Cortisone side effect?

Megrose489

As you may know I had a steroid injection into the basal joint of my thumb on 26 June. I developed an interesting bruise covering half of my hand and wrist and it was a little painful afterwards, but bearable. Two days later I realised I wasn't speaking properly, my mouth felt odd - especially when I said the letter 's'. Now, ten days later, I've finally worked out that the inside of my lower lip may be slightly swollen. There's really nothing to see, but it still feels rather strange. Could this be a side effect of the cortisone? I've had two cortisone injections in the past with no problems, but, I'm due to have another one on 18 July and, if it could be a side effect, then I think I will decline. Has anybody else had this?

maria09

Hi
I've had many cortisone injection with no side effects
I think you should make an appointment with your GP about this
You can suffer more adverse reactions to further injections so if you have them you need to be monitored carefully so see your GP before the next one & inform your rheumy team too
I hope I haven't scared you too much that's not my intention but just to add caution to further injections
Maria

trepolpen

sounds like a reaction to something , not had any side effects from steriod injection myself so try talk to your GP tomorrow or today if it gets worse or even a pharmacist if you are worried

Megrose489

Thank you both for your replies. Yes, Maria, my biggest concern was a possible problem with future injections. I'm due to see my GP again next week anyway - no rheumy team, as I've got OA - so will definitely mention this.

At the risk of sounding stupid :oops: I'm really not 100% sure if it's swollen or not. My DH says he can't see anything wrong, but I've definitely got a lot of excess saliva in my mouth. I suppose it could be something else - I've had a couple of sinus infections over the past few months and have the glamorous sounding 'postnasal drip', which, I believe results in excess saliva. But, I will mention it, anyway, just to be on the safe side.

Thanks for your help.

stickywicket

I've never heard of this as a side-effect. I never have any side-effects only the intended one. It couldn't possibly be that you've just bitten your lip, could it? Possibly as the jab went in :roll: Definitely mention it when you see your GP though.

dreamdaisy

I too think this needs to be checked out - it sounds very odd to me. How were you not speaking properly? You say you couldn't do the /s/ sound, how about /sh/ and /ch/? Were you slurring at all? Please see someone about this, it just doesn't sound right in relation to a cortisone injection. DD

Megrose489

Thanks DD. The main problem was that my mouth was full of excess saliva and I was having to swallow a lot. When I spoke, I was in danger of spraying the person I was speaking to! I thought inside my lip was swollen, but maybe not. It has improved over the past few days, so I'm coming to the conclusion that it may be linked to my sinus trouble. I feel embarrassed now that I posted about it, because it was probably me just being anxious and linking it to the cortisone injection. :roll: I am a bit anxious at the moment as I have to go to the hospital next week for the result of a CT scan I had a few weeks ago. I've got a 9mm stone and a cyst in one of my kidneys and I'll be discussing with the consultant what, if anything, they are going to do. Thanks again.

Meg

Just to add that I was also diagnosed with IBS at the beginning of the year, after having a flare-up last October. So it's all been going on!

dreamdaisy

I apologise for my late reply - it was my wedding anniversary yesterday, plus my mum's house stuff and his mum's house stuff going on - I forgot. :oops: I think it's very easy to attribute anything unusual to the arthritis and its meds, after all they can do some weird and wonderful things to us. Sometimes things happen just because they happen but it can be hard for us to tell if that is the case or not. You have a deal on your plate at the moment so no wonder you were unsettled by this - I am pleased to read that it's easing. DD

Megrose489

Thanks DD. I feel slightly less of an idiot after your kind post!

Hope you had a lovely anniversary celebration.

Best wishes,
Meg

DebraKelly

I have had several steriod injections in my knee over the years and I have to say I have had no side effects, apart from feeling very hungry for several hours afterwards!

I would strongly suggest that you seek medical advise.

safariaddict

My docs here in France tell me that patients should not have more than one or two treatments of cortisone. I am surprised you seem to have had so many.