Epidural Shot..YUCK!!

[mary.mary]

OK!!

So, today I had my shot. Let me explain my day...

I was at the hospital for 630am, they hooked me up to an IV, the nurse came in with the dr, they told me to lay on my side with my knees bent, they put the freezing in, YUCK!! Then the dr put the needle in with the steroid/pain med/freezing stuff etc.. then I hear oops, I guess he hit the wrong something and it caused some fluid to leak, NO IDEA!! At that point, he said ok he is going to do it again, he did and then I had to roll back on my back and let him know when my legs started to lose feeling etc...5 minutes later, NOTHING!! At that point another dr walks in and says OH, it didn't work, Ok I will do it this time...aparently the other dr was a STUDENT!! GREAT!!

After the 3rd attempt it was a success, not soon aftwewards the headache I got was CRAZY!! I wasn't allowed to leave until I got the feeling back into my leg and the headache calmed down....they gave me a shot of demerol and told me to go home and RELAX!! To drink lots of caffeine and it should help the headache...

Well, here I am now and the headache is still there, if I lay down the headache isn't too bad, BUT if I sit up, OH GOSH!!

I called my family dr and they told me to keep an eye on it and if it isn't any better to call the Pain Clinic in the a.m. WHY IN THE HECK IS THIS HAPPENING??

Does ANYONE have ANY advice for me?? THIS SUX!!

Mary

[Katie]

As far as I know, it happened because of the fluid leaking. Someone else can correct me though, if necessary. Dr. J??

I had an epidural during labour with my first child. It was given by an old fart who should not have been practicing anymore. He only froze HALF of my body, and I still had labour pains in the right side. ARG! This was after a 21 hour labour....I was not amused. And he didn't correct it, for whatever reason.

Interestingly enough, I was told afterward to not sit up for almost 24 hours, or else I would get the mother of all headaches....they even gave me a bedpan to make sure I stayed horizontal.

Seems like they didn't give you that little piece of information.

Don't let this go on too long...I would call the pain clinic or hospital sooner if it gets bad.

[Justin]

Click on this link: Epidural Steroid Injections

This is from the webpage above.

What are the risks of the procedure?

The main risk that occurs at a rate of approximately 1/100 is the risk of a dural puncture. (This rate is higher in patients who have had previous back surgery). A dural puncture occurs when the needle is unintentionally advanced one layer beyond the epidural space and punctures the membrane that surrounds spinal fluid. If this occurs there is a risk of developing a spinal headache, which may be severe and may last for days. There is a procedure (epidural blood patch) that can treat the headache if it occurs and does not improve sufficiently in 48 hours.

Other risks are remote but include bleeding, infection, nerve injury and allergic reaction to the medication.

Some short-term side effects may occur. If local anesthetic spreads to nearby nerves you may have weakness or numbness that can last for 1 - 2 hours. If this happens you will have to stay in the Pain Management Center until this resolves. You may have increased pain for a few days after the injection. Diabetics may have short-term elevation of blood sugars. People prone to fluid retention may have increased fluid retention for 1 -2 weeks.

[Katie]

Wow, you're fast Dr. J!

[Justin]

WHY IN THE HECK IS THIS HAPPENING??

Does ANYONE have ANY advice for me?? THIS SUX!!

I'm sorry you're feeling bad. However, what you are experiencing is a known side effect of epidurals. If you lose bowel or bladder function, call your physician ASAP. Although the headache sucks, it should pass with time.

Lots of caffeine does help...I had a headache like you describe from a myelogram I had in January. (Normal, well-known side effect)

EDIT: I forgot to mention...be sure to stay well hydrated. Good luck!

[Justin]

Originally Posted by Katie

Wow, you're fast Dr. J!

I just logged on! Hehe. I just got off of the phone with someone from Chile around my age with similar back problems and I thought I'd check the board.

[mary.mary]

THANK YOU Dr.J for explaining to me what it was I was experiencing, this is for sure not fun, THANKFULLY I have a laptop and an AMAZING friend here to help me with Amiah. PHEW!!

I am heading to bed now and hoping when I wake up I will feel better!! Fingers crossed!!

Thanks again for reply to my post. Hope you have a good night!!

Mary

[Gil Denis]

Hi Mary

I just had a EPI today ,began to sweat and almost lost lunch other than that it was o.k. No headache.

I was in and out in 45 min.

Still a little numb in the buttox S-1 injection

Good Luck

Gil

[Kathy]

Mary,
I pray your headache is gone in the morning.

When I had my second daughter, I had epidural issues. After getting my first epidural, I was 'rolled' from side to side to help my labor progress. Apparently, this caused the epidural to come out of the epidural space; as the dr gave me the dose a woman having a cesarean would get and it did nothing! I was then told my options were to do nothing and go through the rest of labor with no drugs (been there and done that with my first daughter when my epidural quit working, 36 hours of labor, 1 hour of epidural equals 1 pissed off mommy), get iv drug staydol or get another epidural. I was warned that by getting another epidural, I would need to sit up, to have it done and that there was a risk of getting a migrane that could last up to 21 days. I decided to take my chances and opted for another epidural and IV drugs. I didn't get the headache; but have heard of people who have and they say it is awful. I hope yours does not last and am sorry you had such a bad experience.

