Any of you had this done? I'm considering this but the spike in blood sugar scares the **** out of me. Diabetes runs in family... Not diabetic but I am at the upper level of standards. Just went through two rounds of Prednisone to relive inflammation,,it helped but Boy does that suck.. It too raises sugar levels! WTH!

I suffer a lot from low back pain and just deal with it...


A good friend had the shots and said the procedure was intense ! I believe he said he had to get it done 2 times to feel any benefit....


I found using an ice gel pack really helps.....

If my back is aching I wrap a towel around an ice pack and apply it right to the usual area....


Works Way better than heat.....for me...

Fix it right and be done with it

My brother and another friend had the epidural. They both got some relief, and they both wound up having fusion done.
Both had excellent results with surgery.
My brother wishes he had gone the surgery route sooner.
My wife is looking at an epidural very soon, and is already trying to get the surgery set up as soon as she can.

quote:

Originally posted by seabass:
Fix it right and be done with it

THIS^^^^^^^^^

To "fix it right" as stated above, each doctor will tell you something different. I hurt my lower back at work in October 2002 and was out of work for almost 14 months. I went to many doctors and specialists before I chose the ones I did. Each one said something different and could "fix" it as best they could. I tried a chiropractor, therapy, nerve blocks and even had a round of epidurals done (they were 3 shots, 3 weeks apart.) The epidurals got me to where I could walk again and somewhat function until I had surgery to repair the discs.

Now-a-days they have some pretty minimal invasive surgeries they can do which you may benefit from and can help you. I wasn't as lucky with mine and had to get what they had at the time.

First surgery was in 2003, I had a discectomy done to relieve the pressure on the nerves going to my leg. When I woke up, the surgeon said he did what he could but the disc was way worse than he thought and I really needed to have a fusion done.

I put off the fusion as long as I could and finally got it done in 2009. The disc was very unstable and I could feel it clicking and moving around as I walked. It fell apart while having a discogram performed to check the stability. I had a fusion done on l4, l5 and s1 and now have artificial discs, titanium rods and screws in my back. I spent a week in the hospital which was no fun for anyone.

I also had a fusion done on my neck in 2015. This was the easiest of the 3, I felt relief as soon as I woke up and had no complications (besides losing my voice for a couple months)

Nerve pain is no joke. People who have never had it just do not understand. (they think they do but really have no effing clue)

They've come a long way since I first had problems 16 years ago. Good luck in whatever you choose to do.

To answer your question, I don't know if I would get another epidural now.

I'm just going to throw this here for you to look at.

https://www.painnewsnetwork.or...l-steroid-injections

https://drkevinpauza.com/blog/...s-lack-fda-approval/

There are many more articles and stories like it on the internet.

Really appreciate all of this guys That’s why I asked. I work till I can’t stand it, take a break but I can’t continue this. The fact that the injections as well as the prednisone elevate everything gets my attention.. The first episode put me on the floor of the trailer at the inaugural 4 wide Vegas. Thought it was a stone....Not!
Again, thank you!! This s h y t s scary.

Barry

One of my long time customers had back surgery done in Germany. He is very tall and thin. Said he got the fusion procedure done in Germany for far less costs to him and it was like a vacation. He’s at least 6’6” and owns a steel fabricating/welding business. Always tells me when I’m hurting to go to Germany to get fixed. I never see him hunched over anymore and does not walk like he has a 2x4 for a spine. Spinal Nerve pain is no joke....and debilitating.

Any steroid will spike the crap outta your blood sugar! My normal reading of 120ish easily hits 400 with a small monthly dose of Solu-Medrol. I think it is a whopping 5mG, maybe less.

Usually insurance wants you to go through the progression. Therapy, injections, then surgery. It makes sense statistically. Most people will respond to the first two, less risky options. And less expensive. And often even if surgery is the ultimate option, the first two can often give years of relief without the risk of the surgery. My wife went through this. Had decent luck for a few years with the injections. Then did the fusion this year in her neck. The problem with the injections was that they don't last all that long...well and they are expensive for the patient frankly. The surgery is expensive, but costs the insurance company far more. The fusion has been good so far. I don't know anything about the elevated blood sugar levels and have never heard about it.

