Facial Swelling after 2 kenalog injections

[Curioustoknow44]

Hi everyone,
I have a herniated disc (c6/c7). After 9 months of pain, I finally went for the Kenalog (steroid) injection via my orthopedic specialist. They felt the need to lower my dose just a bit, because I am thin & small boned (a little over 5'5" and about a 100lbs). I had a ton of pain for about a week after the injection and 3 weeks of horrible acid reflux. It didn't help, so a month later, I had another. This time, they also injected my trigger points. I take photos of myself regularly to see how my makeup looks, outfit, whatever and never end up erasing. Good thing. I noticed that within 6 days of the second injection, my face looked a little puffy. Within 10 days, I started to become unable to recognize myself. A month later, my face had become so swollen, I felt like I was eating my cheeks when I smiled. My face was always flushed and I was having horrible migraines. If I went to the store, I'd have to take breaks because i'd become terribly dizzy and sweaty. It is now almost 5 months since that last injection, and my face is still swollen. It's definitely not quite as bad as it was a month after the injection (I have a dimple in my left cheek and for several months, the swelling had filled it out. It has returned, but not as noticeable as it should be), but I definitely still don't recognize myself. It is crazy how much this has aged me, as the fullness is mainly in the lower part of my face. I have gained about 3-5lbs (which I did need-I've struggled all my life), but without increasing the amount I eat and sometimes eating less. The migraines, dizziness, heat intolerance and flushing are gone. I had questioned if maybe something was going on with my thyroid, but it would be such a huge coincidence to have such intense and sudden symptoms, as hypothyroidism tends to show itself slowly. I had bloodwork done shortly before all of that as well, and everything was perfect. I also questioned whether or not it was birth control, but then remembered that the time I was at my puffiest, I was not on the birth control at all. I took over a month break.

I know orthopedic specialists and pain management doctors always say that steroid injections do not cause moon facies, but I can't figure out what else it would be. My family is full of doctors (not PM or Ortho) who said they DO believe it's from the injections and that I need to "just give it time, it leaves different people's systems at different times".  My body is extremely sensitive to medications. It seems crazy that I still have the swollen face 4 and a half months later, though.  Does anyone have experience with this, where they had such a drastic response that lasted so long (after only 2 injections)? I will say that it seems like the second injection worked to get rid of pain. It took a good month and a half after injection, but it did subside (also, when I became my puffiest).

If anyone else experienced this... did your puffiness ever go away? Did you have to do something in particular to make it happen?

Last, I should add that I took a LOW dose of prednisone for about 5 days about 5 years ago and I reacted horribly to it. I had some similar feelings as I did with the second injection, and in a very short period of time. I had to discontinue it because I felt so detached from reality, rage-angry etc.

I'd love insight if anyone else has experienced this. My main concern is that this just isn't going to go away. Thanks so much.