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Home > Archive > Multiple sclerosis support > April 2005 > Strange but true...side effect of Copaxone, and my life as of late.....(long)
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Strange but true...side effect of Copaxone, and my life as of late.....(long)
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| Hi all,
Just wanted to tell ya about a side effect that I found out about
Copaxone. I started taking it in February, after having a major exac.
in January. After about 2 weeks on it, I noticed that my breasts were
getting larger! I thought I was crazy, but my mom noticed it too and
commented on it. The only thing that I had changed in my life was
taking the Copaxone, so it was the only thing I could thinnk of that
would be causing my breasts to get bigger. After much deliberation, I
decided to find out if my theory was correct and I called Shared
Solutions. The nurse I talked to had not ever had anyone call in about
that problem so she wasn't positive if it was a side effect or not. She
did some digging in the information available to her and found out that
it is, indeed, a rare side effect. Some women would find it helpful,
but I, already being a 44DD, do not. I ran out of the medication and
could not afford to pay my insurance's co-payment for it(my boss at my
old job payed the first co-pay of $256), so I havent taken any more
shots. I will have to wait until my application for assistance is
approved, but I have yet to fill it out since I am not sure I want to
take the shots any more due to that strange side effect. Also, I had a
couple of the post-injection attacks and didn't enjoy my time on
Copaxone at all.
BTW, it's good to be back on the site, and hi to all my ASMS family.
Sorry I havent been posting lately, but a lot of things tied up my
time. I got a job back in July, after being off work since my dx.
Everything went well for the first couple months, then I started
getting sick and having my terrible headaches again from the Chiari.
After the headaches started on a more frequent basis (the headache
hasnt gone away since May of 2001, but I get major flare ups of
excruciating pain every so often), I started having exac after exac.
They were pretty minor until December, then BAM! I felt like I had been
run over by a freight train. My entire left side went numb to the point
that I thought I was going to be paralysed again. Thankfully I didnt
lose my ability to move completely (due to an early couple doses of
Solumedrol) and I saw my neuro in early January. He prescribed a 5 day
round of Solumedrol for me, and it helped a lot. I still have residual
parasthesia and minor numbness in my left hand and foot, and sometimes
it is worse than other times, but I escaped without much damage,
physically. I did end up having quite a bit of optical nerve damage due
to a case of optic neuritis from the attack. The eye doc says my vision
will never be the same and that it is only going to get worse. My left
eye is frequently blurry and out of focus, and i have terrible pain in
my eye sometimes. My right eye is starting to do the blurry bit too,
but only since I have had another minor flare. I lost my job at the end
of February due to missing so much work. I dont blame them for firing
me, I had missed over 400 hours of work in 5 months time. They were
very nice about it and when they fired me it was for my own good so I
could take some time off and get paid unemployment for my time off,
since I could not take a paid medical leave because I hadn't been there
a full year yet. Unfortulatey, the unemployment office said I had no
claim since I had only worked there 7 months. So I am back to filing
disability, which is another story altogether. I can go back to my job
once my condition stabilizes. That means more brain surgery to get the
headaches under control, and that scares me. Also, I have NO money or
means to have any brain surgery. So I am pretty much screwed for right
now. Oh well, life goes on.
Now, about my disability claim....it seems my lawyer filed my original
appeal under the wrong social security number, and that is why I have
been waiting for over a year and a half to hear something about it. I
didnt find this out until the beginning of March, when I went in to
re-file. I now have my congressman working on my case, trying to help
me get my disability. Cross your fingers for me. Ok, i have rambled
enuff.
Love to all,
Angel
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| Hi Angel-
I have been on Copaxone almost 3 weeks. It just figures some one who
doesn't need larger breast would get them. I sure wish you could pick the
side effects you get. I would take weight lose and breast enlargements 
Just teasing.
I am sorry to hear that things been really hard on you. I will keep you in
my thoughts, I hope things look up soon!
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| Angel 2005-04-27, 10:52 pm |
| Hi JS,
How is your therapy going so far? I would gladly share my rare side
effect with you, lol. I would like to have the weigh loss, too, hehe.
Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts. It is appreciated.
