Epidural steroid - experience

[Bunce]

Those who have had relief from epidural steroids. What type of pain did the steroid help eg; burning pain? Stabbing pain? Numbness?

How would you describe how y felt? Did any of y get nerve root irritation.

thanks, Bunce.

[Bryan08]

It really depends on how bad the area being given the injection (s). I have experience so many different injections, on the first shot injected into my L4,L5, and S1 really didnt hurt. Reason for that being that i was askeep while the injection was being perform. Later that night my back was extremely sore, my tail bone area, butt, and my legs hurt like having childhood growing pains. Now during two to three days once the swelling went down the nerve pain and back pain improved from a 8 to a 6 on a pain scale. Most of the times in order to get full relief you have to complete the full stage of injections which is three injections per stage. So really i only had at the most three days that help reduce my pain level. Not to say that it willnt help you, my back was to far damage for the injection to last four months to a year like my doctor told me. If you want to know more, i have a lot of experience that i can share with you regarding injections, not just the type of injection that you are asking about. Ive been dealing with nerve pain and back oain since 2008. Ive had four back operations, but still here i am living with several issues regarding my entire back down both my legs. I hope that with my experience i can help answer questions for people like yourself so that you are well informed. Doctors can be useful, but people like ourselfs that have been living with pain for so long can give better ideals of what to expect. I hope ive help, if you would like more information im here for you as well as anyone else that has questions. Doctors have the skills to explain what to expect, pain patients that have went thru injections as well as operations have the experience. Ill be here for you for support,experience, as well as anyone else that would like to talk to me looking for support also knowing has it feels to go thru all of this. Please, if i was not able to help, keep asking on this form. Knowledge is power, sorry if that seems cheesy

[Hidden]

The symptoms you described are very common, I think I had all of them at one time or another. Unfortunately I didn't get much if any relief from them at L 3,4,5, S 1, but for some it's a real success I think you have to sit it out, it can take a number of weeks for any benefit to emerge. I hope you get some relief from your symptoms.

[broski]

Have has 2 surgerys- a decompression to relieve lateral stenosis, and then a "soft fusion" (Dyneses) where they have fitted spacers between each vertebrae L1-L5.

Been finished work because of it for 12 years now and even after ops to this very day I am plagued with nerve pain to the extent that most of my day is spent on a mattress as walking sitting and standing are too painful for more than a few minutes.

The point I am getting to though is my experience with epidurals as you ask. The first one, a normal lumbar epidural, I had in the middle of the back some years ago had no effect whatsoever so wasnt repeated.

When they 3 years ago asked me to go for a CAUDAL epidural I was doubtful that any effect would be felt. The injection is done on a day ward, and is a little painful but only for a few minutes while they get the liquid in. I was also surprised to find that it is directly in the tailbone itself-which sounds gruesome but isnt really.

I was amazed! Within a few minutes of having the injection I felt like running around the ward and throwing my arms up in celebration!! Literally down from say pain level 8 to less than 1. I was a cripple walking in and going out I felt like Fred Astaire lol. I carried my walking sticks under my arm anyway!

The effects I was glad to note continued for a good 2 months....after that it tailed off a little, but with good management my pain levels generally were incredibly reduced. I would be honest and say that if I did the standing sitting walking thing too much then it would start to play up but it meant at least I could do far more than before.It wasnt a total Get Out Of Jail Free card but just to be free of the pain was good enough (although temptation is inevitable that you want to go on and do all those jobs that have mounted up)

At 3 months it was getting painful again and by 4 months when I had the next injection I was almost back at cripple mode. What a relief when that next epidural has the same effect though! Massive smile back on my face- despite the pain of the injection, I SO looked forward to me next one.

The type of pain I was having Bunce btw was chronic aching in centre lower back, which increased the more I ignored it-until it sent it into spasms...omg did I know it then! These were like being hit with a cattle prod....pure electric explosion of pain in the back and radiating down the legs. There also was sciatic pain -hot rivulets seemed to run down back of my legs right to my feet. My calf, heel and achilles tendon all were especially numb.Hot tingling patches especially on top part of my right thigh above knee.

SO Bunce- if you are to have the caudal epidural then I just hope you experience the same relief as I did- I can only describe it as an absolute joyous after effect. Ok they dont last forever but if they work they will get you on a rota as I was. In all I think I had 8 of them all approx 4 months apart.

Whilst its not relevant to your question I will comment on the update of my own case in that last february I was due for another and complained that the one in the previous Oct hadnt worked so well-or even at all.

They decided before giving me another one to do CT and MRI scans and found that the reason was due to the movement of the nerve obstruction-which now seems to be at the foraminal exit of the vertebrae (where the lateral leg nerve exits the spinal column).

SO I have now to have a different epidural altogether- a foraminal epidural. As this is considerably more difficult the surgeon himself insists on doing it himself instead of his registrar (who did the caudals). And yes..his waiting list is long. Months rather than weeks I was told- the 18 week thing is down the toilet these days it seems, and I will be lucky to get it this side of Christmas!

THEN-if indeed this foraminal epidural works and I get relief from it -then they will have identified the actual source of my pain and will then progress onto doing another surgery to decompress (rod out/rebore!) the foraminal gap. So at the mo I have loads of pain, almost total bed confinement, and a long long wait for even this diagnostic epidural- and then an even longer wait for surgery I expect. Ahh well. Im not alone. Chin up folks, be positive with the bits of you that you HAVE got working!

Hope this tale is of some use Bunce- anything else you want to know about my piece there, then please dont hesitate to ask.

Regards and sympathies

Geoff

[lindaberg]

I haven't had one but I am thinking about it. I have arthritis in my spine plus stenosis.

I am in a lot of pain and I am wondering if it work.

[onamission]

They help the sharp constant pain I have in my lower back

[earthwitch]

Steroids are a powerful anti-inflammatory, so they would be more likely to relieve pain that has some kind of inflammatory component. Just be aware that current medical thinking is that you shouldn't have epidural steroids regularly or more than a couple of times, as they have been shown to dramatically increase the risk of osteonecrosis (the nearby bone dying), or things like syringomelia or arachnoiditis (that can cause partial spinal cord injury problems). There are some other types of injections they can use that are a bit safer than steroids for repeated use, but any injection into the epidural area does carry a small but significant risk of causing spinal cord injury. Having said that, they can be just about a miracle treatment for some people and some types of problems. Its a case of asking your doctor lots of questions about alternatives and weighing up the risks. Also ask about xray or ultrasound guided injections - they don't seem to do them often in the UK, but that gives you a much better chance of getting the injection into exactly the right spot, so slightly less risk of damage, and more chance of it being effective.

[Lizziebets]

I had epidural steroid injection yesterday and although I'd always feared the thought of one the relief that finally someone was willing to actually do something to help relieve my pain far outweighed any fear! The procedure itself was uncomfortable the worst bit having to curl into about the most painful position for me but that meant I barely felt the needle going in! I had the best sleep in weeks and this morning my pain is already significantly less, so for me a positive experience so far.