This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

My doctor has prescribed Copaxone, but I am reluctant to give it a try. I read that the injection sites often are left with pits and/or knots in the skin. Does anyone know if this is due to the auto-inject system or a side effect of the medicine itself?

Thanks!!

Robin

Hi Robin,

I've never taken the MS meds, but I've done a lot of research about them while making my decision. The dents from Copaxone injections are called "lipoatrophy", and are common in C users. The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences posted a study that found that 45% of MS patients using Copaxone exhibited lipoatrophy:

http://www.cjns.org/31febtoc/lipoatrophy.html

Since they found it in only the females of the study and not the males, that would seem to make the percentage of incidence even higher than 45% for females. On further research (and from my years on MS forums ), I found that they believe that it's dissolving the fat from under the skin, and MS patients swear that site rotation doesn't help much for those who are prone to the dents.

The dents can also appear after injections from other meds like insulin and steroids, as I found when I searched for pics at a general dermatology site. As for the time frame, the reports describe patients who developed a dent several months later after receiving a single injection of steroids, etc. In one patient's story the dent continued to progress for over a year.

Here's the site:
http://dermatlas.med.jhmi.edu/derm/r...sis=1847886158

It was a BIG surprise to me that the damage could appear months after the injection that caused it and continue to worsen. I hope that's a rare occurrence.

You might want to scroll down through the experiences here in the Copaxone forum and find more helpful information than mine, though! Keep in mind that I'm completely med-phobic, so nothing is going to sound harmless to me.

_________________
Dx'd with MS & HNPP (hereditary peripheral neuropathy) 7/03 but must have had MS for 30 yrs before that. I've never taken meds for MS or MS symptoms except 1 yr experiment on LDN. (I found diet, exercise, sleep, humor, music help me the most.)

Great info. Looks like it is the medicine rather than the method. Thanks for your time!

Robin

I've been using copaxone for about a year and a half. i started to notice changes to my arms (indentations) and didn't like the way my legs and stomach were starting to look, so i decided to only do injections in my hip area all over. i haven't had any issues with moving the sites around on the hips since it is a larger area than the arms and stomach. i still get itchy and bumps and lumps but no one can see them since that area is hardly ever exposed. i won't be going back to any other area. my neuro also told me that there are studies that have come out and are also going on now that will soon indicate that it will be medically beneficial to only have to do the copaxone shots 3 days a week. he told me if i miss a shot here and there (which happens) that it is ok and not to worry. copaxone seems to be working for me. i don't have any side effects other than the injection site issues that everyone seems to deal with. small price to pay to be able to feel my legs and not have the symptoms i was having for almost a year. i basically have no symptoms at this point, but we all know that can change at any time. good luck.

carly dx ms 5/2010