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Had Cortisone Injections done

Posted , 11 users are following.

dea13
dea13

Hi all, well my last post was about 2 months ago and I asked advice on the Cortisone Injections in my facet joints...

I went ahead and had them done on the 5th October, he did 2 in each side.

So far they are working at I would say 60% less pain, at least now I can stand and walk for more than 15 mins at a time... without the spasm and chronic pain hitting me.

I am walking now for up to 1 to 2 hours before my back starts to give light spasms which is great... still using a trolley as my muscles are weak from the Preds and no exercise, but working on that.

I am also hoping that the injection is still not at it's full potential, I was told it can take a few weeks to reach that, even if it is, I will be happy if it stays this way for a while at least.

I have my daughters wedding 4th November which I have to fly down for, and that will be a big day, also staying there awhile... Fingers crossed . 

I am still on 13mg of Preds a day and decided while I am going away I will not taper anymore until I return. I'm comfortable on the 13 so far, so why spoil it.

I hope all are doing better with their journey , it's a long road ahead, but we can do it:

Cheers Dea 

2 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • Michdonn
    Michdonn dea13

    Posted

    Yes we can dea13, one step at a time, thinking positive with a smile on our faces. Keep going! Smiling 🙂

  • EileenH
    EileenH dea13

    Posted

    Good start - hope the improvement continues and lasts - and enjoy that wedding!
  • BioMedGeoff
    BioMedGeoff dea13

    Posted

    Hi Dea13, over a period of 2 years I had my facet joints injected 4 times. That was 6 years ago. Since the last injections I was prescribed a low dose of slow release Tramadol twice a day. I have never had back pain since and play golf twice a week. Having had PMR for 12 years my advice is listen to your body and do not be rushed to get off predisolone. When you have such an important event like a family wedding, indeed hold station at what dose you are comfortable at (13mg). Plenty of time to reduce later. Good luck with you back and PMR, and enjoy your daughters wedding. Best regards, Geoff (Jibber).
    • dea13
      dea13 BioMedGeoff

      Posted

      Hi, so are you telling me the injections did work or didn't? Mine are just starting to pain again after just 5 weeks.. It was my 1st time for them. Radiologist wants me to have another scan to see if anything had change from the last one. I don't know what  Tramadol is here in Australia, but I need something better than Panadol for this OA pain.  Good to hear it worked for you.

      The wedding was great thank you, I lasted the whole week smile  Cheers Dea 

  • brenda69464
    brenda69464 dea13

    Posted

    Wishing you all the best with your upcoming plans !

     

  • RD_Swede
    RD_Swede dea13

    Posted

    Hi Dea. Last Thursday I had injections on top of my right foot between toe 4 and 5 due to Mortons neuroma. I have had some decrease in pain but it seems to vary a little from day to day. As I have had pain for some year(s) I have been using wide shoes with rocker soles and that helps. The orthopedic doctor will call me in the middle of December to check what I think about the injections and possibly I will have it once more.

    I keep smiling (I like your attitude Michdonn)

    Greetings from cold Sweden - 6 C to-day

    Ragnar

  • BillyP
    BillyP dea13

    Posted

    GDay dea...........

    ​I had cortisone injections in my lower spine at L5/S1 facet joint where I had a senovical cyst caused by OA .

    ​The cyst was pressing on the sciatic nerve sending pain down the right leg, I could sit anywhere at anytime,

    ​but trying to stand or walk was impossible without a walker.

    ​The first injection (2 years ago) worked wonders , taking about 3 weeks to work, it was good for 10 months.

    The second., third and fourth did no good whatsoever and the pain was getting unbearable, I was put on 

    ​Lyrica, the Doc saying its the best....you can get off it no trouble when necessary.....WRONG.....it is worse 

    to get off than pred , (for me anyway)...........

    So tried a few things for no success, then accupunture , still no good......but that bloke said have you tried

    bicycle riding, not an exercise bike but, the real thing...........

    So bought a bike, cos I used to walk around the block etc. and like the exercise for my PMR and ticker .....

    ​Anyway I was booked in to see a back surgeon ,to see what could be done for the pain just after I got the bike.....

    ​A couple of 10 k rides where I worked as hard as I could , suddenly saw the pain easing off......

    The back surgeon said I find it hard to believe that bike riding helped, but I am not going to cut you open to 

    ​check, so keep it up and see what happens...

    So now I do my ten to fifteen ks every second day and the sciatic pain has disappeared ,virtually overnight,

    (maybe the  pedaling action has moved the cyst off the nerve ) but another MRI has shown some shrinkage

    of the cyst,

    So there you go ......you never know..........not bad for an 80 year old.......

    ​Sorry about all that.......First injections were good ......no joy thereafter here in Aussie land.

    • EileenH
      EileenH BillyP

      Posted

      "you can get off it no trouble when necessary" - it really worries me when I hear some of the things doctors say about medication. Theoretically, Lyrica can be tapered down over at least a week - in practise it often takes much longer. Why are they not aware of such things? I know it...

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