Itching......the rest of the story!

In the analysis of this blog the number one web search that brings people here aside from being newly diagnosed themselves are keywords labeled Itch and Copaxone (usually linked to each other).

This is no surprise to me because when you have tried everything short of gnawing your (insert whatever body part is itching at the time) off you "Google" right?!  Of course you do! 

If you take Copaxone you are given the long laundry list of side effects that you are given with just about any medication these days.  Yes, I read them.  Yes, they freak me out.  Yes, I still take the medicine.  I realize due to liability reasons the manufacturer has to list every occurrence of everything that may have happened during the drug study whether they can prove that it occurred because of the medicine.  I remember reading these types of drug disclosures before I gave my consent for my first child to have her immunizations.  Don't think that I didn't have second thoughts that day, I did!  But I also know that the benefits outweigh the risks and so yes, she is immunized.  But I digress.

I vaguely remember reading about itching and red lumps as injection site reactions but that seems kind of standard with a shot........right?

I took my Copaxone without a hitch for several months before IT started.  IT came on suddenly and furiously.  It is what I lovingly call the Copaxone Itch!  (When I am not in a loving mood I have another name that rhymes.)  It made me miserable!  I went to bed slathered in Hydrocortisone cream only to awaken in the night with blood under my fingernails from the scratching in my sleep.  I wore long pants in the summer to keep from clawing my legs.  I caught myself rubbing my belly in polite company.   I used hot packs. I used cold packs. I clipped my fingernails.  I took oral antihistamines.  I did everything that was suggested and then some.  And then..........

 

IT STOPPED!  

Yep, pretty much just like that!  

It was just over.  It lasted a few months.  I was not happy during that time.  I finally just told my nearest and dearest what I was going through and scratched.  Those who loved me didn't care anyway and I really was not too worried about the rest, as it turns out!  Occasionally, I will have it happen for a day or so without rhyme or reason but it doesn't stay long.  

So there is hope!  This too shall pass!  In the meantime, try all of the above.  Hopefully something will help you manage until it does stop, but mainly just keep the faith.  It will be over soon and then you can chalk it up to a past experience!

If you have had any luck with getting rid of it more quickly please share because there are many out their looking for answers.

Good luck!