June 2021
Live & Learn
20/06/21 11:39
Yesterday was my 3rd Copaxone jab ever; and hence my second go on my own. Wonder if I’ll count them all? Probably not. Let’s face it, it should be just multiplying each month by the 12 jabs. It went okay. Apart from I tried doing it without using the booklet. Probably should have done it a few more times before doing that; rather than just the once.
I made one slight error; which I won’t make again. May have resulted in the needle being at a very slight angle from what it should have been. Certainly felt it a little more than last time when I removed it. And it looked a little out of kilter after I took it from my stomach (LHS). Put it a few inches to left from last time I used that side. The mistake was me taking the lid off the syringe before pushing the syringe back into the injector. My bad: I should have pushed the syringe into the CSYNC and then taken the lid off with its red top. Anyway I’ll live: And I’ve learned.
The strange thing with the Copaxone is that it is taken three times a week - exactly that and not every two days. So my next injection is an epic three days away. With electronic calendars it is easy enough to set up reminders anyway. Some people are on a lower dose but inject every day. I think it’s either 3 doses of 40ml or 7 doses of 20ml. Three doses seems best for me.
Onwards and Upwards (if slightly askew).
I made one slight error; which I won’t make again. May have resulted in the needle being at a very slight angle from what it should have been. Certainly felt it a little more than last time when I removed it. And it looked a little out of kilter after I took it from my stomach (LHS). Put it a few inches to left from last time I used that side. The mistake was me taking the lid off the syringe before pushing the syringe back into the injector. My bad: I should have pushed the syringe into the CSYNC and then taken the lid off with its red top. Anyway I’ll live: And I’ve learned.
The strange thing with the Copaxone is that it is taken three times a week - exactly that and not every two days. So my next injection is an epic three days away. With electronic calendars it is easy enough to set up reminders anyway. Some people are on a lower dose but inject every day. I think it’s either 3 doses of 40ml or 7 doses of 20ml. Three doses seems best for me.
Onwards and Upwards (if slightly askew).
Comments
Self Jabbing
16/06/21 08:03
Hopefully come up with some more imaginative names for any further Copaxone related blogs. That said, maybe I wont need to do many more on Copaxone anyway: after all if things go smoothly with it then I wont be saying much about it. So fingers crossed I won’t get to Fast & Furious (or indeed Rambo) numbers.
The nurse came today after the delivery arrived yesterday morning. When the package arrived in a large plastic bag yesterday, taped up with contents to be put in fridge stamped on it, I was briefly alarmed at its size wondering how much of the fridge would be left for actual food and drink. But when I opened the bag the bulk of it proved to be the Yellow Sharps Bin and a blue zip case for the CSYNC auto-injector. The actual part of the package that needs to be refrigerated is just the small box of syringes. After all I only need to inject myself three times a week. So a month’s supply is just 12 syringes. The delivery included a CSYNC comes with a big thick glossy book, but like every device manual - be it an air fryer, a strimmer, a car, or a CSYNC auto-injector system - this is because it is presented in every conceivable language on earth. And there is only actual four pages that relate to the instructions in each language: and unclear instructions at that.
I had a read of the manual before the nurse arrived intending to be primed and ready to go; but the manual was confusing and I was soon of the opinion it was likely a lot easier than the steps presented in text form and that I’d be thankful for a nurse visit. It was pretty damn straighforward. The nurse also pointed out there was a fold away illustration inside the booklet which was much clearer than the text - though the inside of the booklet were not effectively pointed within the document. They’d have been better off just producing a glossy of the pictures presented in the inlay. A picture paints a thousand words and all that.
The nurse took out her own injection kit - filled with saline - along with a little padded device about the size of a bar of soap, to represent a belly or leg muscle and duly went through the entire process, before watching me do it for real.
It really was quite straightforward. I think. I dare say it’ll take me longer than it should the first few times doing it on my own, but I’ll get there.
The actual needle going in (set to ‘8’ - which I think equates to 8mm) didn’t hurt much. You notice it a little, but it is not of undue concern. I could feel it a bit later and there was a very slight reddening, but less than my arms were after the sunshine camping last week. And it wasn’t long before I couldn’t feel anything had happened there and the reddening had gone.
I chose to inject into my belly (a big enough target and easy to reach) on the left hand side. You are told to rotate the positions, so I’ll be right hand side next time. After that I may try a leg to see how that works for me (set to 4 or 6 instead of 8). I think you can stick to legs or belly as long as you don’t keep putting the needle in roughly the same place. Being only three times a week it’s less of an issue than it could be for a drug needed to be injected more frequently.
