Newly Diagnosed

gwynethd
gwynethd Member Posts: 2
edited 27. Oct 2009, 09:30 in Living with Arthritis archive
Thank you all so much for replying!! It was so good to hear from you all; I was feeling so low last night with the pain and now feel much more positive about having the steroid injections. I am hoping to see my GP in the next couple of days to discuss pain relief/BS etc - at the moment I am taking Diclofenac with Co-Codamol three times daily, it's not working as well as it did and guess I will have to up this to something stronger. I tried pain patches a few months ago but just one made me very sick so am reluctant to try anything else. What seems to be the next stage along??[/img][/url][/list][/list]

Comments

  • vonski
    vonski Member Posts: 1,292
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi
    Welcome to the forum, I'm sure you will get lots of help on here.
    I have had injections but in both feet and ankles not facet joints, I haven't found them too painful and the benefits have been worth it. Sounds like arthur is flaring at the minute, hopefully this will settle down soon, most of us get them sometimes. Are you taking meds at the minute? If not see your Dr. and get something sorted out there is different ones so hopefully you will find the ones that work best for you soon.

    It's hard to stay positive all the time we all have bad times and come on here for a moan :) Hope you feel better soon.

    Love
    Vonski x
  • skezier
    skezier Member Posts: 11,333
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Gwyneth,

    The honest answer is in the lumber they are not too bad....... I have had a few of these and the lumber isn't too bad I promise you. The pain is short lived cus the use a bit of local in it as well. I haven't had the sacral done its only ever been the lumber and the neck.

    Has your gp done blood tests as well as to rule out other kinds of arthritis? I also wonder if you have a reaction to the metal in your toes if its hurting? I only say that cus they did some bit to my feet and its some pins in it and for sometime it hurt and was unhappy (I can't remeber how long but it was a long time after before they got used to it). It might be worth seeing the ortho's again cus in my case they wanted to take the metal out but wouldn't cus I don't heal too well and they said if I could stand it see what happened. Thankfully its fairly settled now.

    Have they given you some pain relief (sorry its like 20 questions eh?) Maybe you could go ans see your gp again and tell them about all the pains you have as well as the ones already talked about? Welcome to the forum by he way, they are a nice lot here. take care Cris
  • elnafinn
    elnafinn Member Posts: 7,412
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Gwyneth

    I am sorry to read about all the pain you are experiencing. These steroid injections are not too bad and any pain experienced during the procedure is very short lived. When you think that it may give you pain relief for some time, it is well worth it. These injections work for some and not for others and the length of time they help varies too. If you don't try them, you will never know. So many people have these injections that they cannot be that bad can they? These injections are given all over, ie the foot, fingers. Will your injections be given via xray direction? I have had than done in my lower back and my neck this way.

    A lot of the symptoms you are experiencing could be coming from your spine. I presume medication has been offered to you. I hope you feel better soon and that you do not have to wait too long for these injections.

    Welcome to the site, by the way, we all try to help and support each other.

    Luv
    Elna x
    The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.

    If you can lay down at night knowing in your heart that you made someone's day just a little bit better, you know you had a good day.
  • woodbon
    woodbon Member Posts: 4,969
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi, Welcome to the forum! :D
    I'd heard lots of scare stories from people about steriod injections, so I was quite nervous when I had to have them in both wrists! :oops: When I had the injection, I was sat there and felt the tiny prick of the needle going in, then I sat and waited for the pain to come, but it didn't! It was much, much nicer than a dental injection. I couldn't believe they'd done it. :shock: :D I'm sure you'll be fine, but, they do take a while before you get the full benefit of the injections. Love Sue
  • c4thyg
    c4thyg Member Posts: 542
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi and welcome,

    I've had steroid injections several times in my shoulder and in the tendon sheaths in my ankle. In my shoulder I felt a small scratch (less than when you give blood) and a bit of pressure when the steroid went in. It was discomfort rather than pain. In my ankle it was a bit different and done under x-ray guidance to get into the tendon sheath. It's a sharp sting when the needle goes into the tendon and I did find it quite painful when the steroid went in but I think that was mainly because of the relatively large volume of steroid in a very tight space inside the tendon itself. The pain was short lived as there was anaesthetic in it as well. When your pain has gone they know that they've hit the right area and it saves you going back. I found this quite scary but it's not that bad as I've been back and had it done about 5 times in all in my ankle and about 4 times in my shoulder! What no one has said yet is that for the couple of days after the anaesthetic wears off I felt like I had toothache in the limb. I took codeine for that. I was warned about it so it wasn't a surprise. However, it was well worth having done as I would get between 3 and 7 months relief before needing another one.

    Just be prepared for some discomfort and a bit of throbbing for 2 days afterwards. It's still not as bad as the arthur and the relief lasts months for most people. You might find that you don't even get the discomfort, not everyone does.