by carolsue » Sat Mar 05, 2005 9:47 pm
Hi lscmb!
after being on Avonex I imagine you'll laugh at the tiny little Rebif or Copaxone needles!
I've been on Rebif for 9 months, started with the older autoinjector and thicker needles. It used to be very painful for me. The new smaller needle and the new AJ are both MUCH more comfortable. I believe the pH was reformulated too, which has lessened the pain I used to have on injection. I manually inject the areas I can comfortably reach (abdomen, hips and thighs), and use the AJ for places that are harder to reach (buttocks, arms). I "bruise" equally with both methods. My bruises are reddish, and last for up to 6 weeks.
Tip: One problem I've noticed with the AJ is that if I remove the needle cap according to the instructions, more often than not, I get a drop of medicine on the needle. It's hard to wipe the needle dry as it's enveloped in the AJ. So now I remove the needle cap before loading the AJ, and I just take a lot of care that I don't touch the bare needle on anything when I'm loading it.
As for Rebif vs. Copaxone, I can't speak to efficacy but I do like the flexibility of the 3x per week of Rebif. Usually I do MWF, but sometimes (traveling, big day the next day, etc.) it makes more sense to do MWSat, or SunTF, or...you get the picture. Copaxone's every day, isn't it? Not much flexibility there.
finally, the first few months on Rebif I noticed the flu like symptoms after each dose, but these were manageable with ibuprofen. I don't get those symptoms any more. initially, and for about 6 months, my liver enzymes elevated and my platelets dropped. but now, after 9 months, all blood chemistry is normal.
hope this helps and good luck!
carolsue