In summary: it wasn’t painful. It’s a little fiddly inserting the syringe into the auto-injector and then emptying and disposing the needle into the Yellow Sharps Bin. I’m sure it will quickly become second nature. It’s only a few hours after and I’ve not felt any issues to far, hopefully that will continue to be the case.
It was good news on the delivery front as the nurse said that they could deliver to a pharmacy for pick up from there. They’d asked about a neighbour on the phone when I last spoke to them, but a pharmacy is much more straightforward (as long as I don’t tell them to come on a Sunday and mess that up).
Anyway, so far so good. Onwards And Upwards.
The nurse came today after the delivery arrived yesterday morning. When the package arrived in a large plastic bag yesterday, taped up with contents to be put in fridge stamped on it, I was briefly alarmed at its size wondering how much of the fridge would be left for actual food and drink. But when I opened the bag the bulk of it proved to be the Yellow Sharps Bin and a blue zip case for the CSYNC auto-injector. The actual part of the package that needs to be refrigerated is just the small box of syringes. After all I only need to inject myself three times a week. So a month’s supply is just 12 syringes. The delivery included a CSYNC comes with a big thick glossy book, but like every device manual - be it an air fryer, a strimmer, a car, or a CSYNC auto-injector system - this is because it is presented in every conceivable language on earth. And there is only actual four pages that relate to the instructions in each language: and unclear instructions at that.
I had a read of the manual before the nurse arrived intending to be primed and ready to go; but the manual was confusing and I was soon of the opinion it was likely a lot easier than the steps presented in text form and that I’d be thankful for a nurse visit. It was pretty damn straighforward. The nurse also pointed out there was a fold away illustration inside the booklet which was much clearer than the text - though the inside of the booklet were not effectively pointed within the document. They’d have been better off just producing a glossy of the pictures presented in the inlay. A picture paints a thousand words and all that.
The nurse took out her own injection kit - filled with saline - along with a little padded device about the size of a bar of soap, to represent a belly or leg muscle and duly went through the entire process, before watching me do it for real.
It really was quite straightforward. I think. I dare say it’ll take me longer than it should the first few times doing it on my own, but I’ll get there.
The actual needle going in (set to ‘8’ - which I think equates to 8mm) didn’t hurt much. You notice it a little, but it is not of undue concern. I could feel it a bit later and there was a very slight reddening, but less than my arms were after the sunshine camping last week. And it wasn’t long before I couldn’t feel anything had happened there and the reddening had gone.
I chose to inject into my belly (a big enough target and easy to reach) on the left hand side. You are told to rotate the positions, so I’ll be right hand side next time. After that I may try a leg to see how that works for me (set to 4 or 6 instead of 8). I think you can stick to legs or belly as long as you don’t keep putting the needle in roughly the same place. Being only three times a week it’s less of an issue than it could be for a drug needed to be injected more frequently.
In summary: it wasn’t painful. It’s a little fiddly inserting the syringe into the auto-injector and then emptying and disposing the needle into the Yellow Sharps Bin. I’m sure it will quickly become second nature. It’s only a few hours after and I’ve not felt any issues to far, hopefully that will continue to be the case.
It was good news on the delivery front as the nurse said that they could deliver to a pharmacy for pick up from there. They’d asked about a neighbour on the phone when I last spoke to them, but a pharmacy is much more straightforward (as long as I don’t tell them to come on a Sunday and mess that up).
Anyway, so far so good. Onwards And Upwards.
Copaxone Incoming!
11/06/21 09:23
Eek! The day is in the diary. The paperwork has been completed and the delivery of my first batch of Copaxone is scheduled for this next Monday. So I’ve got to clear a space in my fridge for the syringes.
As well as clearing a space in the fridge, I’ll have to tidy up. Because on Tuesday a nurse will come around for an hour or so to go through the process of injecting myself for the foreseeable future. Like I say... eek! In fact double eek!
But it will be good to get on it. And I’m sure it will become second nature to me before long. It will also be good to be tidier - even if it is for just a couple of days.
Onwards and Upwards.
PS apologies for the dubious use of exclamation marks in this tiny piece.
As well as clearing a space in the fridge, I’ll have to tidy up. Because on Tuesday a nurse will come around for an hour or so to go through the process of injecting myself for the foreseeable future. Like I say... eek! In fact double eek!
But it will be good to get on it. And I’m sure it will become second nature to me before long. It will also be good to be tidier - even if it is for just a couple of days.
Onwards and Upwards.
PS apologies for the dubious use of exclamation marks in this tiny piece.