Taking Copaxone to Treat My MS

When I finally received the official diagnosis in October 2005, I had already experienced years of symptoms (since 1993 at least), a documented clinically isolated syndrome (blinding case of optic neuritis in 2000), and relapses which were significantly impacting my ability to function.  There was no question in my mind that I would do what I needed to do to fight this beast.

The question then became WHICH treatment to choose.  I did not want to use any of the beta interferon drugs due to one significant side-effect which is depression.  I already had a history of depression which goes back decades and didn’t want to have to fight that battle in addition to MS.  So Copaxone was my ONLY choice.  [Note: Tysabri was not yet back on the market.]

Copaxone is a daily medication, self-injected just under the skin into the fat tissue, but never the muscle (ouch).  Injection site reactions are the most common side-effect.  There is also the Immediate Post-Injection Reaction which about 10% of patients experience.  I’ve heard this described as feeling “like having a heart attack.”  Fortunately, I’ve not experienced this particular side-effect.

"Copaxone (glatiramer acetate) is a random chain (polymer) of amino acids - Glutamic acid, Lysine, Alanine and Tyrosine (hence GLATiramer). It is synthesized in solution from these amino acids a ratio of approximately 5 parts Alanine to 3 of Lysine, 1.5 of Glutamic acid and 1 of Tyrosine using N-carboxyamino acid anhydrides. It was originally designed to mimic a protein in myelin, called myelin basic protein, with the intention of inducing EAE (an animal model of MS).  Quite to the contrary, it was found to suppress the disease and as a result came to be trialed in human MS. For this reason, it was originally believed to act as a decoy by drawing the immune system's attack away from the myelin.  Nowadays, researchers are no longer at all sure how Copaxone works. The is some evidence that it converts the body's immune response from a Th1 type to a Th2 one, promotes suppressor T cells or acts as an altered peptide ligand." 

[Quote taken from Multiple Sclerosis Encyclopedia.]

You can find a collection of research articles and news releases related to Copaxone on the Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre's website.  I like that Copaxone is actually just a combination of amino acids, three of which the body produces naturally.  Also, it does not suppress the immune system, like the beta interferons do, but retrains the immune system.

Giving myself an injection every morning is not exactly my idea of fun, but it certainly becomes routine.  The daily injection is my way of keeping this beast somewhat caged.  In fact, I didn’t experience a remarkable relapse until two years after beginning therapy.  The medication is doing it’s job.  (For injection tips, see Subcutaneous Injections, 7 Tips for Reduced Pain and Skin Irritation.)