Glatiramer acetate Treatment Report : PatientsLikeMe

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What is Glatiramer acetate?

Glatiramer acetate combines four amino acids including L-alanine, L-glutamic acid, L-lysine and L-tyrosine. It is used for Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) to reduce the frequency and severity of relapses. It is administered as a subcutaneous injection.

Reported Purpose & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Purpose	# of patients	# of patients with evaluations Efficacy
MS (Multiple Sclerosis)	4001	1294
Other	115	24
General health	57	25
Stiffness/Spasticity	29	3
Fatigue	25	10
Don't know	19	5

See all 66 reasons taken ▼

See all 3366 patients currently taking Glatiramer acetate

Mouse over the table for more information

Reported Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe	153
Moderate	219
Mild	641
None	338

Commonly reported side effects, conditions, and hospitalizations associated with Glatiramer acetate

See all 279 reported side effects ▼ See top 6 reported side effects ▲
Injection site reaction	326	326
Lumps and bumps	286	286
Injection site itching	256	256
Injection site pain	242	242
Redness	240	240
Bruising	160	160
Itching (pruritus)	70	70
Injection site bruising	33	33
Injection site redness	29	29
Immediate Post Injection Reaction (IPIR)	24	24
Burning sensation	22	22
Pain	20	20
Injection site lumps and bumps	20	20
Injection site swelling	18	18
Rashes (redness, swelling)	16	16
Lipodystrophy (lipoatrophy or loss of fatty tissue)	16	16
Shortness of breath (dyspnea)	16	16
Nausea	14	14
Bee sting sensation	12	12
Injection site burning	12	12
Hives (urticaria)	12	12
Injection site welt	11	11
Injection site indentations	11	11
Injection site lumps	9	9
Flushed	7	7
Hospitalization	7	7
Anxious mood	6	6
Rash or skin problems	6	6
Bruiselike feeling under skin	6	6
Flu like symptoms	6	6
Fatigue	6	6
Injection site knots	6	6
Burning sensation in skin	6	6
Chest pain with flushing/nausea	5	5
Breathing difficulty	5	5
Injection site irritation	5	5
Injection site soreness	5	5
Large itchy welts	5	5
Dizziness	5	5
Muscle and joint pain	5	5
Application site itching	4	4
Weight gain	4	4
Headaches	4	4
Allergic reaction	4	4
Migraine headaches	4	4
Hair loss (alopecia)	4	4
Itching under skin	4	4
Joint pain	4	4
Depressed mood	4	4
Itchy lumps at injection site	4	4
Heart palpitations	4	4
Chills	4	4
Occasional injection site bruising	3	3
Neck pain	3	3
Generalized itching	3	3
Muscle spasms	3	3
Painful lumps in arms and legs	3	3
Injection site unavailable due to reaction	3	3
Dizziness and feeling faint	3	3
Chills/fever	3	3
Chest tightness	3	3
Injection site red itchy lump	3	3
Racing heart feeling	3	3
Fever	3	3
Injection site red itchy bumps	3	3
Injection site stinging	3	3
Injection site bleeding	3	3
Bowel problems	2	2
Blush	2	2
Injection site burning pain	2	2
Big probems to breathe after one of my injections	2	2
Dry eyes	2	2
Injection site tenderness	2	2
Injection site muscle atrophy	2	2
Nausea and vomiting	2	2
MS hug (tight chest or torso)	2	2
Skin necrosis	2	2
Anaphylaxis	2	2
Panic attacks	2	2
Increased fatigue	2	2
Metallic taste in mouth	2	2
Red, angry, large welts that last for weeks	2	2
Chest pain	2	2
Overheated	2	2
Headaches with eye discomfort	2	2
Injection site hard areas	2	2
Joint stiffness	2	2
Stinging sensation	2	2
Back pain	2	2
Bruise easily	2	2
Bruising of legs	2	2
Skin reaction	2	2
Tachycardia (fast heart rate)	2	2
Stiffness/Spasticity	2	2
Itchy arms	2	2
Cold chills	2	2
Lymphadenopathy	2	2
Itchy ears	1	1
Relapse MS (exacerbation)	1	1
Spasms in injection site	1	1
Diarrhea chronic	1	1
Skin pain	1	1
Cramps in stomach	1	1
Respiratory infections	1	1
Agitation with irritability	1	1
Infectious Cellulitis	1	1
Sinus infection chronic	1	1
Depression with anxiety	1	1
Inability to sleep	1	1
loss of medicine out of the injection hole	1	1
difficulty injecting needle (thigh)	1	1
Spasticity	1	1
suffocation	1	1
sore abdomen from shots	1	1
Whole body shaking	1	1
Pain in arms	1	1
Increased or worsened depression	1	1
Vertigo	1	1
Bone Pain	1	1
Skin atrophy	1	1
Swollen lips	1	1
Itchy hands	1	1
Possible cause of hives	1	1
