Pain returning after steroid injection

kfrweaving
kfrweaving Member Posts: 45
edited 20. Jul 2018, 03:25 in Living with Arthritis archive
I've had two steroid injections so far. But this second one has only lasted 4 months. The pain for some daily tasks is returning.
Everyday i make sure i get out and walk, but i use the walking stick for support (epilepsy meds are affecting my sense of balance) Waiting for buses is a nightmare, if i get a lift from someone getting in and out of a car is agony. Painkillers are not working. It doesn't mean i can't move, but it's just that it's hellish. I wrote a letter of complaint to Stagecoach buses recently about the steps of their buses and coaches being hellish for people with mobility issues......received a blunt answer that they won't be doing anything to adjust the issue. Not sure what the next stage will be for me. I'm going to phone tomorrow to ask about another appointment.
On the bright side, the consultant wrote an excellent letter for me to sent with my ESA application!

Comments

  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    To be honest, I think four months is pretty good going for a steroid jab. I rarely got so long out of them.

    If it doesn't sound too presumptious, here are a few tips.

    1. Could you use a rollator with a seat for buses? That way you could sit down to wait.

    2. When getting a lift in cars take a supermarket shopping bag with you – a slidey one that scrunches up into nothing. Spread it on the car seat, sit down and swivel on it to get your legs in. Always ask to have the seat put as far back as possible first.

    3. Stagecoach? I know the bus company which used to operate the buses where I lived formerly had the occasional bus with wheelchair access. I don't know how often it ran. But this might be worth broaching with Stagecoach. It would cost companies a lot of money to have all their buses converted but the odd one might be possible. Then you'd just need to know when it was running.

    4. Would a disability scooter help?

    Well done to your consultant! I hope it all goes through smoothly.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    It always does, that's the miserable reality, the price you have to pay for four months of a better quality of life. Pain killers don't kill the pain, they merely dull the sharper edges. Use them regularly but sparingly to help ease the worst of things, there is no shame in that because they have a useful role to play.

    I have been using walking aids for years, knowing they meant I could do more, go further, be less of a nuisance to others and I am positive they have helped to preserve the ROM in my hips. For getting in and out of cars sit on a plastic bag because that makes swivelling much easier, this can be easily stowed in your bag. One Christmas lunch with our elderly mums I watched them struggle to rise from our dralon-covered dining chairs whilst I was up in no time. Guess who was too proud to use the bags so thoughtfully provided, preferring instead to make their lives harder. People often prefer that option, they seem unable to equate that making less effort on some fronts leaves more energy for the things they really want to do. I recall my late Ma-in-Law clinging onto me for dear life which meant I could use only one crutch to support the both of us. :roll: It was fine in her book for me to use a stick aged 49 but she wouldn't (aged 86) because she had never needed to.

    Life became easier once I was no longer pain-free. I know where I am, I know that everything hurts and will hurt for evermore so I ignore it and get on. I stopped chasing the dream many moons ago because it is one dream that will never come true whilst alive. Why waste time doing that? I flirted with the stronger pain meds but found the mental fogginess too hard, they took me away from the pain rather than the pain away from me. I suppose I am fortunate in that good health has never been an option, for those coming to this from that kind of background it must be very hard. To cope better with the increasing demands of the disease we have to adjust our behaviours, alter our thinking, increase our mental flexibility as our physical kind decreases. It's far from easy. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben