Hi Everyone, Has anyone gotten epidural shots for their pain? My Aunt spoke with my Mom and said she gets the epidurals and she is ALMOST pain free for three months. Was wondering how true it is because I'll try anything not to be in pain. Would love to hear any feed back, Gentle hugs to you all, Robin
i have never heard of that for helping for fibro. I'm not able to get really much help with my pain. It seems to be getting worse and worse. I would love to hear about information on this and how to find someone to do it.
I have not yet gotten but I have heard of them in the past and just now researched it and will be calling 1 to 3 of my doctors about it tomorrow. I'll let you know my progression through the process and what exactly my doctors say about it all and if I do get it how it goes and if it helps. I'm an adventurous little one and am so sick of the t3s, gonna do anything that may help, within reason of course!
My pain seems to be getting worse as well. I heard this is done through a pain clinic. Check back on this blog maybe we will get some good answers. Hope you have a nice day, Gentle hugs coming your way...
Shawna, that would be great and please keep me posted. Shoot if I could go 1 month pain free I would love it. Hope you have a nice day, Gentle hugs coming your way, Robin
I have had epidural injections in my low back, as I have 2 herniated discs and some degeneration. The aren’t much when it comes to pain, my doctor does then under X-ray with you laying down and there is lidocaine mixed in the cortisone. The cortisone helps reduce inflammation of the nerve. I go home and I e the area off and on afterwards. It takes a few days for the injection sites to settle down, but they have kept me moving. Can’t even count how many of the I have had, as weep as sacroiliac injections and RFA’s. The worse thing I get is the red cheeks from the cortisone for a day. Pain subsides after about 2 days. It’s keeping me walking and away from the surgery table.
Thanks Sandi, Do the injections help your fibro? And if yes how long does it last. Sorry forasking so many ???
I had two injections at the end of Aug…although I have PsA and Fibro my sciatic nerve was acting up from bulging discs and it did help …great pain relief…how long this will last is another story.
GrammyPammy, Any pain relief would be great lol. I'm glad it helped you some and I think it's time to talk to my doctors about. Thanks so much, Gentle Hugs, Robin
I just had my second one out of three yesterday and of course today I am hurting. I have a herniated disc with degeneration and have a lot of pain I think caused by it. It has gotten way worse over this past year and put me into the worst flair that I have ever had for months. After getting that under control my back pain continued to get worse and I ended up on this corse. I have had the shots in the past with what I thought was not much help but I could have been wrong. The first one this time did nothing, and my doc said sometimes the first one doesn’t seam to do much however if this one doesn’t help he said he will cancel the third. My follow up wi him is next Monday and the following shot is the Monday after that. Good luck I hope you can get some relief. Hugs.
Becca
Of and ps yes mine is done through a pain managment clinic.
I get them but I have severe arthritis in my spine. They help with the arthritis pain but not the fibro pain. THere is a difference. These shots don't always work - I had to get 3 different kinds a few months back until I could get some relief.
I’ve not had this kind of shot to control Fibro pain but have had cortisone injections in my elbow and shoulder related to bone pain issues from a bone disease I have called Fibrous Dysplasia. I do get some relief. From what others are writing it sounds like people are saying similar things, that they get bone pain relief but not Fibro pain relief.
I wish there was a shot we could give ourselves first thing in the morning before getting out of bed that would help us get moving without so much creaking & groaning! That would be something wouldn’t it?
My husband had an epidual before his cancer operation. He had no pain what so ever. They cut him from his navel to around his back. So I would think they work great.
Shirley.
I had 3 epidural injections but they didn’t really help for a long period of time. I am now following the protocol for radio frequency ablation. It is used to treat back pain when nothing else works. It involves a radio wave that gets transmitted to the tip of the needle to create heat. This warms the affected nerve to reduce or eliminate pain. The procedure takes about half an hour & they say it can provide pain relief from anywhere from 3 mos to a year. It is covered by insurance. There is a lot of info abt this procedure on the web if u want to find out more. It has to be done by a chronic pain doc. I am so looking forward to having this done since the goal would be of course to have less or no pain & to ween myself of all the dangerous drugs I am dependent on. Go ahead & look it up. It seriously sounds like exactly what we need - our nerves blocked so they cannot send pain messages to our brain anymore!!
