Buldging Discs

[Bunce]

Hi guys, I just found out why I have nerve pain in my legs, because I have three bludging discs. They have recommended me to try ampitryptline for 2 weeks but if that doesn't give relief to have a cortisone epidural? Has anyone had a cortisine epidural? Effective? Safe? Who does cortisone epidurals?

[Bananas5]

Morning Bunce

Who recommended you to have this procedure?

Spinal epidurals are fairly common but with any procedure to the spinal column there is always a risk.

They are usually carried out by the pain consultant doctor who in most cases is an anethetist. (spelling!) in the day surgery unit. Your BP is monitored after to ensure it doesn't crash. Cuppa and NHS sandwich and home you go.

Some last only a few weeks, others some months but like everything some don't have any effects.

Doctor will give local into area where epidural is to go.

if you have been offered one then take it.

Any questions you have you should be able to discuss with your pain Doctor

Pat x

[Hidden in reply to Bananas5]

Flipping heck Paton where did you have yours done? When I had mine there was no local, no BP monitoring and no flipping sandwich, not even a cuppa! My nerve block, by contrast, has them all apart from I get biscuits with my cuppa lol

[Bananas5 in reply to Hidden]

Smiles!

It's David not me but gets the same after care what ever procedure he is having. And last weekend.....wonderful pain consultant brought me a beautiful bouquet of Lilies too!! It was Carers week.

i don't think I have ever met anywhere a kinder more caring human being than Dr James.

My only wish would be that every CP sufferer could have someone like him looking after them.

Sorry JayneP - got carried away!

Pat x

[Hidden in reply to Bananas5]

lol Wow! My only perk is that my pain consultant is absolutely, drop dead, gorgeous ;0) x

[Bananas5 in reply to Hidden]

that has to be the best distraction ever! Take your mind away from the pain during consultations! I think you should ask to see him far more often. Smiles

x

[Hidden in reply to Bananas5]

Lol oh yes. Sadly I see him twice a year!

[Bananas5 in reply to Hidden]

Sobs

x

[Ginsing]

Hi the epidurals bring quite a lot of relief good luck ! I have them regularly

Ginsing

[Hidden]

Amitryptiline did nothing for me, nor did Gabapentin, both are handed out as some miracle worker for nerve pain.

I had the cortisone injections and they didn't work, don't know many they did work for to be honest...sorry!

[prim50 in reply to Hidden]

i am with you on all those jayne no relief with all infect after my last nerve block injection i had a further relapse of my pain. i am now relaying on paracetamol or co codamal when the pain is at its worse and just has everyone seems to be telling me learn to live with it adjust your life lol

[Hensonandbedges]

I too was offered them (privatley) or surgery. i opted for surgery as the success rate was far higher. My friend also had the jab, and it didn't work, whereas my Dad's friend had a few months relief from them. I think I took the view that they would only ever block the pain, not solve the problem.

It is very hit and miss, but then so can surgery - I'm currently 2 months into recovery for an op to remove part of the bulge at L5/S1 and I'm still in a lot of the pain I was before. None of the meds my gp gave me touched it either.

Physio is starting to help but it's a slow recovery - I don't know where ill be in a few months as it's very up and down.

I was never offered anything other than medication on the nhs and was told to just loose weight - luckily I had access to private healthcare, so didn't have to wait too long - my consultant said jabs have 25% success rate, surgery around 95%.....but I guess that changes whichever consultant you see.

It's got to be down to what you want to do, and good luck with whatever you decide - all I would say is push for physio either way, the jabs may bring some relief, but it will not fix the problem.

Good luck,

Simon

[Hidden in reply to Hensonandbedges]

Hi Simon,

I think the "jabs" as you call them, work in some areas better than others too. I have had occipital nerve block injections...believe me so much more than a jab, for almost three years now and in my neck and they worked fantastically until this last lot. They may not cure the problem, but in my case surgery in the area it is, is out of the question. Plus surgery at L5/S1 for me, only took away the numbness all below the waist, not the pain.

[deb25426]

I've had the epidural cortisone. It's worked for me, I'm waiting for my next one. In theatre withe the pain consultant, monitored and Yes, I had a cuppa and a sandwich after procedure..

