Diagnosed with 2 slipped discs and artheritis, april 2007, 2 weeks ago went in hosital and had epidural injection, the relef was instant, but alas now 2 weeks lata the pain seems to be worse, also skipped a period, which i have read is side effects from the injection, definatly not pregnant, thank god.
I would like to hear from anyone else who has had the epidural injections, and did they work for you?
Been suffering with the pain since october 2006, and not sure what the next step is, im a bit scared about having the operation, any ideas on what other options i have?
Feeling down in the dumps now, after having nearly 2 weeks of no pain, and now its back with a vengance, any information will be greatly recieved.
Hi Sharan,
I've had 2 Epidurals both didn't work at all in fact I think they made the pain worse, I also had a Nerve Root Block done, this didn't work either. I've been off work for 14 months now, I had a Discectomy Operation last January due to a Prolapsed Disc L5/S1, this op didn't work, I've been in severe pain all this time until I had a 2nd op (PLIF) in January this year. I've been on loads of strong painkillers and also Morphine which I'm still taking. The Consultant says that it's taking longer to recover from this op as it's the 2nd Op and I had to have screws and rods put in to fuse my back.
I haven't tried any other methods of pain relief but my Physio did say that if I'm still in pain in a few weeks time that he may do some Acupuncture on me. I was petrified about having a Op because I have a Phobia of Needles but I couldn't stand the pain any longer, I would have done anything to take my pain away. I had trouble with going to the loo, which is a sign of Nerve damage, my left leg and foot are still numb and I've been told that I'll probably never get the feeling back in it.
Have they given you the choice of having an Op? Are you taking any Meds for your pain? I totally sympathise with you regarding the pain, it's the worst pain I've ever had and I've had 2 kids.
I hope this helps you. Take care and keep your chin up.
Angela
Thanks for your reply, i was on dicofenic but made me sick, now am taking co-codamol, not sure when i will be seeing my consultant next, the hospital said they would contact me, may pop and see my g p, as to be honest its really getting me down now, i feel so depressed, and fed up with not being able to do things.
Thanks for telling me about your experiance, and i really feel for you, a second operation is not good, just hope things get better for you, and im beggining to realise that ill be stuck with this for the rest of my life, not a nice thought.
take care and good luck
I too had an epidural but it didn't work for me infact made it worse and caused severe leg pain in my left leg. I prolapsed two lumbar discs in august 2006 and in the end have had to have a posterial lumber fusion on 2 levels with bolts and screws, I had this done 1.2.08.
I am now recovering and so far so good and I'm pleased I had it done. I can really understand what you are going through the epidural is painful enough, I had a nerve root injection too this lasted for a couple of months then I had a disography which revealed two painful discs.I then had to wear a rigid back race for 7 months and finally had the fusion, its been along journey but I'm feeling better and getting there.
The problem is you have to go through all the channels cause they don't like to operate really, just keep chasing your consultant and see what they will do next.
Good luck, I also found that the tablets you are taking stopped working and they put me on tramadol.
Regards
Raindrop
I completely know how you feel, you feel trapped with wanting to do things and yet you know you shouldn’t. I’m 21 years old and found out in December that I have prolapsed disc. I was put on strong painkillers and then had the epidural injection which I completely regret but when you’re in so much pain you give anything a go! Within hours of having the injection the pain was so bad that every minor movement was delivering me a very sharp stabbing pain. I was admitted back into hospital and giving more drugs. After a few days the pain was a lot more than what is was before I had the injection and I thought what a mistake I’d made, but I trust my orthopaedic completely. Unfortunately for us its seems our bodies can not respond well to the injection which is very disappointing and frustrating. Frustrating is how I’d describe the whole thing and it has stopped my life completely. I was put on co-coda mol and morphine, then given diclofenac which I don’t think agrees with most people it made me tight chested and then I was violently sick. I’m now continuing the co-coda mol and have been taking diazepam but just yesterday I was given Amitriptyline to take in the evening to help the nerve pain and send me to sleep. I’m finding though that the pain killers are not touching the pain. Heat wraps I wear are small comfort and worth while using. I feel in the same boat as you I am feeling depressed because its like the back is ruling my life and its taking its toll on my family as I have started getting snappy and very ratty at times due to lack of sleep and pain.. Thank god there understanding. I have a review in a few weeks and looks like an operation is imminent due to the size of the bulge. I hope it brings relief but nothing I realise now is guaranteed! I hope you find relief and some comfort in knowing your not alone!
