Feedback on my Epidural

It's odd that an anesthesiologist did not give you anesthesia. I have had 6 fluoroscopies ( injections guided by x-ray) with anesthesia. There was no pain at all during the procedure. Had to have a ride home. Pain relief was not complete, though. I am scheduled to try again with an injection in a different spot.

I’ve heard from several others that they were given anesthesia as you were. I’ll be discussing this with my doctor when I see him next month.
Thanks for your feedback,
Janet

The difference between you and the other people commenting, is that you already have Arachnoiditis, so invasive spinal procedures will make your condition worse, because of the nature and location of it. You can’t compare your condition and response to an epidural with someone who had one for degenerative disc disease, or any other low back pain condition. When a person with Arachnoiditis has an invasive spinal procedure, it’s like they awaken the beast… the beast is neuroinflammation, and that neuroinflammation will cause progression of the disease, more pain, more adhesions, more mobility problems, more burning pain, and definitely less quality of life. Please don’t let them stick any more needles in your spine, as it will continue to progress your condition each time, making you sicker and sicker.

Any one of those three types of epidurals will be extremely harmful for the poster, as she already has Arachnoiditis, and Arachnoiditis patients are advised to NEVER have any invasive spinal procedures or surgeries ever again, since it’s guaranteed to make the condition worse.

But, what type of anesthesia? Usually they just use local, and I’m sure that she had local anesthetic also. But, because she already has Arachnoiditis, and possible adhesive Arachnoiditis, it’s a lot easier to either puncture the dura, or even one of the adhesions, and that’s what caused the pain. Pain during an ESI means that something went wrong, and the needle probably ended up in the wrong spot. If the doctor injects regardless of that, then you feel even more pain as the steroids (which is essentially poison to your spinal canal) starts to spread throughout your central nervous system.

Fluoroscopy is just the name for the x-ray guidance machine, the procedure is still called an epidural steroid injection, or ESI.

Hoping you had your 6 waaay spaced out, because that many times a dangerous all in itself… the more you have, especially close together, the higher chance you have at developing Arachnoiditis. It can even lie dormant, and surface years later. These injections are not safe, they’re actually extremely dangerous, and the low efficacy rates shown in studies make them overwhelmingly not worth the risk. I’ve been in constant, horrific pain for 25 years straight after developing Adhesive Arachnoiditis from an ESI when I was only 16 years old, and there are countless people out there just like me. Sadly, only about 5% of us have been formally diagnosed, which means that the numbers they use outlining the risk of complications, are not only slightly off, they are overwhelmingly incorrect, which is so dangerous. These doctors are telling their patients extremely low risk numbers, which may sway some into agreeing to the procedure. What they aren’t telling you, is that these injections are NOT FDA approved for use in the spine, and the reason they aren’t, is because of the extreme potential complications they carry when used intraspinally.

It’s estimated that in about 10% of ESI procedures, a dural puncture occurs, and that trauma alone is enough to cause Arachnoiditis. But then you factor in the addition of the corticosteroids, which are extremely toxic to your spinal CSF, as they aren’t sterile, and when anything non-sterile is introduced to your CSF, your body treats it as an intruder, which activates a major, widespread attack via neuroinflammation in your spinal canal. Left untreated, this neuroinflammation turns into Arachnoiditis, which can then progress to the catastrophic stage called Adhesive Arachnoiditis, where adhesions form and adhere the Cauda equina to eachother, and/or the sides of the spinal canal. Cauda equina are the wispy ends of the spinal cord, that are supposed to flow freely in the spinal canal near the lowest part of your spine. When they start to form adhesions, the pain will increase dramatically, and at that point you’re essentially fully disabled.

Trust me; going through this is not worth the potential benefit of possibly having a few weeks or a month with less pain. It’s so not worth it. The injections have no chance of even curing you for a long period of time, I really don’t understand why people think that this risk is acceptable.

I’m sure it won’t be acceptable to you anymore after you end up with AA, stuck in bed for most of your life, not being able to do anything but try to cope with all the pain that you could have avoided. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thank you for all this information. I need as much as I can get because it is hard to understand all these processes. I looked up Arachnoiditis. My injections were spaced many months apart and my anesthesia was intervenus propofol, similar to what I got for colonoscopy. Some injections were in facets and at least 2 were in the piriformis muscle. Next time I will be treated for myofascial pain which is muscular so I am not too worried about Arachnoiditis, nevertheless, your post was helpful to me and others, for sure.