having my very first Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection next week cant come quick enough

[edwolf88]

having my very first Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection next week cant come quick enoug

[courier51]

What is that for? I am very curious!

[edwolf88 in reply to courier51]

18 months ago i had a hip replacement where artritus came upon me suddenly after having a accident to my hip 2 years before that.

still having serious pain after the THR but this time it was more in the lower and still down the leg. a new scan showed (or what i can make out is) the arthritus has spread into lower back and there are displaced discs are up against the siatica causing shooting pains down leg. the consultant did say that in his opinion the injection may not work and the proberbility is i would need a operation.

i am practacly house bound at moment and hoping this injection will help

[Swindoniangirl]

Let me know how it goes - I am waiting for my appointment to come through and not too sure about it!

[edwolf88]

fri 14th this week i will let you know

[chelsea67]

I had an epidural injection last June in my spine, and after 13 years of severe pain, i was pain-free. It was lovely to be able to do things that i was unable to do for so long. But Unfortunately it only lasted for 6 weeks and then the pain came back with vengence. I am now due to have another injection next month. I am hoping that this one will last longer.

I hope everything goes ok for you edwolf88 x

[edwolf88 in reply to chelsea67]

thanks chelsea67 i just hope everything goes OK for you next month as well. GOOD LUCK

[chelsea67 in reply to edwolf88]

Thank you edwolf88, i hope everything goes ok for you too

[Bluechip in reply to chelsea67]

Chelsea why do you have to wait so long for another?

[chelsea67 in reply to Bluechip]

It was the earliest appointment i could get Bluechip. I had to make an appointment to see the consultant to agree to another injection that was at the beginning of November last year. Then i had to wait for the appointment to come through. I even rang them up the beginning of January and was told to ring back the beginning of February apparently the waiting list is so long

[earthwitch]

I'm going to play devils advocate here, because I think that often folk aren't told enough about the long term effects of repeated steroid injections, and particularly the spinal steroid injections.

Spinal steroid injections can give a lot of relief, but they are steroids, and therefore the risk of adverse effects is high, and gets higher the more you have of them. I am in the position where I have had one spinal steroid injection and been offered further ones, but got a bit concerned about how many I would need if I had to keep having them the rest of my life. The research I have done suggests that epidural spinal steroid injections increase risk of spinal fracture by 19% EVERY INJECTION YOU HAVE! That is huge risk. Given that I have a family history of osteoporosis, and have seen how easy it was for my mother to have some very serious fractures (including her neck) because of osteoporosis, it has really made me think. I also found out that it is only recommended to have steroid injections at most four times in the same place - because of the risks including osteonecrosis (bone near the injection site dying) and things like syrinx formation (which can cause pressure on your spinal cord). Then there are the general risks that go with any form of steroids (osteoporosis, affecting adrenal gland function, etc), and that build up the more you have over your life time. I may sound a bit scaremongering, but remember that I am someone who has got great benefit from steroid injections, and I would love to be able to have them in an ongoing way, if I didn't think they were so potentially dangerous. That has made me think I really need to discuss other options, like surgery, or even laser treatment of the nerves, with my doctor. I am however prepared for a doctor to tell me that actually, in my case, surgery is even riskier, but I do want to have a really good discussion first, before I just blindly go down the steroid road.

Do your own research, and ask your doctor some very direct questions about the actual risk. It has definitely made me think that while steroid injections are absolute miracles (for me anyway), I need to be asking a lot more questions about alternatives - because at my age (50's) if I start down the road of having regular steroid injections it is going to very quickly get to the point where they are doing more harm than good.

[courier51]

I recently had a cortisone injection in my hip- extremely painful procedure! After a few days of excruciating pain from the injection, I was virtually pain free. Fantastic, though I did still experience difficulty standing up, because that was still painful- straightening up. Went back to surgeon after six weeks. He said the fact that the pain had gone proved to him that I do need a hip replacement, the injection is used as a diagnostic aid... I am on the waiting list now.

As he predicted, the pain returned the seventh week after the injection.

Anyone else had this experience?

[edwolf88]

just home from my first Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection its now 1.00pm 4hrs after my injection onlly took a cpl of mins with 20 min rest straight after. the injection did not hurt but there was some discomfort.

after leaving hospital pain had eased but not completly but enough to walk partly around asdas with crutches, its the most walking i have done for a while, although i felt that i could have managed without the crutches for the first time in years, i still used them feelling a little apprehensive and unsure.

at home now not completely pain free but feeling much better and happier, i do realise its very early days yet but we can all live in hope. would like to know is this how it normaly works. i will keep you updated

[Harrison27 in reply to edwolf88]

Hello Edwolf. Just wondered how you are now,be week on?

[edwolf88]

im afraid i didnt work for me, GUTTED. lol