Kind regards
Sarah
Hi, yes i know what you are saying, im going to visit my gp in the morning, although i know there is not much he can do or say, but feel i need to speak to him, just hope he is in a good mood, as he can sometimes be very abrupt, just so fed up with it all now, and everything is such a effort, changed the bed today, what a nightmare, took me ages, and then had to lay down to recover, any way enough of my moaning, thats all i seem to do these days lol, let me know how its all going for you.
Sharan
Had a phone call this morning from a DLA appointed Dr. that has been asked to come out & visit me!!!! Only been 6 months since I submitted the application online!!!!
Going to try to get my GP as well to register me disabled as I cannot work with the ailment unless I am registered due to insurance reasons (it is one big joke this government)!!!! I don't want a blue badge or motability (although it would be handy for transportation needs), I just want to go back to poxy work!!!!!!!!
hi there darren, although its been 6months since u applied if u get it they will have 2 pay it all back from the date they recieved ur application, a word of warning thou when the doc comes out u have make sure u dont say stuf like ( on a good day acan do this or that ) the only way u will get it is if u have no good days at all , these doctors dont no what its like and rem they get paid for doing this so if they can they will refuse good luck 2 u and let me no how u get on Have u considered contacting social work dep they can supply u with some realy good aids to make life a little easier take care xcoly
Thanks for the reply, but I am not too bothered if I get DLA or not in all honesty as I have lost all faith in the Health Service and Government, and now basically have come to terms that I am going to have to live in pain. The last couple of weeks I have been suffering in a big way but GP not interested at all.
What annoys me is that people can get Motability & Blue Badges when they do not fulfill the requirements that are set out for them, but that is a different topic entirely, yet the people that do really need the help are fobbed off.
Hi Darren
Well it's good news that they haven't decline you DLA! When the DR visits, please tell it as it is on a really bad day (it's what we're advised to tell all our service users) a,d this is probably going to sound bad, but it may be worth leaving off some meds just to get your point across? (just in case you have a reasonable day when he/she calls). I do hope it all goes OK and you are awarded it..you deserve something going your way 
Take care,
Jules xx :D :D
No worries about the meds, as I haven't got any due to the Docs not prescribing me anything that actually works!!!!!!
Hi darren let us know how you go on, i lookin into DLA also but doc says get blue badge first wait till i had surgery the only thing i going to gain from surgery is MAYBE some feelin back in left leg back totally knackered still goin to be in pain with back also he fully supportin mobility cause he says i need an auto not manual car cause its my left leg it does make you sick when you see people with it all an they don't even need it i heard about someone who got mobility car so he can take his wife about only thing he not told them is he divorced from her now and has bin for couple of years she wont dob him in cause she still wants him back even though he with someone else, make you sick doesn't it, all i would say is take your worse day when the dr comes and imagine it twice as bad and put it on extra thick for them even though i know your worse day should be enough to throw the DLA at you, you know what there like if they see the slightest glimmer they will say i think your okay and don't need it they are total b*****ds they dont have a clue what its like. Good luck Darren take care and i hope you DO get DLA because its what your entitled to.
