Nerve Damage S1/L5

[housemd89]

mmglobal - Thanks, I am in the UK so it's free for me. If i had the money or insurance i would have went private though. He told me the risks as well which kinda freaked me out such as paralysis and that the pain might get worse but it was rare. Surgery is the last thing i want and the ortho said they don't like doing it on people as young (i'm 23) as me but it's something i may have to consider if the injections don't help.
Edit - What other options are there to a spinal fusion?

jswell - I was told i'll be awake with just a local anathestic jag to the area, i hate needles as well but not too fussed because i'm not going to be looking at it. It's a 6 week maximum wait for it. I've been in pain for over a year and off work since October so 6 weeks seems like nothing lol.

[jsewell]

Six weeks is not too bad . Good Luck with the injections and let us know how you are doing after you have them
judy

[hamrs_62]

I am not to sure about epidurals, when I asked my pain dr. (of coarse I knew the answer) ok this will cure what is wrong with my neck, and he said no, so then I said, so it will just mask the problem so I can feel good enough to hurt my neck more, and he said it masks the pain, so I asked why do it if it is not a cure,
Pain is there to warn you that something is wrong, with out it our body would not know when out finger was being burnt,

just because I cant feel that pain does not mean I can go back to work, so for me I really have no use unless I chose this option for a life long option, and never work again, I guess I just do not get it,,,

[housemd89]

Originally Posted by hamrs_62

I am not to sure about epidurals, when I asked my pain dr. (of coarse I knew the answer) ok this will cure what is wrong with my neck, and he said no, so then I said, so it will just mask the problem so I can feel good enough to hurt my neck more, and he said it masks the pain, so I asked why do it if it is not a cure,
Pain is there to warn you that something is wrong, with out it our body would not know when out finger was being burnt,

just because I cant feel that pain does not mean I can go back to work, so for me I really have no use unless I chose this option for a life long option, and never work again, I guess I just do not get it,,,

That's a very good point, I never thought about that. I'm out of options though and really want to stop feeling pain.. like you said though it could end up meaning you could hurt yourself more and not realise.

[housemd89]

Just an update here. I am booked in for the 14th of Aug for my epidural injection but it may be put back as they've realised i have tachycardia and don't know the cause. They took an ECG and have now booked me in for an echo hopefully to be done by next week. My heart rate is staying around 121bpm at rest. Blood pressure and blood results were fine though.

[Maria]

With whatever is causing the tachycardia.

I just wanted to state (and I'm sure I have already) I had ESIs from 2001 to 2006. Somewhere I said 10 years worth which isn't correct as it was only 5 years however I had them at least 3x/year.

Doing this did masque pain thankfully and made me actually get out of bed and get walking and actually improve my physical status.

One has to remember while we are at rest due to our "bad" whatever the rest of the body is undergoing changes involved when not in use. These changes are usually make us weaker and less healthy.

For years when my back was bad I had to lie in bed for weeks and months to get over flare ups. I have not had to do that in the last 7 years at least not for weeks and months, maybe for a few days or a week at most.

The ESIs did help me actually as they bought time for my body to do it's own thing and head towards auto fusion and that helped my spine. Maybe the steroid material did contribute to my osteoporosis too but I have a family history of that with mother, father and even my brother having it and they had no ESIs so I think it's a familial thing vs. brought on the 'roids.

Sometimes covering up the pain can cover up some serious conditions that should be addressed in a more aggressive manner than just drugs but I think generally one brings changes to the doctor's attention such as increased pain and some changes with weakness or the various symptoms that would deem further diagnostic testing that would pick up changes that might necessitate surgery.

Often surgery just isn't ordered for the most common thing we take pain meds for which is pain. I had enough pain for way too long and was happy to be prescribed something to help cover it up and also help my body stabilize a bit and not head towards more surgery which may or may not help enough to get off pain meds of some sort completely.

The main message here is for people to make sure they are reporting changes they might be experiencing no matter how minute they may seem they may signify something important.

[jsewell]

I am sorry about the possible holdup and hopefully your heart will check out just fine. Just to put in my 2cents, i have adrenal insufficeincy, it does cause a high heart rate and rather low blood pressure.
judy