Quote:
Originally Posted by gabbycakes
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
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I only have my mom and it's tough for her to come to all the appointments, but she does her best. She'll be there today.
And thank you for the questions I don't mind at all it's relieving to know that someone who gets what I'm going through can ask constructive questions. Yeah he uses some kind of x-ray thing or something to see where the fluid is going. He doesn't ask if I can twist or bend but the sheet they leave me with after says not to ride in a car for 8 hours after. The first one was pretty clinical I was kind of in and out, they gave me lyrica then I had to call back and wait a day of terrible pain for a script of percocet to be filled (god forbid they give me something that actually works) since I'm technically not a patient until tuesday when I sit down with the Dr himself as the they think the Dr who referred me is my Dr, but he is just a family friend who was helping out and rushing me in there so I could be seen as he couldn't take me on as a patient for 2 weeks. It's confusing I know I don't really understand it either, as I thought time was of the essence with this.
They used a local anesthetic last time but it only lasted for maybe 45 minutes then my back killed on top of my knee & calf still killing me. And all that has happened since the first one was an increase in pain in my calf muscle and the feeling that it's spreading. To be honest I would rather be sedated as it's not like I could feel anything there at the moment of impact, and once I saw the size of that needle my only thought was "Holy $#*1, you're sticking that big thing in my spine?".. Now I know that most people go through this, I just hate needles and this was no IV needle, unless you're sticking a grizzly bear.
Thanks again for your support I'm trying to stay positive it's just tough going from being 6' 185 in excellent shape to under 175 and skinny as hell. It also sucks when you had a small drug problem that you're over with but caused you to have a high tolerance. So they act like they're doing me a favor by giving me perc 5's which don't touch the pain unless I take at least 2, usually more like 3-5 when I'm really flaring up, but then I run out and spend a day or two in excruciating pain. And those don't even touch the muscle spasms.
Sometimes I feel like I'd almost be better off saying &%& it and canceling my health insurance saving that money and getting meds that actually work. I know that sounds stupid but it seems more pro-active than this useless stuff. The first one didn't help anything and if anything just made it worse, so I'm pretty disenchanted especially when I read so many people not getting relief or it even making it worse with these spinal things.
I understand the whole "we don't want people hooked on meds" stuff but honestly I'd rather be hooked on something that works so I can go back to work and at least exercise in some capacity, instead of being 20 and walking around with a damn cane like I'm 92 yrs old.
/rant