Quote:
Originally Posted by RSD_Dan
Hi my name is Dan and I'm a 20 year old male who was in good health until a work related injury followed by a injury playing basketball caused a bad bone bruise and a tear in my illiotibial band. After the doc realized I was in much more pain than I should be and noticed how sensitive my skin had become to touch, he referred me to pain management.
Yesterday I had a sympathetic nerve block done on my L3 vertebrae (feel free to correct me if I'm getting that wrong) and the back pain has become unbearable, they plan on doing 2 more next week but I'm afraid.. From what I've read this isn't always the most effective treatment and the back pain seems to be spreading to my entire lower back, and is quite severe, I can barely bend or twist and riding in a car (even a whole day+ after) is incredibly painful.
Could this be a sign of RSD worsening? And what other treatments are most successful? I am currently on lyrica and endocet, which help somewhat but not entirely.. I also am on anti-anxiety meds which help calm my brain a bit cuz I'm kind of freaking out.
Any suggestions/advice is much appreciated.
-Dan
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Hi Dan,
So sorry to here you are suffering with RSD. It's a really tough disease to get under control but many do and early intervention is very important.
From my experience with Lumbar Epidurals and what I have been told by my doctors is if you don't get relieve or your pain is worse then maybe it's not the correct treatment. But it is only the first one sometimes it takes a few.
I just want to ask you a few questions if you don't mind. First I hope you are bringing one of your parents with you when you have your PM Appointments, I've seen the good, bad and the ugly you always should have someone with you especially at your age, I also have a 20 yr. old son, does your doctor when administuring the epidural use flourosopy guidance which is a type of tool that allows the doctor to see on a screen exactly where the injection will go , what does your doctor say when you say "you can't twist, or bend or ride in a car" and last how long have you been going through this?
My personal experience with spinal epidurals is as such: I had 4 over the last 4 years. The 1st was great total relieve but 6 months later I needed another which didn't work at all, then I switched doctors same office my insurance changed and this guy did the last 2 and it was absolutly complete relieve, my last one was April 2010,so that's pretty good. So, yes it can go up and down and each persons situation is different. Most doctors don't like to sedate a patient when doing an epidural, they like the patient awake so he/she can ask if the injection is hitting the area of discomfort, but truthfully I have asked to be sedated and yes they do sedate me when I have them done, but I have known these doctors for 7 years, I would never do sedation unless I felt comfortable with the doctor and facility.
Try not to let it get you down. It's a tough road and if you read on this site many go into complete remission and you are young which gives you so much more of a chance of remission. I have read for some reason young people are
more likely to go into remission then someone like me who was 43 when I got hurt. Keep positive this is a great site with many people who are going through the same thing and there are some young adults like yourself on here also.
Gabbycakes