Caudal Analgesia - anyone had it?

tenacioust123

I go in tomorrow for my 2nd Caudal Epidural. My 1st was in October last year, it made very little difference, nerve pain in my left leg eased slightly for a couple of weeks but my back pain became worse, walking is a nightmare.

My consultant wants me to try one more just to see if it will help further as there was a very slight improvement with the 1st on my leg pain. I have really been undecided wether to go ahead as I found the procedure very painful, my consultant thinks this may be due to the nerve damage, scar tissue and calcification on my spine.

I have had a fusion of L4/5 and suffer from DDD, Spinal stenosis and plenty of nerve damage.

It's definately worth trying I know a few people that have had it done and have found it very beneficial.

Good Luck

TT

moggylover

sunnyone wrote: »

You should have been given a leaflet to look at by the consultant about the procedure, I did and then I saw the anestatist and he answered any question I had before he did the procedure, he was lovely and he made sure I was comfortable and happy for him to go ahead.

I dont know where you would find the leaflet on line, I normally get then from my consultants but I suppose diffrent hospitals have diffrent systems.

Im the same when I see the consultants, I freeze up and my mind goes blank so I make notes before hand but that dosnt help when I get surprised, unexpected news.

Claudal epidurals are not the first line of treatments so its hard to get first hand information about them, I hadnt heard of them till it was suggested to me that they could help, your sciatica must be pretty serious if it been suggested to you, have you had the nerves tested to assess any damage?

Thanks sunnyone, I really didn't get any sort of information from the consultant so I shall ask for a leaflet about it I think and see what they say.

I admit I was rather shocked because they had actually been doing some tests to see what else was causing me to "loose" my left leg and fall over, and why I have very little feeling in it and yet a lot of pain. I had been for electrical tests to make sure the nerves and muscles were operating and was expecting rather more information about that. All they confirmed was what I already knew really, that the nerves and muscles worked fine in electric tests, but that there remains little or no reflexes in the left lower leg and ankle and that this suggested the problems were neurological.

They had already ruled out the herniated disc as a cause because that is higher up and should not be causing the lower back and hips and leg problems.

Then he just hit me with pain relief being the only option and caudal analgesia being his suggested plan. I really don't think I knew where I was or what to ask until an hour or so later tbh:o

Thanks for the information. It has been a great help and I will certainly be looking to get some more detail from the hospital before I finally decide to have this.

moggylover

tenacioust123 wrote: »

I go in tomorrow for my 2nd Caudal Epidural. My 1st was in October last year, it made very little difference, nerve pain in my left leg eased slightly for a couple of weeks but my back pain became worse, walking is a nightmare.

My consultant wants me to try one more just to see if it will help further as there was a very slight improvement with the 1st on my leg pain. I have really been undecided wether to go ahead as I found the procedure very painful, my consultant thinks this may be due to the nerve damage, scar tissue and calcification on my spine.

I have had a fusion of L4/5 and suffer from DDD, Spinal stenosis and plenty of nerve damage.

It's definately worth trying I know a few people that have had it done and have found it very beneficial.

Good Luck

TT

Many thanks for the information and sharing your experience of the procedure. I admit to being very unsure what to do and the pros and cons are very much what I was trying to get from others who might have had experience of it.

I am sorry that it has been of only limited help to you: but thanks for sharing that with me so that I can try to evaluate the proposal and make a decision whether to go for this or try some other way first.

Thanks again.:beer:

shykins

i have had a number of these over the years and they used to be very helpful in easing the worst of the sciatic pain.....unfortunately after about 8 they stopped working for me which isnt unusual

anyways as someone else said u do feel sore for a few days after but then u should notice a difference in your pain level - tho not everyone does. if your pain was anything like mine you are prepared to try anything at that point!!

does it hurt when they are doing it? yes but its more of a sort of pressure (hard to explain) but i find if i focus on something i can zone out and its really only a few minutes and they will offer to ease up if it gets too much. i just tell them to go for it cos sooner its over the better

hope that helps .. oh and i now have acupuncture etc which i find very helpful and maybe something else to consider

moggylover

shykins wrote: »

i have had a number of these over the years and they used to be very helpful in easing the worst of the sciatic pain.....unfortunately after about 8 they stopped working for me which isnt unusual

anyways as someone else said u do feel sore for a few days after but then u should notice a difference in your pain level - tho not everyone does. if your pain was anything like mine you are prepared to try anything at that point!!

does it hurt when they are doing it? yes but its more of a sort of pressure (hard to explain) but i find if i focus on something i can zone out and its really only a few minutes and they will offer to ease up if it gets too much. i just tell them to go for it cos sooner its over the better

hope that helps .. oh and i now have acupuncture etc which i find very helpful and maybe something else to consider

Thanks shykins, that is definitely the sort of information I am trying to get. Not so bothered about it being painful to do if it actually does help thereafter.

I'm "managing" the pain at the moment, but it does restrict what I can do and how much of anything I can do quite dramatically so would like to be able to improve that somewhat.

I have to admit that I haven't really thought that much about alternative therapies because I was actually trying to find out what the cause was before I decided which way to go: still haven't got any kind of a cause but think I may have to look at what else is out there before I make my decision.

Many thanks for sharing your experiences:beer:

shykins

its amazing how much pain u can manage isnt it?

another thought have u tried TENS? i use mine when it really becomes too bad. have to say since istarted the acupuncture/chiropracty ihave been a lot more stable in the pain level

good luck

summerof0763

shykins wrote: »

its amazing how much pain u can manage isnt it?

another thought have u tried TENS? i use mine when it really becomes too bad. have to say since istarted the acupuncture/chiropracty ihave been a lot more stable in the pain level

good luck

i find the acupunture helps,but the hospital i attend are very busy and have too many patients,so can only get every 8-10 weeks and i find by week 5 am suffering despite taking max tramadol and amitripilene.
i never found the tens any good,but again everyone different.but good to hear about different things used as can always find out if it can be used as an alternative

sunnyone

I tried acupuncture, the first time i had the needles in to see if I could tolerate them for 5 minutes, the second time I had a full session and felt great afterwards but the next day my shoulder muscles locked up and my head glued itself to my shoulder with a massive spasm.

Its a shame I cant have it anymore, I wasnt expecting it to work but it did for 24 hours and I would recomend anyone to try it, prefrably from a physio free to see if it helps.

CBT really helped me and learning self hypnosis which isnt anything like its sounds, its a relaxation technique which is great for when you cant sleep at all because it relaxes your body and rests your mind, not as good as sleep but when your at the end of your tether with the pain/exhaustion cycle you are graeful for any peacefullness at all.

I`ll happily try alternative therapies, I`ll take help whereever it comes from.