This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

I've only been on Copaxone for about 6 weeks but i started getting big welts and itchiness 2 weeks ago. Called Shared Solutions and they said it common for people to start developing larger site reactions after a month. I started experimenting with manually injecting and so far it seems the same.

Today I experimented with taking half the dose pulling the needle out and continuing 2 inches down with the rest of the shot. My theory would be 2 smaller site reactions? Anyone else try this before? Is this bad?

Never tried two places for one shot. I remember when I first started using Copaxone I would get a bad skin reaction one day at one spot and none the next, never did figure out a pattern. I would try and stay away from an area for which I got a bad reaction as long as I could, rotating my injection sites. Good news, that was five years ago and I have not had a bad reaction to an injections in years, so it can get better. Good luck, Dave

Leg feels a lot better today. No itch and very little swelling. My arms from Sunday and Monday however itch like crazy today We'll see how it feels tomorrow and the day after. The itchiness usually starts on day 2

Been on the stuff 1.5 years and in my experience the itchiness goes away as do the red welts. however, the stinging does not stop completely but tends to vary from day to day. It is really a matter of getting used to it physically as well as mentally I think.
I would certainly talk with your doctor about splitting it up to make sure you are not losing effectiveness by not having all the medicine in one spot.

The sting I can deal with... actually kind of like it lol its the itchiness on day 2-4 that drives me nuts. Hopefully it goes away over time. On the leg that I split the injections the welt and itchiness was greatly reduced. My other leg is itching like crazy right now. Going to talk to the shared solution nurse and ask her if its bad idea to split it up.

In my experience the itchiness is caused by the depth of the injection. If I don't go deep enough then the injection site is itchy the next couple of days. The pain of the injection is also a result of the depth. If I go to deep and hit muscle the pain is more severe than injecting into fatty tissue. I have found this out by using the autoject and forgetting to reset the depth when I change sites.

I am also new to copaxone(about 3 weeks), but have heard that you are not supposed to inject the same needle twice due to greater chance of infection......I have not confirmed that with SS, but I'm sure they will say not to do it as they have to adhere to the FDA regulations and so on. I too have started to develop large welts and crazy itchiness, but severity depends on the site for some odd reason. I have found that if I scrub the site real good with a bar of soap the day after the sites are healing quicker........but everyone is different. I definitely agree on the itchiness though, it's enough to drive one crazy LOL. I too have no big issues with the sting. good luck