I’m scheduled to get my first set of epidural injections on Friday I know this doesn’t help my fibromyalgia but I hope and pray that this works for my back, and now I have my right hip hurting reallllly bad. All the time. I hope they can do something for this pain 
I have gotten them with great results but for different issues. I asked my pain dr about them for fibro, and he said they were not effective. So that is all I have to offer. Sorry and good luck with your quest.
My brother says it hurts like hell if they hit the right nerve.he has released his bowels several times having this procedure. Not to scare you, but just wanted you to know the full story.
Good question Robin,
I almost had one done and changed my mind. I have an unusual condition inside my spinal canal that causes stenosis of the spinal cord in 3 spots...neck, midback and lower back. I've seen an ortho surgeon who said it's a risky surgery...could cause more pain. I get another opinion Dec 1tth from a neurosurgeon. But my PCP said weigh the pain against the risk of paralysis. I used to be a scrub nurse, that's the one who assists the surgeon during surgery, hands him the instruments etc. That was many years ago and I swore I'd never have surgery unless mylife was at risk.
however, times have changed and hopefully procedures are a little safer. And I did have a Robotic total hysterectomy 6 months ago, which was a breeze.
But, I know anytime you put anything into the spinal canal, you're taking a risk of more pain. Today i have been on the verge of tears all day from head to toewith bone and muscle, joint pain. And i was thinking maybe i should try the injections. But i'm still scared. I go to a pain clinic who gives me Oxycodone 7.5 but only 2 a day. and it does NOT help my back pain,and only makes the Fibro bearable so I have hours in between pills where I'm bedridden. I say bedridden....I get up and down because the pain is so bad I can't just thrash around in bed all day. But the fatigue throws me back into bed over and over.
The winter is officially here today with 26 degrees and it feels like it's inside my bones. I've officially moved ustairs to my bedroom for the winter where it's warmer.
So to answer your question.......I don't know!!!! At times I'm so desperate I would do anything, then when I feel a little bettter I change my mind. Seems like there's no definate yes or no answer to this steroid injection question. i think if you go in complaining of chronic back pain over and over and don't mention Fibro, some pain clinics willl offer steroid shots if you have insurance!
I had one in my shoulder once from an inflamed rotator cuff, it was the most painful thing I've ever felt. But it DID work. But like the other's said. It's purely for inflammation. I take Mobic, but it doesn't seem to do anything.
I'm curious about that nerve alblation someone mentioned.....I'll google it too.
If anyone has anything that helps....i'm all ears!
warm hugs,
P
Haveyouasked your pain doc about OxyContin or MS Contin? They are continuous release forms of the the oxy codone and of morphine. You don’t get as much medicine at one time but you get a steady release of it all day. I started on MS Contin about a week ago and it has made a huge difference. I still have some aches but not the horrible pain I was having 24/7. Other people have mentioned nucynta and opana, as well as others. Might be worth talking to the doc about.
Hi Robin, that’s great for your aunt … Epidural shot and 3 months pain free… That’s wonderful !! Unfortunately she is the exception & there are also many variables involved like what kind of spinal problem does she have ? some are just given lidocaine , ( sounds lke she may have had a steroid injected) the word epidural just means that the injection was given in the epidural space, that’s the space that surrounds the spinal column , so many different types of medication can be delivered into this epideral space, for example when a women is having a baby and she has an epidural, anesthetic agents are delivered through the epidural space making her numb from the waist down.
I have always got facet blocks in my neck, the medicine is just lidocaine and it’s injected just above the facet joint, that’s the pointy part of the vertebrae ( bony part ) there are one on each side, it would help a little.
If you have any kind of back or spine issues… That result in pain ( herniated discs especially ) the epidural injections can provide some relief… Anywhere from no help al all to mild relief all the way to pain free, ( which I don’t really here very often) but great for her !!
You got a lot of great info
Hope this helps ans your question
Hugs & blessings