My First Week of Daily Injections

During my first week of taking daily injections of Copaxone, I have learned a lot, I have accomplished a lot, and all the while surviving it all!

Here is my list of “Top 10 Things I Learned During My First Week of Taking Daily Injections”

10.  The cats will play with the Autoject 2 needle cap once it is released so I have to be careful to dispose of it properly.  They love playing soccer.

9.  Finding the right time and place for injection is important.  For me?  The bedroom since it’s equipped with a sound machine.  I find listening to rain to be very calming.  Until the neighbors’ music is turned up – argh!  Turn it down &*$%^, I am trying to meditate!      

8.  Definitely use the daily planner provided by Shared Solutions to keep track of injection sites.  It’s only been a week and I’ve already fallen out of rotation, skipping over the thigh and straight onto the stomach.  I really like following directions and do not like falling out of order.  I want an A.  

7.  Preparing the syringe for injection is fun!  Seriously.  I like loading and locking the syringe into place, it's rather much like loading a gun.  I really hate guns and have never used one but this step sort of makes me feel like I am on a special mission, like a secret agent getting ready to fight the bad guys.  Agent 99 takes on MS! 

6.  Calm. Down.  Relax.  And.  Breathe.  I find that I get a little worked up just before injecting and need to remind myself of this mantra.  Calm.  Down.  Relax.  And.  Breathe. 

5.  The needle doesn’t hurt at all.  Sometimes I find myself asking, “Did it go in?  Is this thing working right?”  Then the burning arrives and I know everything is working just the way is supposed to. 

4.  Having my partner with me while I injection is UBER important, especially during these first few weeks.  On Friday night I jammed my gun, I mean my Autoject 2, and I panicked.  She stepped in and fixed everything for me. Sigh.  “Calm. Down. Relax. And. Breathe”, she said. 

3.  Taking pictures of where I inject is a great idea (thanks Anna!).  There is no way I will remember where I inject, no matter what I write in my daily planner.  I will try this during Week 2. 

2.  Trying not to let the injections take over your life is challenging.  I do think about it all the time, growing anxious about accidentally skipping a day.  Yikes.  Maybe an alarm will help.

 

1.  Save the most important thing for last, that’s the intention of this list.  The reason why I take Copaxone every day is to slow down the progression of my MS.  I do not want this disease to get any worse so here goes nothing.  Bring on the shots!   

C