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Re: Allergic to copaxone after over a year of injections?

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 9:31 am
by ElliotB
Did you ever contact Shared Solutions for their opinion?

Hope you are feeling better soon!

Re: Allergic to copaxone after over a year of injections?

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 12:04 pm
by Youarethecure
Thank you Elliot.

I did call shared solutions, as I knew they couldn't answer yes or no to whether it could be the copaxone. But she said it doesn't sound like it. At this point it truly just doesn't add up for it to be the copaxone.

I had to take solu medrol again, despite the fact I told my self I will never ever take it again. But it was my only option. I had to do 125 mg's of it into an IV. Which is nothing compared to the 1,000 mg's three days a week I have taken in my life a few times for MS.

I have to taper off with prednisone as well now. I am praying that I don't have bad side effects or a relapse because of all this.

I am going to do a shot now and hopefully all goes well.

Re: Allergic to copaxone after over a year of injections?

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 8:02 am
by Youarethecure
So it happened again. Yesterday I put deodorant on and noticed my arms were a little itchy so I wiped it off. Then I did my shot, then I shaved my face with shaving cream...... and my entire face BLEW up and my underarms were covered in hives. I also had some hives along my stomach and other areas. The shaving cream and deodorant had some similar ingredients.

This is all while being on prednisone still, and taking anti histamines and a histamine blocker. Nothing makes sense other than the fact that the medicine is the only common factor with everything that has happened so far.

Meanwhile, start of summer, weaning off prednisone, and possibly having to stop copaxone sure sounds like a recipe for a relapse :(

I am calling my neurologist tomorrow and hopefully getting an emergency appt.

Re: Allergic to copaxone after over a year of injections?

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 2:17 pm
by ElliotB
Perhaps you need to give up the products you are putting on your skin that are causing the irritation (at least for a few days anyway) to see what happens.

Re: Allergic to copaxone after over a year of injections?

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 2:28 pm
by Youarethecure
I did as of yesterday.

I am showering with a mild dove soap and NOTHING else will touch my skin for the next few days.

Tomorrow is a normal shot day for me, so I am hoping to get in with my neurologist to see what I should do.

Re: Allergic to copaxone after over a year of injections?

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 2:36 am
by ElliotB
Any update?

Re: Allergic to copaxone after over a year of injections?

Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 8:20 am
by Youarethecure
Yes, I am DONE with copaxone. I did my right arm last week and it blew up where I injected it. It was like one massive giant hive. Then I broke out in hives all across my body. Last night I did my shot and shortly after my nose and face blew up and then I became horribly sick to my stomach. Throwing up non stop. This all has been my bodies reaction to not wanting that stuff in my body any more. All this happened while being on zrytec. allegra, and Benadryl.

Last night was literally my 200th injection.... and like I said the last one I will never do. I just don't know where I am suppose to go from here. Another drug? No drugs? I do everything possible to stop my MS as best as I can. We know the score with diet, exercise, nutrition, and lifestyle changes but I am just a little too scared to not be on some drug I think. If I was not male I would be confident in going no meds. I have every factor for "mild" ms out there aside from being male.

I do not like any of the other drugs out there. I know them all from copaxone to tysabri and novatrone. I guess rebif and plegridy are the two and the top of my list if I go the medication route still. I am going to call my neurgo first thing tomorrow.

Thanks for checking in Elliot, that's very kind of you.

Re: Allergic to copaxone after over a year of injections?

Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 3:30 pm
by Scott1
Hi,

Don't throw away what you've learned. Copoxone is not agreeing with you. Now you know you are prone to inflammatory responses. You also know you are mildly affected.
As one male to another, I think you have plenty of options to look at. As you say, you know the drill.
There are a number of different ideas in here that don't follow the heavy duty drug route. My path is an antiviral as a base and a few supplements and now a potassium channel blocker. I have long ago moved on from the standard MS formula.
The advantage for you is you have time to investigate if you have any infections, to adopt a good diet, to do a bit of exploration. Above all else, you have time to read and learn.
The trick for me was taking ownership of my own problems. I use the medical people as advisors not oracles. Once you can speak their lingo they do start to work with you. If they assume you don't know what you're saying they will just issue instructions.
You've got time to test each assumption.
Regards

Re: Allergic to copaxone after over a year of injections?

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2015 8:45 am
by Youarethecure
^^^^ yes, yes and yes lol.

I agree so much with what your saying about medical people. I use my neurologist and medication as a failsafe for my fight with MS.

I had my moment of realization and clarity last night after work..... and lighting up a nice bowl hehehe. I am 100 percent too scared to NOT be on some form of a drug. I cant risk it. I am so young, doing so well with my MS and I NEEEEEEED to keep it that way.

Thanks for the help everyone!

Re: Allergic to copaxone after over a year of injections?

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2015 11:13 am
by ElliotB
Have you ever tried the once-a-day Copaxone? It is a long shot that it would be any better but you never know. Some people that made the switch to three times a week have reported issues. I have stayed on the once-a-day regimine because of these reports. It might be worth a try...

Re: Allergic to copaxone after over a year of injections?

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2015 5:00 pm
by Youarethecure
I have considered that. I need to get with my neuro and figure this all out.

Re: Allergic to copaxone after over a year of injections?

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 7:21 pm
by enadroj
Replying to this nearly two years after the thread was originally posted.

Curious to see how this turned out. I am now on about my injection #240 of 3d a week Copaxone treatment. Sometime around injection #120 I started to have random hives around my body (not just injection site). At first, I thought was an allergy to Fish Oil (I had recently up'd my dose). Then I thought maybe something environmental and/or in my house (e.g. soap, etc.) I know heat brings it on (e.g. lower back after sitting still on an airplane for a long flight). But otherwise, its unpredictable. I am now taking daily Singulair and still occasionally have to take a Zrytec and/or Allegra to calm things down. I've always been a pretty allergic guy even pre MS (asthma, seasonal allergies, severe nut allergies, etc.) but nothing prolonged like this.

Just yesterday I was wondering if it was injection depth related. I used to get quite severe injection site swelling and I increased the injection depth and that went away, but then sometime after that (I can't remember when the occurred in relation to each other), the hives started. I tried a more shallow injection and I had a more inflamed / itchy injection site reaction, but thus far, no hives. Knock on wood.

This is my second treatment (I was on Tecfidera for a while before I tested positive JC Virus) so I really want to stay on Copaxone. I've been tolerating the hives to date but would love to figure out the real cause. Would be curious to hear who things turned out for you and what you ended up doing. Still hopeful I can debug this.

Re: Allergic to copaxone after over a year of injections?

Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2017 1:38 pm
by Loriyas
Please see my April 20 post in Copaxone thread. After 14 years I had an immediate post injection reaction. First one like that..

Re: Allergic to copaxone after over a year of injections?

Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 9:49 am
by TeresaL
I took copaxone for 6-7 yrs, didn't stop attacks. Look into high dose vit D and wheldon protocol. Test for Lyme w igenex.com. Best test for Lyme.

Re: Allergic to copaxone after over a year of injections?

Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 4:10 pm
by Loriyas
I am sorry I never responded. I never saw your post. If at all possible get a prescription for an Epi-pen and keep it with you at all times. You never know if you may need it.

To answer your question, yes I am still in Copaxone daily. I recently reported an immediate post injection reaction. See it in the Copaxone thread. My neurologist said it is a phenomenon that can occur with Copaxone if injected in the blood stream. I must have hit a vein that time. Btw I did report to Shared Solutions but they acted as if it was really rare. It is not. So I take what SS says with a grain of salt.

Let us know what you find out at the ER. Good luck