Spinal injections - not epidural.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

Can I just ask for those of you who have had spinal epidurals/injections ect.
Whenever I had one of these I always felt like someone was rubbing the inside of my tummy button,a very peculiar though not unpleasnt feeling.
Is it just me or does everybody experience this.
Might seem like a daft question but I have always wondered.

Unity

novelli wrote: »

well its now three days since my spinal jabs and its 2am and i am NOT in agony!!! wow!!
cant say its pain free, but it def feels better at the moment, so much so i am going to try and sleep now without any pills!!

fingers crossed this may be a sign of things to come:j

Excellent!:T Do you have to ring up at intervals and give reports? I had to phone mine in this morning and I'm pleased to say that the facet joints have worked very well :j, although it may be too soon to say for the epidural for my sciatic nerve .

I still have to say that the best bit is being in the recovery room when the local anaesthetic is still working and I'm 'Comfortably Numb' :D.

pipkin71

novelli wrote: »

well its now three days since my spinal jabs and its 2am and i am NOT in agony!!! wow!!
cant say its pain free, but it def feels better at the moment, so much so i am going to try and sleep now without any pills!!

fingers crossed this may be a sign of things to come:j

I really hope so novelli. Fingers crossed that this is the start of better things

Thank you for the feedback.

scottamus

hI THERE

i AM A 31 YEAR OLS MALE WHO HAD AN ACCIDENT AND DAMAGED MY BACK AT THE AGE OF 25.
i HAVE HAD LOTS OF FACET BLOCKS AND NON STEROIDAL ANTI INFLAMITARY INJECTIONS IN MY LOWER BACK IN MT T4 AND T5 VERTABRAE

fIRST TIME I HAD WITH NO MEDICATION AS WORRIED ABOUT HAVING ANESTHETIC AND TRUST ME i HAVE NEVER FELT PAIN LIKEIT AS WHN I CAME OUT OF SURGERY I WAS IN RECOVERY FOR 4 HOURS AND PASSED OUT WITH THE PAIN AND THEY DIDNT WORK FOR ME AT ALL.

However i have had 3 more times in different places under sedation not general anesthetic and the last time i have found these injections to be excellent, i had 14 bi latteral facet blocks and after the initial week of discomfort wow what a differnce I am still in discomfort and sore but not really pain

Please give these a go as they can and do work

geoff11

i had mine yesterday at 4.20, took about a minute to do, it was an epidural, didnt really feel any pain from the needle itself but i did get some painful pressure when he injected the epidural/steroid/anasthetic into the needle he had insterted for about 40 seconds while he did it, it was done under x-ray conditions, they were all very proffesional i might add. after it was done i went to the little ward they had and had to lie on my stomach for one hour, then your supposed to sit in the chair for half an hour. i got up, they said are your legs ok as in any numbness to which there wasnt, they said get changed, try to pee if you can pee you can go home. whilst on the bed my backside was as numb as hell which lasted all night, but also the pains and numbness i had in my left leg started to ease while i was on that bed, i couldnt belive it. by the time i got home say 6pm i had no leg pain or foot pain. got up this morning thinking ill be agony where they injected me, to my surprise no pain at the site at all, or numbness either, leg pain gone, back pain gone, just left with the left foot aching instead of pain in it, slight leg and backache, all in all id say a 70% improvement in the pain scale factor now, so id advise anyone who has doubts to go for it, its brilliant.

Saversue

I had a Spinal Nerve Block last January, L5/S1. It was done in the Xray dept with dye and local anesthetic first. I was warned that occasionally they might hit the nerve by accident and by golly they did. Obviously I was lying on my back, but still managed to jump up and bang into all the Xray equipment. I fainted and then had a huge panic attack due to the incredible pain. They had to get a doctor from A&E because non of the staff in the dept seemed to know what was going on and I could hear them but couldn't talk or sit upright. Once I had come round they stuck me in a wheelchair and told my Friend she could take me home.
It did help the upper leg sciatica a little when sitting down, but seems to have caused some sort of problems in the muscles and nerve function, causing leg weakness and foot drop ( no ankle reflex). Maybe that would of happened anyway and I was desperate to try anything that might work, but for me not a very happy ending. They won't consider repeating the injection - you can only have a Maximum of Three anyway.
I have since been told I need urgent surgery twice, one to stay in from an out patient appointment and once to be booked in the next morning. I had previously been on a four week pain management programme and knowing what I know about what can go wrong, paralysis, double incontinence and new pain from Scar Tissue in the Spine, don't want to have Surgery unless it becomes a medical emergency That would be when I loose bladder and bowel function completely (I already have some problems in that area, but can manage)
There are risks with a Spinal Nerve Block and It is only a temporary fix, each injection lasts for less time and they will only repeat the procedure if you have received a great deal of benefit from the first one.
I know a lady who had a Spinal Implant to control pain, but they took that out after six months because it was not giving here enough pain relief.

geoff11

yeah the epidural i had last 3 to 6 months, apparantley if they help you can have three in total then they need to look at other methods i.e surgery i imagine, wonderful thing those epidurals though.

novelli

well i have had mine about 4 weeks ago and its the best hing ever so far!! not pain free but thaT EXCRUCIATING deep inside the legs/feet has gone. Ive had previous surgery on the spine and would not want to go there again, so hoping this lasts long enough . U can have up to 3 sessions a year, so as long as it lasts up to 4 months am hoping its the better option, rather than surgery.
do u find tho that different drs tell u different things??
i was told by the ;pain clinic that previous scar tissue from the last surgery had wrapped itself around the nerves and that there was further degeneration in other discs as well, yet the spine clinic tell me its just a pinched nerve which could release itself anyway??

Guapa1

Bumping because Pipkin's inbox is full, and I'd like to know what her experience was.

novelli

well an update on mine is it lasted for around 2 months before pain returned, tho not quite as intense, had another injection which again last two months. consultant says thats not long enough to make it a viable solution longterm.
been dosed up on various painkillers/vallium, amytriptallline since, found some relief from accupuncture.
Just had another MRI due to some numbness and due to see consultant again next week, so who knows what the next move will be.
:eek: