More on Multiple Sclerosis Medications

Hello Again,

Let us pick up where we left off...

So once Avonex ceased to be a viable option for treating my Multiple Sclerosis, my doctor and I decided to try a medication with a very similar chemical makeup (or at least that's how it was explained to me.)  My case of MS was responding well to the Avonex, yet the side effects were too much so we thought a similar medication may have the benefit without the side effects.

Unfortunately, this was a very inaccurate assumption. 

After about a month of taking nothing so the current medication would be out of my system, I began taking Copaxone.  A nurse came to my house, had me fill out a ton of paperwork, and taught me how to administer this injectable.  This medication makes use of an injector pen; and since this was going to be the first time I've used anything like that, I needed some coaching. 

The Copaxone needles came with pre-mixed meds, so it needed to be taken out and brought to room temperature about a half an hour before use.  I had to pre-medicate with an over the counter pain reliever, load the pen, dial in the depth of the injection, and shoot away.  I was given a list of acceptable injection locations (many more for Copaxone versus Avonex) and instructed to take one dose every other day.  I quickly learned that the dialing of the injector depth was the first problem.

No matter what depth I dialed it into, I experienced horrible injection site reactions.  If it was too deep, I would have incredible pain, followed by tons of bleeding and seepage of the medication.  Too shallow, and I ended up with a bubble of medication under my skin... As you can image, that's not a great thing to have.  I talked with a dozen nurses from both my insurance company and the Copaxone manufacturer, and no one was able to help me figure out the correct depth.  I still, to this day, think that there is no correct  depth for this injector pen, and I've subsequently found that many other injectors don't allow for the adjustment of depth... I think this is a major design flaw.

Secondly, and more importantly, I began having allergic reactions.  It started with hives after each injection.  I spoke with a few of the neurologists at my doctors office, and I was asked to try Benadryl as a pre-med.  Unfortunately, the hives persisted until I went into full anaphylaxis one evening.  My entire body swelled, had a back spasm, and began having difficulty breathing.  Thankfully, I was still living with my parents and was able to bang on the wall enough to get my fathers' attention.

I had only made it about 5 months on Copaxone before the allergic reaction.  I immediately came off the drug, and quickly had to go to round 3.  The next one stuck from that point until a few months ago, but that's for the next post.

Thanks for reading,
Adam