total body fatigue in waves with anxiety and flushed feeling	1	1
Exhausted day after	1	1
Itchy feet	1	1
left side of neck & head, pain and stiffness	1	1
Joint pain at left and right wrist joints	1	1
Nerve pain in left leg after injection in buttocks	1	1
Bad mood	1	1
Hot and cold flashes	1	1
not being able to remember what I am doing	1	1
Pain throughout body	1	1
Very seldom get welts	1	1
Stinging pain	1	1
Skin cancer	1	1
New lesions	1	1
Occasional panic attacks (breathing)	1	1
grotesque fat deposits	1	1
Period every two weeks	1	1
Skin breakdown	1	1
small sores at injection site - needle tracks	1	1
counteracts effectiveness of anti-depression medicine	1	1
Sporadic itchy face and neck	1	1
Hirsutism (excessive hair growth)	1	1
Painful glands in groin	1	1
I detailed the single reaction in the previous section	1	1
Difficulty walking	1	1
Inability to make decisions	1	1
Edema (fluid retention)	1	1
severe menstual bleeding/spleen failure	1	1
Injection site discoloration	1	1
Black and blue bruising	1	1
Difficulty finding injection sites with time. loss of effectiveness with time.	1	1
Lump in my groin area	1	1
Injection site heated	1	1
Spasms in chest	1	1
Injection site bruising on arms	1	1
Feeling strange	1	1
Kidney Pain	1	1
Skin discoloration	1	1
Bladder control issues	1	1
needle fatigue	1	1
Injection site warmth	1	1
could not lift arms above head	1	1
Enlarged lymph node in groin	1	1
Occasional injection site welt	1	1
Discomfort at rash site	1	1
Fat padding decreased	1	1
Injection site hives	1	1
Painful bruising	1	1
Skin ulcers	1	1
Left thigh infection	1	1
adverse event according to PI	1	1
injection site feverish for a week	1	1
Pancreatitis	1	1
Psoriasis	1	1
Essential Tremor	1	1
Chronic Idiopathic Hives	1	1
Brain Stem Lesion	1	1
Systemic Candidiasis	1	1
Dental Cavities	1	1
no visible efficacy as seen on MRI	1	1
Atrophy of muscles	1	1
Generalized weakness (asthenia)	1	1
Joints ache (whole body)	1	1
Weakness in legs	1	1
Bowel urgency	1	1
Asthma	1	1
Bladder problems	1	1
Excessive daytime sleepiness (somnolence)	1	1
Numbness and Tingling with Pins and Needles	1	1
Weight loss	1	1
Diarrhea	1	1
Nighttime leg spasms	1	1
Oral herpes	1	1
Shins get red when they swell	1	1
Sweating	1	1
Difficulty sleeping through night	1	1
Muscle twitching (fasciculations)	1	1
Pain in back of head	1	1
Sore throat (Pharyngitis)	1	1
Swallowing difficulty (dysphagia)	1	1
Elevated blood pressure	1	1
Numbness in left side of face	1	1
Stomach pain	1	1
Cold sores (fever blisters)	1	1
Weakness in right leg	1	1
Anxiety and frustration	1	1
Thrush	1	1
Elevated liver enzymes	1	1
Weakness in left hand	1	1
Muscle weakness	1	1
Burning sensation in legs	1	1
Stiffness in lower back	1	1
Muscle pain	1	1
Inability to concentrate	1	1
Itchy legs and back	1	1
Pain in hips	1	1
Copaxone Flush	1	1
Pain in shoulders	1	1
Muscle fatigue	1	1
Pain in lower back	1	1
Dry skin	1	1
Pinched/compressed ulnar nerve	1	1
Angina pain	1	1
Abdominal pain	1	1
Muscle cramps	1	1
Lightheadedness	1	1
Vomiting	1	1
Muscle soreness	1	1
Tiredness	1	1
Facial swelling	1	1
Frustration	1	1
Irritability	1	1
Loss of energy	1	1
Snoring	1	1
Facial flushing	1	1
Muscle stiffness	1	1
Exhaustion	1	1
Difficulty with orgasm	1	1
hot or cold "wet" patches on skin	1	1
Sleepiness	1	1
Heart rate increased	1	1
Skin irritation	1	1
Drowsiness	1	1
Throat tightening	1	1
Injection site scar	1	1
Itchy rash	1	1
Loss of sex drive (libido)	1	1
Nausea sometimes	1	1
Feel lousy	1	1
Bleed easily	1	1
Sickness	1	1
Mobility decreased	1	1
Abdominal cramps	1	1
Discomfort	1	1
Stiffness in neck	1	1
Since i start injection site reation and inregular, blood presure, inregular heart beat , fever 104 after 18 months using copaxone	1	1
Personality change	1	1
Dizziness (vertigo)	1	1
Allergies	1	1
Loss of appetite	1	1
Itchy scalp	1	1
Edema in lower extremities	1	1
Chronic headaches	1	1
Menorrhagia (heavy menstrual flow)	1	1
Swelling in feet	1	1
rigors	1	1
problems breathing (asthma issues at some level)	1	1
Seizures (absence or petit mal)	1	1
red marks on skin	1	1
Irregular menstrual periods	1	1
Swelling	1	1
Weakness in left leg	1	1
caused MS attacks	1	1
Bruise	1	1
Bowel (fecal) incontinence	1	1
Swelling of lymph nodes (glands)	1	1

