Copaxone changes

Thanks to a comment from HoneysuckleB on a recent post, I rang my MS nursing team at big-city hospital to find out if I could switch from the daily Copaxone injections to the three-times-a-week version.

The reasoning behind this is a fairly straightforward one: rather pathetically, I’m dependent on my Outlook calendar at work to remind me to inject.

It actually has a dual purpose. I currently leave work at 3pm, so I set the reminder for then just so I know it’s time to go home. I’ll then ‘snooze’ this reminder for an hour or two after I’ve left the office. When it pings up at the start of the next day, I’ll pop the injection while I’m waiting for the day to start and the kettle to boil.

It’s a seemingly faultless system. It falls down, of course, on the days I’m not at work.

I don’t know how crap my memory is. I like to think I’m still OK but surely it says something when you can take an injection every day at the same time for five days of the week and then completely forget about it for the other two.

And let’s not forget that when I cook at home, make a cup of tea or want to put some marge on my toast in the morning, I have to move that box of Copaxone to one side to reach various items in the fridge.

It couldn’t be more in-my-face, but I still forget to take it.

Anyway, the MS nurses said yes, no problem, and they’re altering my prescription accordingly.

If I were to faultlessly take my medication, the daily shots should deliver 140mg of medication into my system. The three-times-a-week shots will deliver 120mg (with no loss of effectiveness).

I knew the new dosage has been available in the States for a while, but hadn’t realised it had come over here until HoneysuckleB’s comment, so thank you HoneysuckleB!