September 9th surgery

[mabeckoff]

Melissa, the internet can explain it far better than i can...
i think the differences involve where the shots are placed
in the spine...

jess

Ok Thanks but do all the shots have steroids?

[LindaRacine]

Jess, please explain what, if any, is the difference between epidural and steroid shots

Steroid shots most commonly refer to shots that go into painful joints. Epidural injections are steroids, but are delivered epidurally (into the dura surrounding the spinal cord).

[mabeckoff]

Steroid shots most commonly refer to shots that go into painful joints. Epidural injections are steroids, but are delivered epidurally (into the dura surrounding the spinal cord).

Thanks for explaining it.
One more question- What is a trigger point injection?

[rohrer01]

Thanks for explaining it.
One more question- What is a trigger point injection?

Melissa,
I can answer that one for you. A trigger point is a very tight muscle spasm that can be within a larger muscle like a little knot. They put a needle into the spasm (trigger point) and rough it up a bit to cause blood to come into the area. This makes the spasm let go. They use a local anesthetic to do it so that it doesn't hurt. They often use steroids to make it last longer and reduce inflammation. But they can do what they call "dry needling" where no steroid is injected.

[mabeckoff]

Melissa,
I can answer that one for you. A trigger point is a very tight muscle spasm that can be within a larger muscle like a little knot. They put a needle into the spasm (trigger point) and rough it up a bit to cause blood to come into the area. This makes the spasm let go. They use a local anesthetic to do it so that it doesn't hurt. They often use steroids to make it last longer and reduce inflammation. But they can do what they call "dry needling" where no steroid is injected.

Ok Thanks Dr Bederman wants me to have that in my neck as he thinks that might ease my pain.I going to talk to him about it because your description does not sound like my neck problem

[mabeckoff]

I have a question. My legs are very weak. Is that from my hips?

[Jenna.KB]

hi Jenna
steroid injections...i have had epidural injections,
and steroid shots in other areas...only ones that helped
me were the shots in sacroiliac joints...but the last time, i
was given too much of the steroid, and it caused cortisol
to crash...cortisol gives you energy, so i am exhausted...
doctors say to give it time and it will hopefully build back up
by itself...
it can take a while to figure out where the shots will benefit
the patient...it took me a lot of trials of shots in different
areas to discover none helped me, then we happened on
SI joints in trial and error...and it was great...relieved most all of
my severe lumbar pain, from 70 degree curve, degenerative
disc disease, collapsing back with vertebrae falling on each other,
etc...lasted about 3 months each time...
the doctor gave too much in the dose in January...got great
pain relief but kept feeling more and more tired...blood test
confirmed cortisol was almost gone...

i would suggest talking to pain management doctor rather than
surgeon, though some surgeons do the injections...

jess

Hi Jess

Sounds like you've been through the mill finding something that works. I've heard about pain relief patches also but it seems in the UK they stick you on oral medication and leave you on it. I'll look into what you said but hopefully I will be called into surgery really soon and may not need injections. :-)

Thanks for your advice and good luck with getting your cortisol back

Jenna x

[jrnyc]

thanks for the good wishes, Jenna
hope your name comes up soon....

Melissa, i never got anything from trigger point injections....no relief....

jess

[mabeckoff]

Wish me well

I am off to see the hip Dr and pain management

Hope I have some good news to share later

[Karen Ocker]

Too much steroid in shot?

Jess, If one gets steroid injections, say every few months, the adrenal gland can get depressed by the frequent injections in a one year period or over several years. This does not mean the doctor gave you "too much" the last time. I suspect your adrenals were continuously being challenged over a long period of time. As long as on is getting frequent shots, which get absorbed slowly, the symptoms of steroid lack are masked by the shots. It's a catch 22. The longer the one gets shots the longer the adrenals will be suppressed. This also happens wit oral steroids and steroid inhalers.
This is science not my opinion.

[mabeckoff]

Good news. Dr Bederman had called the pain management doctor Friday and talked about my SI injection. So I was pleasantly surprised to find out this morning when I arrived that it was not a clinic appt but a procedure appt. So I was able to get my Si injection in my right hip. Next week, I can have my left hip done.
So 2 out of 3 pains in my right hip are gone. However, when I went to see the hip doctor who does MI hip surgery, he told me that there was nothing he could for me as I need a right hip replacement . In Dr Bederman's office , they are hiring a hip replacement doctor but he will not be working there until the fall.

So that is my latest news.

[Jenna.KB]

Good news. Dr Bederman had called the pain management doctor Friday and talked about my SI injection. So I was pleasantly surprised to find out this morning when I arrived that it was not a clinic appt but a procedure appt. So I was able to get my Si injection in my right hip. Next week, I can have my left hip done.
So 2 out of 3 pains in my right hip are gone. However, when I went to see the hip doctor who does MI hip surgery, he told me that there was nothing he could for me as I need a right hip replacement . In Dr Bederman's office , they are hiring a hip replacement doctor but he will not be working there until the fall.

So that is my latest news.

Hi Melissa,

So glad you got your injection so quickly and it's helping with the pain. Sorry to hear you need a hip replacement though. Hope you can manage your pain for now and get strong enough for hip surgery if thats the route you go down. Good Luck!!

Jenna

[jrnyc]

hey Melissa
the SI joint injections were the ONLY ones that gave me
lower back pain relief...relieved lower back and hip pain
to the point where i could walk...it was great, til i got too much steroid...i haven't gotten SI shots since January....so my pain has returned...

i hope the SI shots give you as much pain relief as they gave
me...

jess...& Sparky

[JenniferG]

What great news! Been away for nearly a week and came back to find some of your pain has gone. What a relief for you after being in such pain for so long.

[rohrer01]

Melissa,

It's so GREAT to hear that you actually got in for a procedure to help with the pain! I'm sorry to hear you need a hip replacement, too. By the time you're done we can call you the Six-Million Dollar Woman! Ha ha, remember when that show was popular (The Six-Million Dollar Man) and people really thought that was such a huge amount of money that it couldn't even be fathomed? Ha ha ha! Not that I wouldn't like to have six-million dollars! I can still hear the sound effects of the Bionic Man in action!....Hmmm....Now I'm trying to remember if it was called the Six-Million Dollar Man or the Bionic Man...??? I'm sure someone will correct me! HA!

Okay, it was the "Six Million Dollar Man" and the "Bionic Woman". Here's a clip from "The Bionic Woman" sound effects and all!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qoDJ...eature=related

Here's to you, Melissa! In all kindness, of course. =)