Reported Dosages

Frequently reported dosages based on patients currently taking Glatiramer acetate. See all 45 dosages ►

daily	1 mg daily	1 mL daily	20 mg weekly	20 mg every other day	10 mg daily	20 mg daily	30 mg daily	40 mg daily	200 mg daily
213	40	9	8	137	13	2847	6	13	8

Reported Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Glatiramer acetate (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason	# Patients	Percentage of patients
Did not seem to work	637
Side effects too severe	538
Doctor's advice	447
Other	332
Expense	128
Personal research	99
Change in health plan coverage	51
Course of treatment ended	25
Not indicated	25

See all 1569 patients who’ve stopped taking Glatiramer acetate

Reported Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼ Reported Duration Hide details ▲

Currently Taking Glatiramer acetate

A bar graph

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
6	21	35	94	167	720

Stopped Taking Glatiramer acetate

A bar graph

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
87	130	187	304	287	534

Reported Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Adherence of Glatiramer acetate

Always	1021	76%
Usually	270	20%
Sometimes	36	3%
Never	24	2%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Burden of Glatiramer acetate

Very	128	9%
Somewhat	295	22%
A little	495	37%
Not at all	433	32%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

Cost of Glatiramer acetate

$200+	109	11%
$100-199	67	7%
$50-99	106	10%
$25-49	240	23%
< $25	489	48%

See more information, including instructions, precautions, side effects, and interactions.

Patient Evaluations

See all 1351 patient evaluations

BrainStain4

Sex: F

Relapse: Moderate

Sensation: Mild

Overall: Mild

Cognition: moderate

Vision: mild

Speech: none

Swallowing: none

Upper limb: moderate

Walking: moderate
BrainStain4

20 mg daily

since Aug 18, 2008
Efficacy ?Can't tell for MS (Multiple Sclerosis)
Side Effects Mild
Advice/Tips Doing the injections manually (rather than using the autoject) results in less site reactions. Read the included information, and make sure you are aware of... See full evaluation

JesswithMS

Sex: F

Sensation: Moderate

Overall: Mild

Cognition: mild

Vision: mild

Speech: mild

Swallowing: mild

Upper limb: mild

Walking: mild
JesswithMS

20 mg daily

since Feb 10, 2005
Efficacy Moderate for MS (Multiple Sclerosis)
Side Effects Mild
Advice/Tips Ice down your injection site to help with the redness. I also found that self injecting prevented the welts I would get from the autoinjector. See full evaluation

msladyinca

Sex: F

Sensation: Moderate

Overall: Mild

Cognition: none

Vision: none

Speech: none

Swallowing: none

Upper limb: moderate

Walking: severe
msladyinca

since Jan 01, 2005
Efficacy None for MS (Multiple Sclerosis)
Side Effects Severe
Advice/Tips Take the medication out of the refrigerator a couple of hours before you inject it. Ice the injection site approximately 5 minutes before you inject (place ... See full evaluation

See all 1351 patient evaluations

Report created on February 12, 2012.

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