Iv had two so far the first one took 2 days of recovery and only relived my pain 50% I was happy for that but wore off after 3 days had anouther one 2 daysago and did nothing for me exsept cause me a hell of a lot of pain,I spent the night in the E.R drugged up and in pain.I rember hearing a woman screaming and thein comming arround and reliseing it was me.Im not haveing any more of these.

I just had an epidural injection on Friday and have been in more pain since then. While doing the injection, the doctor hit a nerve and caused me to have a severe migraine since then. This is probably the 6th injection I've had over the years and none of them have ever really helped.

My face sweled up saterdaynight and was in an undescrible amount of pain ended up in the E.R and doped into such a stuper,I was still haveing break threw pain with the major amounts of drugs they were giveing me.I was told my wight blood cell count was over twice the normail and that the sterouid injection was most likely the cause.I had a head ach and blured vishion it was worse than active labor!I think id rather give birth to triplets than be going threw this!

Percentage of times an epidural is helpful = 4%

Percentage of times your doctor will be paid to prescribe them = 100%

The first time the doctor tryed to do it in his office unsucessfull to pain full.The secound one orderedunder sedation it helped but only after 2 days of recovery the day after it was done couldnt bend from the wast only lasted a cupple of days.The third on was done 7 days later had a issue with the sedation the IV line was kinked and dr started it and I was screaming the whole time.It did no good and the next day ended up in the Er had to be druged into a stuper.I dont think ill be doing any more.Wondering what the next step will be,also why the hell do they even do thes their only a tempory fix from what iv been reading?

Have had many. Never worked for me. I always end up having to have more surgery.

I had 3 in a period of 6 weeks, gained 30 lbs from them too, didn't work more than 2 weeks, definitely not worth the money or the time.

Read captainbj's post (it's Reply #41). If anyone really takes a moment to read her entry and considers it for a moment, her experience says it all.

As you asked above, DG: "why the hell do they even do these their only a tempory fix from what iv been reading?"

I feel the question should be: Why do -we- allow ourselves to undergo a treatment that is proven to regularly result in more pain than relief, all for the slim chance of 4 days of relief.

Another post from a member in this discussion: "This is probably the 6th injection I've had over the years and none of them have ever really helped. "

The first, second and fourth didn't help yet she went back for a 6th injection.

Again, we must be our own self advocates and know as much as possible about the treatments and their risks *before* we agree to undergo them.

It's our bodies, our choices, our lives, our futures. Educate yourself about your prescribed treatments before you agree to do them. Doing it because "the doctor said so" won't hold up when your in bed missing a family lunch do to pain, while your doctor is out on the golf course working on his chip-shot.

Keyword: Research

Epidurals are so dangerous! They can cause a condition called Arachnoiditis which is scarring of the nerve roots. Arachnoiditis can also result from menningitis, infection, surgery, trauma, dye based myelograms,etc. Arachnoiditis can only be diagnosed by an MRI and a radiologist that knows what to look for. It very often goes undiagnosed. The symptoms are back pain, numbness any where from the toes on up, muscle cramps & spasms in the legs. Better yet..go look it up. That way you will understand all the damage it can cause. They either don't take the pain away or act temporarily. Why take such a great risk???

I myself over the years have had many injections. If (and that's a beg if) they worked it was for no more than a couple of days. For thousands a shot that is just no worth it.

my neurosurgeon said that i had to have the epideral shots before anything else could be tried. i also had to do some physical therapy. then he did the surgery. i would not do the shots again ever, they hurt and did not stop any of the pain for me. in my opinion, its another way for the dr. to make money. thanks and good luck to all, love gram

Gram is correct. Unfortunately, the ones benefiting most from epidural treatments are the chemical companies that produce the steroid, the doctors who prescribe them, and the clinics that administer them - not the patient.

No one "has" to have them. I think that is harder for baby-boomers (and up) to understand as they're used to "just doing what the doctor says". But they grew up in a time when our health care system had more integrity and doctors were far far less self consumed. If your GP or neuro insists upon you receiving epidurals or tries to have you feel it's "mandatory" despite your concerns or telling them no. Walk out; find another doctor.

I've had 3 epidurals in the last 3 months. I've certainly gotten some relief from each one but I'm concerned because at first the doctor talked about different medicines he could use. After my last injection which he had used the same med as before, he siad that he didn't know if there was anthing more he could do to help me. I'm left wondering what happened to his other options that he had brought up before the first shot. I'm really not ready to move on to spinal fusion yet. There is no guarantee of pain relief. The epidurals have definitely helped but I'm also doing P.T., using a TENS unit and taking Darvoceet. Best of luck to you. kathy

didn't work for me either. I would not get it. like some body said it's only temporary fix.

I had 1 epidural injection when I first injured my back in '93, they did puncture my spinal column,I got the spinal headache, got the blood patch as a result,ended up with menningitis.So with my recent back problems as in last 3 yrs,I flat out refused to even consider it.Its your right as a patient to refuse any and all treatments.It cannot be forced on you or held against you.
Deb