cin Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 (edited) I have a pinched nerve in my neck, and one of the options is an epidural. I've never given birth, so I'm totally clueless about them. I have one friend who has had several for lower back pain. And none of them worked. So I'd like to hear from other people. Anybody have one that DID work? FTR, I am looking at surgery in the not too distant future, and I am going to a spine clinic. 2 vertebrae in my neck have NO cartilage between them. At all. No wonder the nerve is pinched!! ETA: The orthopedic specialist that I went to specializes in shoulders (that's where the pain was!) and he was amazed at the condition of the vertebrae and the amt of curvature (scoliosis) in my neck. He went through the list of treatment options, but said that at my age, and with 2 DD & their ages, if he were my Dr. he would try one or two things, and if they didn't work, he would recommend surgery; in his words, You are too young, and have too much to lose to be incapacited and in pain all the time. If you were 65+ and without kids to take care of, I would look at this totally differently. DH and I agree with him. The oral steroids were great, but the numbness and tingling are still there, and keep me awake at night. Seriously, I feel for all you new moms out there who are homeschooling. Sleeping in 2 hour bits really, really, really sucks. Edited April 23, 2011 by cin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 (edited) Long, long story, but DH has had about a dozen over the last decade. He has extremely complex pain over a wide area with nerve and spinal chord damage. Some of them have indeed helped for awhile, but some have not. You probably know this, but chronic pain is extremely difficult to treat and there are no guarantees. Same with neck/back surgery. The sucess rate isn't as good as you might think. Edited April 23, 2011 by GVA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyHandsAreFull Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 You mean an epidural steroid injection, right? (not an epidural catheter for pain control during and after a surgery). Many people try ESI's (epidural steroid injections) at an interventional pain clinic as an intermediate step between "conservative management" (physical therapy and pain killers) and surgery. I've had friends get benefit from ESI's. If it keeps you out of surgery that's usually a good thing in my book. Just make sure the place that does it will do it under fluoro (basically real time x ray) so they don't inadvertently inject your spinal cord (I've seen that once; it's rare but if you draw the short straw, so to speak, then things can really get bad in a hurry). And ask if they plan to put you out for the procedure or give you some kind of sedation. I know somebody that had it without sedation and she really regretted it. Said it hurt ALOT (whereas the other people I know who've had it under sedation don't even remember the actual procedure). HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cin Posted April 23, 2011 Author Share Posted April 23, 2011 Thanks for the info, ladies! I will keep all this in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfamilygal Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 I had butt-kicking lower back pain/sciatica for almost a year after lifting a child using poor body mechanics. I took a ton of meds and did physical therapy. Nothing worked until my epidural steroid shot. I was pain free the next day and have remained pain free for 7 yrs. I was not sedated during the procedure, but took some Valium that night as I had some spasms afterwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cin Posted April 23, 2011 Author Share Posted April 23, 2011 I had butt-kicking lower back pain/sciatica for almost a year after lifting a child using poor body mechanics. I took a ton of meds and did physical therapy. Nothing worked until my epidural steroid shot. I was pain free the next day and have remained pain free for 7 yrs. THANKS!!!! I know that everybody is different, but when you do research on the internet, it seem that people only post if they've had a problem. Nobody ever posts good things like this :). And while I know it might not work that way for me, at least I know that the light at the end of tunnel might NOT be that of an oncoming train! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 :grouphug: As a fellow chronic pain sufferer who thought the problems came from bulging not ruptured discs in her cervical spine but now have been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis with a nice sidecar of fibromyalgia I feel your pain and wish you all the best. Do whatever you can to relieve the pain you are young and this is no way to live. Keep asking questions and try different MD's until you get relief and answers. Do not be a" nice" patient if you feel like hell let them know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 It is so individual. My MIL had a shot for her back and it helped her for a long time. I had a shot in my back and I was numb up to my throat - the doctor was very concerned since he'd only given me a half dose anyway. I'm not a good candidate for this kind of pain relief because it worked too well and they couldn't find a safe dose for me that relieved pain but didn't overdose me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfamilygal Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 You're welcome! Hope it works wonderfully for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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