xx Julie
hi darren
omg now the doc is coming to visit! well at least when he/she calls they can see that your condition hasnt improved since first applying, so that in itself should be good enough, like when i applied i sent my mri report stating that the disc was compressing the spinal cord causing my symptoms and my gp was supportive BUT even that wasnt good enough, but a few weeks before returning to work i had a letter from the dwp stating that i had passed the pct and wouldnt need to send any further sick notes in????? baffles me, as already stated tel the doc the symptoms on your worse days and nights not that you have good and bad days, its awful that we have to respond in such a way surely the gp suport and clinical letters should be enough, fingers crossed eh, gail
Hello. My name is Brittany, and Im 16 yrs old and have a 'slipped disc/pinching a nerve'. I've had it for almost 5 months now and currently not getting better.Posting this message I hope it would help someone because I want them to know that there not alone. Becuase Ive never felt more alone in my life(so far).Not able to sit at school anymore, do homeschool. Quit my favorite sport, soccer and had to stop working. Which leaves me no extra cash, lay on my stomach everyday on the floor and cant go out with my friends. I think having this condition has made me realized that everyone who is able to do those things that i cant, is pretty grateful. And when the day comes and I get better I know that I will go out and do so many things - and of course be careful-. And being 16 and having this really does suck. Becuase I want to do so many things at my age and be like everyone else and also will be graduating in a year. And If you have something like I do, I really do feel for you. Non of my friends understand and Probably think that I want them to feel sorry for me. And of course makes me mad, cause they dont understand. But I know you do and it makes me feel better that Im not alone.
When it first happend
Well I do know that it happend gradually.(and don't what causes this) But I would wake up with back pain but didnt really bother me so much and never told anyone. It only lasted for 10 mins or so in the morning before I would leave to school. Then a week or two later it got worse. Lasted a bit longer in the morning. Still I didnt think much of other than maybe cause of my bed? then another few weeks later it started to ache durning my school classes. THen thats when i metioned to my family and friends. I remember it aching durning gym class and end of having to excuse myself from when we would go for runs. And that hurted to most, not having to go for a run. It was my favorite thing to do in class and no one inclass understood and just told me pretty much suckit up and same with my teacher which made me run everytime i asked if i could just walk instead. Then when it came to my soccer games I had to go see a doctor cause if it interfered so much that I should go see him.
My doctor-doesnt care.
I remember when i told my doctor and he just gave me imflamitory pills. went on that for a few weeks. didnt do anything. saw him again and then finally was able to get an x ray. did that, few weeks later finally able to get in and see him.. he told me there was nothing on the xray. And that made me upset. I actually wanted there to be something on it because I wanted it cured fast. Then so he didnt think it was serious. I came back again and said its still really really bad. So finally He have me another test, a CT SCAN. It took about a month to get it done. And then once i got it scanned I saw him and told me I had a slipped disc to the right, pinching a nerve. And he contiuned telling me what it does. It radiates down the back on my leg to my foot. And I told him that makes sense cause thats what i feel. But for somereason he kept goin on, thinking Im lying!. It was horrible. So I went and saw physio.
Ended up in the hospital.
After my first day of physio, I felt okay.. didnt do anything to my pain but I felt it might help. my physio doctor just made me laydown and exersize my legs a bit and put theses electronic things on my back. It gave different 'thumping' feelings. Personally I didnt know what it was really had to do with it but, im sure he knew what he was doing. the next day or perhaps that night i woke up and moved veryy little and had this HORRIBLE PAIN shock my entire body. I could not move at all. I was not even able to wiggle my toes or move my head to the other side laying on my bed. It was horrible. It scared me so much And I layed there untill my sister got up in the morning. I screamed her name as loud as I could without maki
Hi Brittany, i'm so sorry to hear that your going through such a bad time at such a young age :oops: . I know that being only 16 it make it hard to keep on at the drs to keep things moving how are things with mum and dad are they supportive are they able to come with you to the drs to keep the process moving. Was it a CT scan or an MRI scan ? It is possible that you won't hear anything for approx 3 months (sorry) :x but the drs like to wait to see if the symtoms/ pain reduces which would be good because it means things are improving its a shame you didn't mention something sooner when you first started getting the pain (sorry that sound like i'm havin ago at you but please believe me i'm not) if things do start to improve there is a good chance that the physio, starting with gentle movement can help you strengthen your back you will have some limitations but hopefully some kind of normal life for someone so young i do hope thats the case . Best thing to do right now is get as much rest as possible dont over do it try and get in a comfortable position keep taking the anti inflamitories and pain killers when prescribed don't let the pain killers where off if you start to feel a bit better it is tempting to keep off them but the best thing to do is to keep on top of the pain. Give it time i hope you feel some what better soon if you dont keep on at the drs dont let them fob you off.