[Sheryl4659 in reply to deb25426]

Hi deb where abouts do you live, my pain consultant said all epidurals have been put on hold indefinately, dont know if it is a costcutting thing, I come under the now famous Betws Cadwaladr trust in North Wales which is now under special measures

thanks Sheryl

[deb25426 in reply to Sheryl4659]

Walsall West Midlands. 3-4 months wait tho...😳

[Sheryl4659 in reply to deb25426]

Thanks for that Deb, at the moment 3-4 moths sounds good to me right now, have had about 4 of them done up to now and they lasted around 5-6 moths, got to wait now until 29th July to see if they are doing them again.

Take care of yourself and hope you are keeping as pain free as possible

Sheryl

[deb25426 in reply to Sheryl4659]

Thanks Sherry, I'm just coming off pregabalin as i didn't like the way it was making me feel.. So I'm expecting quite a bit of pain...you can have these injections every 6 months so was due march..the buggers said I couldn't have an appointment til June and I still gotta wait..but ah well, there's people a lot worse off than me. 😊

[flamenca1 in reply to deb25426]

Hi. I had my Epidural in August and it was brilliant, no sandwich though. I have been told to ring Consultant's secretary when I need another one. Probably a 2 month wait. I am in Norhtumberland. I cannot fault my NHS care.

June

[lowlife]

Ive had every injection offered for my low back pain and most only worked for two months. However they only relieved the back pain and no relief what so ever on the legs. You may be lucky and you wont know untill you try it. Good luck.

[Saskia26]

I have had this and it works !! Your pain consultant / surgeon does it. I went in hospital for the day, and you get put out, they use a x ray machine over you to get the right nerve and inject. It doesn't hurt and after a day it worked in me. It lasted for about 6 months, but knowing this and it was the correct nerve, I went back and they did the same preceedure but this time, they cut the nerve to stop pain forever. Yes it works and you don't feel any pain in the op or after and I went home about 13.00 GMT that day. But please ask questions always and know what's happening, it's your body. Good luck.

[Bunce in reply to Saskia26]

Who is your pain consultant? Anyone from Sydney

[Saskia26 in reply to Saskia26]

I am in London England, soz

[Baumeister]

I have a similar condition plus arthritis in my hips - same medication which I take at night and it has helped me get off to sleep which is a big bonus - I have opted for physio (not had it yet - NHS - miracles take a little longer) exercise and loosing weight (in my dreams but full of good intentions-as hard as I try to loose it - it keeps finding me) still stiff - in pain most of the day but find getting the sleep has made life more manageable - really interested to hear how injections help.

[katie72]

I currently take anitrityline and gabapentin and like a lot of other drugs they work well to begin with then you end up having to increase to get the therapeutic effect.

First injection worked well for me for about 2 months then the 2nd my bp crashed and ended up being admitted. The 2nd injection did mothing as well.

Try and persevere with pain meds. Don't over do it and rest and you may find that the bulging discs will shrink back in the next few months and your pain will get better. This has happened to my hubby and now only gets occasional pain in his back.

Hope all goes well xxx

[Bunce]

Does anyone know of a very qualified credible pain consultant preferably in Sydney or in Australia?

[Calceolaria in reply to Bunce]

My niece in law went to Sydney to work as a doctor in a hospital. She developed terrible back pain and became unfit for work. I saw her back in UK for a family event and she was on crutches. Next time I saw her She was totally fit! She had seen a doctor in Sydney, who has a practice dealing with injuries. She has been treated with lithotripsy, which is a process used for breaking up kidney stones but in this place, they are using it on the spine. It is a controversial treatment and I don't think it is accepted except the results are generally spectacular. I can try and find out more if you want. f you are in Oz, I'm guessing you will need insurance and this may not be covered.

