@Yorete 

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Yorete

I'm in agony with the new injections 🥲😬

Hi everyone, I have started to take Brabio 40 mg glatiramer acetate this week. It's 3 times a week, I am in so much pain. First day I messed up my injector, luckily not scared of injections. So I inject it myself and this liquid feels like torture. The area gets really red, it feels like something is burning and stabbing me. I did my thighs first as suppose to rotate and I am really bruised and swollen and have like a hard lump inside. As I write I feel the agony on my stomach, any tips? Is it normal to hurt this much? 🥲 My steps are: Clean the area Put the needle in slowly Slowly push the siringe Remove slowly Be in agony for maybe 30 mins (it burns and feels also numb/ paralysed although I feel the pain, when I did my thigh after the pain I was limping Sleep I just started but not sure I can do this for months Thanks, Yorete
@Kate13

Sorry to hear this. I was treated with Copaxone previously (same drug different name). My injection nurse said that if I got stinging/redness/lumps I was probably injecting at too much of a shallow depth so the substance was irritating the skin. If I got a muscle ache or felt like I’d been punched I was probably injecting too deep. I would recommend injecting a bit deeper and seeing if that helps. For me, I injected my thighs at about 7-8, my arms were about 5 and my stomach was about 9 (everyone is different depending on body type). You can always increase the depth a bit at a time and see what works for you. And if you have any issues or questions regarding the depth or injection site reactions just contact your Copaxone nurse. My nurse also recommended getting one of those microwaveable heat pads to apply to the area after injecting to reduce the pain. Also, he taught me a tip that when you take the needle cap off you need to ‘flick the drip’. What he meant was that when you take the cap of the injector, there is a drop of Copaxone at the end of the needle. If you give it a good shake it will get rid of that drop and prevent it from irritating the skin. Hope this helps

@shopaholic84

Hello @Yorete , I also take Brabio. Do you pinch a good bit of skin before injecting? If I can't pinch an inch of skin as in not a tight muscled area I can't inject as it hurts. I don't want to imply a fattier area but if you can get a good chunk of skin it may help. I tried to inject my hip the other day and it hurt immediately because it wasn't a good area.