAC]

Have you contacted the doctor. What you experienced is not uncommon. It is your body reacting to a new substance your body does not make. If it happens frequently you may have an allergy to Copaxone. If it happens with in the first month once or twice it is normal. That reaction is classic to Copaxone but scary. You wonder what in the world is happening to me? You can take antihistimines such as Benadryl for the hives or itching. On day 8 for me I ended up with peach size knots everywhere I had injected. I went on the forum and found out it was normal. Shared Solutions may not tell you much. They literally have to follow a written script. The best person to talk to is a nurse at the Neurologist's office.

Alex

[Mahya_afroosheh]

Hi all!!
I started using copaxone 20 mg a year ago and i had hot flashes sometimes,few days ago about an adverse effect after an injection of copaxone 40mg,I started with copaxone about 3 weeks and did not have any side effects but 4 days ago after my injection my entire body had a hot flash,subconsciously I started screaming and had problem breathing,it felt like the veins on the back of my neck were boiling,I kept scratching my neck and face because of hives!

[jensequitur]

That air bubble isn't anything to worry about.  You would have to inject a syringe full of air into a vein for it to be a problem - and this is a subcutaneous injection.

Copaxone site reactions are the worst, but it's about the only negative I've found for the drug.  For about five months, I would get a giant red welt that felt hot to the touch.  Inside the welt would be a hard lump.  Sometimes they'd be extremely itchy, and I would have to be careful not to scratch, because then I'd get an even uglier welt/bruise/blood blister.

Now that I've been doing this for a while, the site reactions have gotten better.  For areas that I inject all the time, like my stomach and hips, there's hardly any welting.  For areas that have more blood flow, or places that I've just started injecting (like my upper stomach, and the sides of my thighs) they welt up and itch pretty badly.

I always chill the area with a gel pack before injecting.  Shared Solutions will send you a couple if you ask.  I hear that heating it after injecting is a good idea - I always take a hot shower while getting ready for work, so I haven't bothered.

Since I've been on Copaxone, I think I've had two minor flares.  But I seem to be more stable than I was before starting the medication - I'm in remission right now, and I've been in remission (aside from a brief detour into bronchitis and fever) for a couple of months.

I'm not sure about the weight gain thing.  Some people say they've been losing weight and can't stop it... wish I had that problem!  I gained weight on Prednisone, and it's been a struggle to take it off.  I'm verrrrry slooooowwwwly losing weight.  The bronchitis took three pounds off, which is kinda nice - as long as I can keep it off.

As far as tastes changing, I noticed a trend about five years ago for more bitter foods.  I eat a lot more collard greens and mustard, and add more black pepper to my food, and don't eat as many sweets as I used to.  Except orange sherbet - for some reason I really crave it now!  I rarely use mayonaise any more.  But this is pretty natural as people age, and may have nothing to do with Copaxone.

[Amyloo]

Hi Ladies,

Heather, I too am not comfortable with that big air bubble; I DO push it out before I load into my autoject.  I know they say not to but I am not a novice at drawing/giving injections so I do it.  (What a rebel.)  

I have a question for you both:  are you noticing hard balls/lumps under your skin days, even weeks after you have injected?  I can feel these all over my body in areas that were injected weeks ago.  Can't visibly see them, but I can feel them.  

I haven't had any taste changes, but have lost my appetite.  Love to you both, Amy

[Heather3418]

I am SO glad that you posted this...I have noticed (just started Copaxone about 5-6 weeks ago) that I do have changes in my tastes.  In fact, not long after I give myself an injection, I notice a strange taste in my mouth, almost like thiere is increased saliva production.  This is probably TOTALLY my imagination...

Yes, there are injection site reactions.  I was getting BIG welts when I injectied with the auto-injector.  I decided to try an experiment and go back to self-injecting.  Now the welts are GREATLY reduced in size, although the site stays "warm" all day, like that area has a slight "fever."  It also stays red, about the size of a half-dollar...all day and sometimes into the next day.

I have been diagnosed for 13 years.  I actually believe that the Copaxone is already working and let me briefly explain why.  One week before I started my first injections, my father passed away, 10 days after that I got the flu, not once but twice in one week, with high fevers. Then I got a fever blister.  Then my better half's step-mother died.  

Any of that would have definitely put me into a flair in the past.  Definitely.  I have  noticed only a very slight sign of increased symptoms, so I am going out on a limb and saying that I have NOT had any flair-up, where the above things would most definitely have put me into a major flair-up, before Copaxone.  Is Copaxone delaying it?  Is it preventing it all together?  I don't know.  But I am willing to bet that indeed the Copaxone IS preventing a relapse, at least at this current moment.

Other than injection site reactions, which I am trying ways to prevent some of that; I would say that Copaxone is showing no adverse side-effects in my body.  Absolutely none.  I use to take one of the Interferons and I would have flu-like side effects for many days after the injections, so taking Copaxone is a totally new experience for me.

There are some things that I am trying to do to lessen my site reactions.  One of them is pre-warming the medication.  Not just room temperature, but warming the medication slightly by holdiing it in my fist for about 15 minutes or placing the syringe under my thigh, while I am sitting down, about 15 minutes.  I am also making absolutely sure that the alcohol prep is TOTALLY dry before I inject.  I am also injecting the medication even slower into my body than I was before.  Very slowly.  When it comes to the bubble that is in the syringe, which they tell us NOT to expel, I make sure that once the injection gets to the "bubble," I do NOT inject any further..making sure that air bubble is not injected under my skin.  I then ice the injection area for about 10 minutes.

I have already noticed less injection site reactions.  I truly believe that the acetate that is in the medication is what causes the injection site reactions.  I will talk to Shared Solutions about this, when I get one of their weekly phone calls.  I really think that Teva needs to do some more research into injection site reactions and see if they can come up with a solution to this BIG problem.  Something in the medication is causing the skin destruction, that "I" believe they CAN resolve.  

Wow...I wrote a novel here...sorry.  

Thanks for posting an interesting question....

Have a GREAT DAY!

Heather