Much love,
Angel
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| Rob Duncan 2005-04-27, 10:52 pm |
| You were injecting the wrong spot. ;^)
Rob
"Angel" <angel_eyes4477@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1114596081.206509.280840@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Hi all,
> Just wanted to tell ya about a side effect that I found out about
> Copaxone. I started taking it in February, after having a major exac.
> in January. After about 2 weeks on it, I noticed that my breasts were
> getting larger! I thought I was crazy, but my mom noticed it too and
> commented on it. The only thing that I had changed in my life was
> taking the Copaxone, so it was the only thing I could thinnk of that
> would be causing my breasts to get bigger. After much deliberation, I
> decided to find out if my theory was correct and I called Shared
> Solutions. The nurse I talked to had not ever had anyone call in about
> that problem so she wasn't positive if it was a side effect or not. She
> did some digging in the information available to her and found out that
> it is, indeed, a rare side effect. Some women would find it helpful,
> but I, already being a 44DD, do not. I ran out of the medication and
> could not afford to pay my insurance's co-payment for it(my boss at my
> old job payed the first co-pay of $256), so I havent taken any more
> shots. I will have to wait until my application for assistance is
> approved, but I have yet to fill it out since I am not sure I want to
> take the shots any more due to that strange side effect. Also, I had a
> couple of the post-injection attacks and didn't enjoy my time on
> Copaxone at all.
> BTW, it's good to be back on the site, and hi to all my ASMS family.
> Sorry I havent been posting lately, but a lot of things tied up my
> time. I got a job back in July, after being off work since my dx.
> Everything went well for the first couple months, then I started
> getting sick and having my terrible headaches again from the Chiari.
> After the headaches started on a more frequent basis (the headache
> hasnt gone away since May of 2001, but I get major flare ups of
> excruciating pain every so often), I started having exac after exac.
> They were pretty minor until December, then BAM! I felt like I had been
> run over by a freight train. My entire left side went numb to the point
> that I thought I was going to be paralysed again. Thankfully I didnt
> lose my ability to move completely (due to an early couple doses of
> Solumedrol) and I saw my neuro in early January. He prescribed a 5 day
> round of Solumedrol for me, and it helped a lot. I still have residual
> parasthesia and minor numbness in my left hand and foot, and sometimes
> it is worse than other times, but I escaped without much damage,
> physically. I did end up having quite a bit of optical nerve damage due
> to a case of optic neuritis from the attack. The eye doc says my vision
> will never be the same and that it is only going to get worse. My left
> eye is frequently blurry and out of focus, and i have terrible pain in
> my eye sometimes. My right eye is starting to do the blurry bit too,
> but only since I have had another minor flare. I lost my job at the end
> of February due to missing so much work. I dont blame them for firing
> me, I had missed over 400 hours of work in 5 months time. They were
> very nice about it and when they fired me it was for my own good so I
> could take some time off and get paid unemployment for my time off,
> since I could not take a paid medical leave because I hadn't been there
> a full year yet. Unfortulatey, the unemployment office said I had no
> claim since I had only worked there 7 months. So I am back to filing
> disability, which is another story altogether. I can go back to my job
> once my condition stabilizes. That means more brain surgery to get the
> headaches under control, and that scares me. Also, I have NO money or
> means to have any brain surgery. So I am pretty much screwed for right
> now. Oh well, life goes on.
> Now, about my disability claim....it seems my lawyer filed my original
> appeal under the wrong social security number, and that is why I have
> been waiting for over a year and a half to hear something about it. I
> didnt find this out until the beginning of March, when I went in to
> re-file. I now have my congressman working on my case, trying to help
> me get my disability. Cross your fingers for me. Ok, i have rambled
> enuff.
> Love to all,
> Angel
>
| |
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| Hardy Har har, Rob........ I have missed ya, my fellow JRT lover. Nope,
wasnt injectgin the wrong spot. OUCH just thinkin bout that hurts
lol.......
Angel
| |
| Rob Duncan 2005-04-29, 8:56 am |
|
"Angel" <angel_eyes4477@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1114724660.352513.315390@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Hardy Har har, Rob........ I have missed ya, my fellow JRT lover. Nope,
> wasnt injectgin the wrong spot. OUCH just thinkin bout that hurts
> lol.......