[Hidden]

My husband has his, with local, with sedation (If he wanted it) Tea, sandwiches and empathy from his Dr. who is a consultant anesthetist and the most wonderful woman. He has had excellent results from his, he has had three which helped him for about 2-3 years the first time, and two years the second and third times. As for the Amitriptyline, two weeks is hardly enough time for your blood/drug serum levels to reach therapeutic levels, but they will help you to sleep,and are an excellent at augmenting your pain relief, the side effects do wear off after a couple of weeks so it's worth persevering with. In our locality you would get the drugs and the epidural. I hope you get some relief from your pain.

[Danslatete]

I had injections into t89&10, the first eased things quite nicely for a while but the next was 6 months later, that was extremely painful even with the sedation. I heard myself scream but I didn't realise it was me and afterwards I had no memory of the pain. Drugs are a wonderful thing.

I had surgery on my lumbar spine twice in a year. I had bulging disks removed l4/5 and l5/s1, a year to the day I had revision surgery. It was a long recovery and at that time I said I would never do it again. Now I'm working and managing my pain enough to work part time.

I do however still have difficulties. I recently got diagnosed with neurogenic bladder and at gp last week I had low tone in back passage diagnosed and am to go back in 6 weeks. Not sure what they're thinking about doing to fix that tho!

I had Physio for a long time on my cervical injuries and regained the power to my left arm so it is worth persevering with, even if you can't see improvement in the early days.

If you opt for surgery don't expect a quick recovery even if the pain is relieved. The nerves take time to settle.

[paulapips64]

Hi bunce sorry to hear of your pain and troubles and everyone else's who have replied I also have my lowest disc compleatley worn away and the next disc is bulging and resting on a nerve I thought it was my hip but had MRI and it came back with OA in it but he was more concerned with my spine do these bulging discs just go back on their own he didn't tell me much I'm in a lot of pain all the time I take pregabaline amitryptaline co coda mol codeine but it's not touching the pain I'm also waiting to have knee replaced thank you x

[share-a]

I have had a cortisone shot in my spine and it works great, but you have to have it done again at some point. I talked to one person getting hers done when I was in there, and she said this was her 7th. I was recently going to have my second because the itching had started and I didn't want to wait for full blown pain again. I had to wait six weeks for unrelated reasons. During that time I started the South Beach diet, and started doing yard work for two hours each morning. I lost 21 pounds, and any sign of the need for another shot are gone -- to my surprise. I didn't start the diet or exercise for my back, but it's great. Great incentive to keep it up the diet and exercise too.

[earthwitch]

As Paton says, there can be risks (damage to spinal cord), but also can be really good benefits. Ask if they do the epidural with ultrasound or xray guidance as that can make a big difference to them getting it in exactly the right place. Our local pain clinic doesn't actually do epidurals (very small hospital) but just does injections close to the spine, and that can be a bit hit or miss. Of three lots of injections I have had like that,one was brilliant and the other two weren't worth having done. I think epidurals are more likely to be effective though.

[Bunce in reply to earthwitch]

Which is better ultrasound or X-ray in getting accuracy?

[Calceolaria in reply to Bunce]

MRI is te most accurate for diagnostics. For injection procedure, it's different, you lie on a fluoroscope and the image is projected onto a screen so the doc can see where he's going.

[Paul1874]

I have had 2 cortisone epi's and had brief relief from both, at most 5 weeks. In other people one shot can take away their pain. It's worth trying. Pain management will do the procedure. Good luck.

[Hidden]

Hi everyone! I'm new to this community so be gentle!! Just wanted to let off a bit of steam really. I'm very frustrated with all my Drs at the moment. I have had RA for 17 years and it is dormant at the mo. I have residual joint,and a lower lumbar disc bulge. Yesterday I was violently sick because of suffering from gallstones and my disc bulge went ! Now I can hardly move! I've had ongoing problems with my back and when I go to the doctor they put me on one thing and my consultant for RA takes me off and puts me on something else!! I have booked to go away at the end of August with my daughter but at the moment I don't want to go anywhere!! Even my RA nurse last week said she wants to refer me to mind! I do not need or want a physc assessment! I AM NOT MAD I AM IN PAIN!!! Why do some people think that because you have health problems you are not capable of stringing an intelligent sentence together? I am now off to the doctors yet again and am not leaving until I get some resolve!! Thanks for listening!!! Xxx