Epidural w/ medications

[MMM85]

Doc,

i am 24 years old and was invovled in a seriosu car accident that has left me in terrible pain.  I have been in Pain Management for about 2 years now and the dr pretty much said it will only get worse so we need to do what we can to lower your pain and keep it at a normal level (w/ mediciation).  Then he brought up getting an epidural and said even if it does not work wonders, at least it will bring your pain level down a little bit even if it is for a moment, then it is worth it.  I read the disclaimer when i went to my appt yesterday for the epidural (steriod) and it says it can cause paraylisis and even death or CAUSE PAIN TO GET WORSE.  I am taking Methadone 10mg, 3 tablets 3 times a day  --   Percocet 10mg, 2 tablets every 4 hours   ---  Roxicodone (Oxycodone) 30mg, 1 tablet 4 times a day......Even with all these medicine, he said epidural will still be benefical and out weighs the risks.  However i am reading that it may cause these problems and also is it okay to combine medications and the epidural.  I get one every 3 months and i just dont find it to be beneficial.  Are these safe and do i need them?

[Jaybay]

It's safe to have the meds and the epidurals.  However, if the the epidurals don't help you, I don't see any reason to keep having them done.  Aren't they pretty expensive?  You DO need to find some other ways to manage your pain aside from just taking meds.  You're on a very stout dose of narcotics, so where does that leave you over the years of worsening pain?  There comes a point that you just can't keep adding opiates.  I'm glad your doctor is at least trying to treat your pain, but you may want another opinion.  Sometimes a different set of eyeballs on a problem can make a big difference.

[lkw]

Yeah, I agree. You may want to see a new pain specialist. I had 3 epidurals and they work ok... and very short lived. Some people, they really help.

However, my pain dr went to the epidural first as management instead of piling on the meds.

You have a long list of some pretty strong drugs. Please be careful. You may want to check with another dr. Oxy's and the others are very addictive, and if you need to come off, withdrawal pain will be just as bad or worse than the physical pain. Try googling Pain management dr's in your city.

Best,
lexie

[sandee1818]

I have gotten the epidurals early on and to e honest they caused more pain. My pain is on the right side after the epidurals my left side hurt just as bad as my right.

[Ghilly]

Before you consent to having epidural injections done, do yourself a favor and Google "Adhesive Arachnoiditis".  It's a condition that has recently been discovered to be associated with epidural injections.  I developed this condition after a pre-surgical myelogram, due to the nerves in the spine being irritated by the dye that was injected, and now I will be on PM drugs for the rest of my life because the nerves in my spine are knitting themselves into clumps and forming masses of scar tissue that will eventually cut off the flow of cerebrospinal fluid to the base of my spine, and at that point I will be in a wheelchair full time.  However, epidural steroid injections are now also being implicated as a cause of arachnoiditis.  It has been estimated that 75% of the people who have epidural injections of any kind develop arachnoiditis to at least some degree, although most of them only develop it to a minor degree.  However, there are an unlucky few, like myself, who develop it to the degree that unless I take my meds, I have nerve pain screaming down my legs and the feeling of having shards of broken glass stuck in the soles of my feet.  I wish I had known about this before I agreed to have the myelogram, but I trusted the doctor who did it, and before he injected me, I consulted with him and specifically ASKED him WHAT CAN GO WRONG?, and was told that unless I had an anaphylactic reaction to the dye when it was injected, that virtually nothing could go wrong.  I believed him.  Now I know better, but it was an expensive lesson to learn.  
Ghilly