Skipping a Shot Once a Week

[Cammie]

My insurance is refusing to pay for the new dosage of Copaxone of 40 mg. 3xwk. Since my skin is a mess (and I rotate!) and I am running out of shot sites, I have been skipping one shot a week for about three months. It adds up to the same amount of medicine I would be getting if I were able to get the new dosage. Now I am in relapse, but I don't think the skipped shot is the reason. I believe the relapse would have happened anyway. Has anyone had experience with skipping one shot per week?

[ElliotB]

Perhaps a better question is has anyone had a relapse WITHOUT skipping a shot a week, and of course the answer is yes. DMDs don't totally eliminate relapses, they simply supposedly reduce the number of them.

[Cammie]

This makes me feel better. I really do have to skip that weekly shot. I'm having a lot less trouble on Copaxone than off of it so I guess I'll stick with it.

[Loriyas]

I skip a shot often. Probably average once every week to 10 days. I agree-when you skip a shot once a week when doing daily injections you are receiving the same amount as the new 40 ml. / 3 times a week. So to me it is the same. I think if you are having a relapse it most likely doesn't have anything to do with skipping a shot. Just my opinion.

[Cammie]

I have come out of my relapse. I believe that this is going to work for me. My neurologist agreed grudgingly to this (only 6 shots per week) because she knows that the insurance balked up on the 3x/wk dose. It's either this or go off Copaxone altogether, which I don't want to do because it has worked so well for me. I have considered going on Betaseron, which is only every other day for shots. But too many people complain of it making them sick.

[Cammie]

Over time, I found my MS symptons getting worse while skipping a shot once a week. I am now skipping a shot once every ten days and seeing how that will work. If I can't skip some shots, I will have to go off of Copaxone because of skin breakdowns--can't tolerate a shot every single day. Too bad, because in every other way Copaxone has been a wonderful drug for me. I have a friend who is doing wonderfully on Gilenya, and that's probably where I will have to go.