Hello all. It's been awhile since I last posted, mainly because I hadn't had much going on...

But today I spoke with my lawyer who advised me that the work comp folks are actually agreeing to pay for Epidural steroid injections for my back and leg pain. (disc bulge at l5-s1, facet joint degeneration- radiating pain from lower back down right leg, reduced sensation in right foot)

I've never had these before, and we feared an argument about them being approved. The doc seems to think they could help quite a bit, but I am terrified, for a couple of reasons.

First, the hospital here where it would be done does NOT use the flouroscopy or
x-ray to guide or ensure precise location of the needle, which from what I read online is very important. I've seen a couple of articles indicate that in more than 30% of cases the medicine is improperly placed, resulting in ineffectiveness or increased side effects. My regular doc insists that the people who perform the shots do epidurals on women in labor "all of the time" so they know what they're doing. While that may very well be true, I imagine that it is not quite the same when you need to deliver steroids to a specific area as opposed to numbing the whole lower body region. Am I right to be concerned?

The other concerns are regarding the steroid itself. I once had bursitis in a knee, and a doc gave me a methyl-pred pack (?) of methylprednisone to reduce the inflammation and it made me sick as a dog. I felt flu-like, with all over body aches, vomiting, and over-jumpy nerves. I felt like I was dying and wanted to bite the head off of anyone who looked at me wrong. Do steroids vary much from drug to drug in terms of causing these sorts of reactions?

I desperately want to get rid of this pain, but I'm worried it will all be a bunch of bad side effects with no benefits. At the same time, I am afraid to tell the doc tht I won't even try this for whatever reason because then he could refuse to treat me otherwise, or the work comp folks could make a big deal about me not trying something that was recommended.

Has anyone had these, and what was your experience? Please share your story....