My wife got/has a disk protrusion at c5 if i recall correctly. The epidural shots and thearpy fixed her up for 2 years then the pain came back. She was ready to do surgery but the insurance wouldn't cover it unless she tried the epedural and therapy again. This time the epidural didn't help as much. But a few months of therapy and some chiropractor visits and she no longer gets numbness or pain in hear arms anymore and I almost never hear her complain of pain. We will see how long it lasts this time. The chiropractor and surgeon had vastly different opinions how to treat it... go figure right. One feels training the muscles in the body to deal with the issue is the fix and the other feels slicing and dicing is the only solution (a scary one at that!)

Scott

quote:

Originally posted by TORQIN:

quote:

Originally posted by seabass:
Fix it right and be done with it

THIS^^^^^^^^^

My bulge started where I couldn’t stand more then a couple minutes...finally went in for the injections and a couple days later while “doing to much” ended up rupturing the disk and I assure that is bad pain and doesn’t stop..... anyways walked out of the hospital after a 2 hour surgery and never had pain again or took a pain pill, for my back or the surgery

I get neck and back nerve pain. It is intermittent, but what gives me long tern relief is traction to de-compress the disk.

For the low back I found on the internet (of course) a sling called the Sit and Decompress
https://www.sitanddecompress.com/

If you were really having a pain attack this will take the pressure off the nerve for sure. It gives me days of relief...but I know you guys are more messed up than what I am right now

I have a different traction device for my neck too...

Take a look

Burt- I bought the inversion table in March from Amazon and love it. While hanging 65*I feel, thump, thump , pop and it feels better. So far it works for me but that looks pretty simple and affective.

I had a fusion on L5 S1 about 15 years ago. Helped a lot.
Now I have bulging discs just above which can be quite painful after a full day of work.
I found that just hanging from a chin up bar and allowing my spine to decompress is quite helpful. I will put off a second fusion as long as I can.

I suffered with this same issue for years....past tense. I had a procedure called a Radio Frequency Burn done. They basically go in and burn off the nerve end that is causing the pain. I was told it could possibly re generate and come back and if it did he could burn up to 2 more times. Well its been 8 years and I have never been back. The procedure is quick, done in an office and requires no cutting. Im sure it depends on how bad your disc is, but I would highly recommend checking it out.

Thanks for the posts guys! Frustrating, I reminded the Dr’s what I do and did for over 30 years.. I fixed failures.......They want to do minimal care$$$! First it was pain management then Prednisone and now epidural.. I’ve been pushing hard to be fixed. It’s all about the money spent at Kaiser. I’m not done living and racing. I’ll keep b i t c h i n g.

If the oral meds help, most likely the ESI's will help also.

If your pain is radiating to your legs or arms from a pinched nerve, the ESI's are more likely to get you relief. Not so much for localized pain.

I have been fortunate to have very good results from the injections. Going through it right now for disc issue in my neck causing shoulder and arm/wrist pain and weakness.

My wife also had severe pain and weakness caused by disc issues in her neck. She was basically out of business the pain was so bad. She did the 3 Cervical ESI's, it worked for her, that was 3 years ago.

These injections can be zero help, all the way to great help long term.

Everybody is different, some of us need a simple disc trimming, some of us need fusion, there is no simple blanket answer.

I hear ya there. Not racing was the hardest for me. I tried off and on for several years and just couldn't do it anymore. After 3 or 4 runs, I was done for the day.

Last year was my first year back. I was soooo happy to be able to race again.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeB4963:
If the oral meds help, most likely the ESI's will help also.

If your pain is radiating to your legs or arms from a pinched nerve, the ESI's are more likely to get you relief. Not so much for localized pain.

I have been fortunate to have very good results from the injections. Going through it right now for disc issue in my neck causing shoulder and arm/wrist pain and weakness.

My wife also had severe pain and weakness caused by disc issues in her neck. She was basically out of business the pain was so bad. She did the 3 Cervical ESI's, it worked for her, that was 3 years ago.

These injections can be zero help, all the way to great help long term.

Everybody is different, some of us need a simple disc trimming, some of us need fusion, there is no simple blanket answer.

Right leg feels like water running down back side and foot goes numb. Scheduled injections this week. Left and right.