> Angel
Heh! Hows the new puppy?
Rob
| |
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| Oh hun,
That new puppy ended up dying a couple months after it was born. But we
ended up coming to the rescue of another JRT in a neighboring county
who's owners planned to shoot it, and someone who knew us and knew
baout Bits getting killed called us and had us go pick the dog up. His
name is Jack, and he is such a sweetie. A very timid dog at first,
because he was so mistreated. He was scared of men, and would not go
around them for a while. But soon he figured out that my dad and
brother were not going to harm him, and he has come out of his shell.
He plays and wags his little nub. He is so funny, when he runs his back
legs look like they go out in front of him. He is adorable, and has
been the proud father of 3 litters of pups. We kept one of his pups,
and they wrestle and carry on all the time. The pup, Scruffy, is
probably about 90% JRT and 10% peek a poo lol. He has the disposition
of a JRT, and is hilarious. When they wrestle, he always backs down to
his daddy and will place his muzzle in Jacks mouth. Its interesting to
watch. The only thing Scruffy dont back down about is his toys. If Jack
gets one of Scruffy's toys to play with, Scruffy gets ferocious and
takes it back. All in all, though, they are a joy to be around and give
unconditional love. Jack is still a timid dog in a lot of ways, and is
VERY frightened of storms. At the first hint of thunder or rain, he
hides under the desk or under the bed and shakes. I couldnt be happier
with the dogs that we have, they bring so much joy into our lives.
Angel
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| Rob Duncan 2005-04-29, 5:51 pm |
|
"Angel" <angel_eyes4477@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1114810520.886317.311860@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> Oh hun,
> That new puppy ended up dying a couple months after it was born. But we
> ended up coming to the rescue of another JRT in a neighboring county
> who's owners planned to shoot it, and someone who knew us and knew
> baout Bits getting killed called us and had us go pick the dog up. His
> name is Jack, and he is such a sweetie. A very timid dog at first,
> because he was so mistreated. He was scared of men, and would not go
> around them for a while. But soon he figured out that my dad and
> brother were not going to harm him, and he has come out of his shell.
> He plays and wags his little nub. He is so funny, when he runs his back
> legs look like they go out in front of him. He is adorable, and has
> been the proud father of 3 litters of pups. We kept one of his pups,
> and they wrestle and carry on all the time. The pup, Scruffy, is
> probably about 90% JRT and 10% peek a poo lol. He has the disposition
> of a JRT, and is hilarious. When they wrestle, he always backs down to
> his daddy and will place his muzzle in Jacks mouth. Its interesting to
> watch. The only thing Scruffy dont back down about is his toys. If Jack
> gets one of Scruffy's toys to play with, Scruffy gets ferocious and
> takes it back. All in all, though, they are a joy to be around and give
> unconditional love. Jack is still a timid dog in a lot of ways, and is
> VERY frightened of storms. At the first hint of thunder or rain, he
> hides under the desk or under the bed and shakes. I couldnt be happier
> with the dogs that we have, they bring so much joy into our lives.
> Angel
I cant understand people who abuse dogs. They have feelings and emotions
every bit as strong as our own. Theyre just not too bright at times. LOL.
Pokeys still going strong. Dainty little girl.
Its a good thing youve done, rescuing Jack. JRT's are wonderful dogs. I
trained Pokey to bark at 11:00 every night to remind me the news was on.
Dumbest thing Ive ever done. LOL
When "BEEF" was still alive he would stand about 4 or 5 feet away from the
deck and Pokey would get a fast run going through our kitchen, over the
deck, launch herself, and bounce right off his back into the air. Funniest
damn thing youve ever seen. Thought it up all by themselves. Dogs amaze
me.
We trained her, for her baths, to walk into the shower with us and either
Stef or I would shower then give her a good dog washing. Loved it of
course. Especially the dog-spaz-attack after youre done rubbing them down
with the towel. But she always slowly walked in their, head down, tail
between her legs, as if shed been caught doing the worst thing imaginable.
Silly girl. Then the dog-spaz-out afterwards. JRT's are genetically crazy.
heh.
Rob
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