[runner]

Mary,

Sorry for the headache.
I had three ESIs this year and they were all done under fluroscope (like a type of x-ray) and was given sedation.
I didn't get any problems but was wondering if the doctor did it under fluoroscope, which I would insist on next time.
That way they call tell where they are going not just by touch.
ESIs underneath fluoroscope also have been proven more accurate in medical literature. Just google Epidural Spinal Injections or Dr. J's site.

runner

[dshobbies]

Mary,

if you need caffeine, look at it this way. Eat all the chocolate you want, dark or course, and wash it down with a cappuccino blast from Baskin Robbins (non fat but loaded with caffeine). The headache may suck but the remedy .

Truthfully, I'm sorry. I understand this headache is overwhelming. I can't believe they let a student 'practice' on you. Warning, next time, ask how many of the specific procedure the doctor has done before allowing him to touch you. It's your body and your pain and suffering. I'd also write a letter of complaint about the 'oops'.

Dale

[Katie]

I studied Dental Hygiene hundreds of years ago, and the most enforced rule the instructors had was "Never say OOOPS!".

Somehow they thought it may erode confidence in their health care provider....

[mary.mary]

Well,

After waking up this morning and still having the headache, I called the Pain Clinic and spoke with the nurse, who then spoke with the 'real' dr who told me to come right in and he was going to assess me.

I got there about 930am and I guess due to the fact that I looked so CRAPPY, he opted to give me a blood patch, I hope that is what it's called, .

WELL!! Let me tell you!!! That is DEFINATELY something I DO NOT want to experience again...

They laid me down on my side with my knees bent to my chest, had me all set up, it took 2 drs to do it, one was at my head with my arm, and the other was at my back with the epidural thingy...they took blood from my arm and injected it into my back, IT HURT LIKE H*#%!! I was then rolled back onto my back and coulld not leave until the headache had subsided to a level that I could tolerate.

I was finally sent home and told to rest, no heavy lifitin etc etc etc...I was also notified that I could still have a minor headache for a couple days afterwards and that I am to follow up with my family dr in 2 days...

I don't think I will be going for another ESI anytime SOON!!

Thanks for the support!!
Mary

[treefrog]

From the description, I would bet they didn't do it under Flouroscope. All of mine were done with it, and each time I had to lay on my stomach. In fact I've never heard of someone laying on their side to have it done.

Unless the doctor is extremely skilled at doing ESI's, they shouldn't be doing them without the fluoroscope to show them exactly where to put it.

I'm very sorry that you ended up with the spinal headache. If it doesn't go away, or gets too bad, go to the ER and tell them you need a blood patch for a spinal leak.

But, I really hope that it goes away very soon. I feel so bad for you.

[Maria]

One of main questions to ask when PM suggests ESI is will it be performed with fluroscopy? If not I would not have it done.. I've never laid on my side either and never had a student perform it only the PM. Now that doesn't mean he or she cannot make mistakes either but I don't think under fluroscopy that's going to happen but without is much more likely to.

The very first time I had an ESI done it was in the office back in '93 and that stopped me from getting any until 2001 because it was so terribly painful and who knows if it was even in the right place. I surely didn't get any relief unlike all the others I've had since.

Now I've had one where upon I didn't have sedation and my PM pushed a bit too much fluid against the nerve and boy did I feel that pain.. back spasmed and had hot searing pain down my leg.. but it stopped after a while and there was overall relief from pain as usual. BTW, I had a PM back around 2001-2003 and I didn't have sedation with his ESIs and they were always dead on target and I got great relief from them... but moved to Florida for a year and a half and the PM there ONLY did them with sedation (more to bill insurance co. for) so then when I moved back to CA. I started seeing a PM in San Diego and I tried having the ESI once w/o the sedation and had just a little prob which is described above and then the rest have been with the same person and with sedation.. for myself I prefer the transforaminal approach as I've mentioned before.

I've had one spinal tap and two myelograms for which I've had spinal leaks afterwards and with the myelgrams I had to be hospitalized for one week afterwards lying absolutely flat in bed because raising my head at all brought about the most excrutiating head pain I think I could ever not even imagine and each time neither of my Neuro docs would order a blood patch. Not sure why..

oh well. that's all over now but I surely do hope your h/a is fading fast. Re the ESIs.. again, make sure it's done under fluroscopy and if it's not don't ever agree to have one done~ find someone else that does them with this. One bad experience doesn't mean they are all like that though and that's the point of my post here.

[treefrog]

I guess I was posting at the same time as you Mary. Well, I hope that this did the trick, and that the headache is going away, or at least tolerable.

And Maria is correct, ESI's do not have to be what you experienced. Sorry, that we did not think to have you ask before hand, if it was to be done under fluoroscopy, as I think this would have prevented the problems you have had.

Bottom line, I hope that the ESI gives you some relief from you pain.

[Kathy]

Wow! That sounds very painful. I have never had one done on my side either, always lying on my stomach under fluroscopy. I can't even stand the lidocaine shot, hence why I get the sedation. I hope your headache is getting better.

[Jakea222]

Fluroscopy - anyways - I have had 3 - none hurt and the first helped the last 2 nothing = surgery is my next route - but iquire ask questions - newer ways out there

[Kathy]

Mary- Everytime I see your Avatar picture of your little girl, it makes me smile. She is absolutely adorable! It looks like she is waving 'hello' in the picture. I'm sure she is an absolute delight to be around. She is a doll!