As for this lot on here (including me) we are all good listeners and are always here for you keep your chin up i DO understand how you feel try and keep smiling xxx Julie :D :D :D
Hi,
In Aug 06, I started suffering from severe leg pain down my left leg. Following an MRI scan, I was diagnosed with a prolasped disc at l4/l5 compressing the l5 nerve. Anyway I sent to physio but I didnt respond well to it and so my consultant referred me for an epidural steriod injection in feb 07 - this seemed to be a success until I re-injured my back the following month doing the hoovering. Suffered worse agonising pain and was advised to go for another steriod injection which didnt work. I then tried physio, traction, deep tisue massage, faith healers, osterpaths, acupuncture and so failing all that i went for surgery - a decompression in july 07. I stayed in overnight and them went home the following day. I was pain free apart from op area and so I was overjoyed!! 3 weeks later the pain started again but I was told that it was just my nerves healing and everything knitting together. However, after 6 weeks the pain subsided and I began to enjoy life again being normal until I sneezed on boxing day and the back pain came back. I then sneezed a 2nd time a few weeks later and since then all the leg pain has came back. I then went to see my consultant whom done all the tests and said he was confident that it wasnt another prolasped disc but still referred me for an MRI. I have just had the results and it is showing a large L4/L5 disc protrusion that is compressing my L5 nerve root, which is basiclaly worse than it was before. The strange thing is that the pain is not as bad and I can drive, walk and sit for longer periods than I could pre-op. I can also put my socks and shoes on and do a high leg extension, which was impossible before. Consultant then said he wants me to try physio for 6 weeks and if that doesnt work, I may be looking at another operation. Has anyone else had this - can a large disc protrusion go back in or shrink......help...................Im so down that this is all happening to me again and I so desperate to start a family but all this is preventing me from getting on with my life - Im 34 at my next birthday !!!
Hi Kelly,
Are you saying that last year you had surgery for decompression but no part of the disc removed?? I've never heard of that before. Usually the compression is caused by the protusion, so some part of the disc needs to be removed during the operation. Protusions certainly can go back in that is why a lot of people with a slipped disc don't need surgery, they can get by on mild analgesics and rest/physio, until nature takes care of the repair.
As for the change in your symptoms this time round, it may be that the compression is slightly different this time. Personally I have found my leg symptoms have gone through a whole spectrum of pain/numbness in every possible combination. You have nothing to lose (except time) by following the Consultant's suggestion and trying physio again. Have you thought about keeping a pain diary going during this period? That way, if things do change they (the Consultant and Physiotherapist) can hopefully see when and why. My own personal opinion is that for these Consultants it is like trying to do a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing and no picture on the box!! On the downside if you do eventually need surgery, and you are having it done on the NHS, then this will all have been a waste of time and you'll get no credit for time already spent in the system, as the \"Decision To Treat Date\" for your operation will only run from the date the Consultant decides an operation is necessary. unfortunately, this is how people get lost in the system, and there are plenty of people here with experience of that!!!
Good luck
TFU
Hi Brittany,
I am so sorry that you are suffering like this. But believe me it's pretty crap whatever age you are!! You are very young to have this problem and maybe that is why the medics are proceeding cautiously.
I do think though that you should get your mum or dad to chase things up for you. I am guessing that you are on their health insurance policy as a minor? In the UK we have a state run system called the NHS which is supposed to look after us all from the monies that we pay from our taxes. However, depending on where you live the standard of care can vary enormously as can the waiting times to be seen. Basically the system sux, but not many people can afford to go private. Some are covered by private health insurance, usually through their employers.
Maybe a phone call is all that is needed to get you back in the system again. Certainly it seems odd that you have just left to it.
Good luck
TFU
Thats DLA visit over & done with. Obviously no results, but you could see from the examining Dr's reactions to my movements etc, that she could see I was suffering. I never realised my left arm had become so weak!!! I was squeezing as hard as I could during one of the tests but there was nothing there compared to my right hand!
The change in the weather hasn't helped either in that it actually aggravated things.
Hi Darren,
So now you wait and wonder!!!! Hopefully it won't be another six months before you hear the results.
TFU