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Epidural to Relieve Arachnoiditis Pain

Spine Health | Last Active: May 7 3:26pm | Replies (15)

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@sdfoxmama

Just because you didn’t experience any severe complications doesn’t mean that they don’t happen, and quite often actually. I was given an epidural steroid injection. When I was only 16, I shouldn’t have even been offered it, because what I had was so minor. She ended up puncturing the Dura and caused trauma to the layers around my spinal cord, I felt electric lightning bolt of pain, and that pain never stopped. It’s been 25 years of constant, severe debilitating pain. She gave me adhesive arachnoiditis that day, and I lost my entire life. These injections aren’t even curative, they’re just like a very , very risky Band-Aid… And why would you want to risk something so catastrophic, just for a few weeks of pain relief? These injections are not FDI approved for a reason, because the medication is toxic to your CSF, and is very dangerous to use in this way. But doctors continue to administer them, because they are very very lucrative, and in the end, it always comes down to money and greed.

I’m not saying that this exact thing is going to happen to the OP, but I am saying that it is possible. When you tell someone that a procedure is safe, just based on your own experience, you were doing a disservice to that person because everyone’s bodies react differently to medication’s and procedures. That’s what people don’t get when they ask others for advice and that advice is just anecdotal, that does no one any good, because you’re only describing your experience, which has nothing to do with the person asking the question. This person should be given all of the information, all of the risks, including the very severe, very catastrophic ones, and be able to weigh that themselves the risks against the benefit, and make their own medical decision. But just telling them to go for it based on the fact that you did it and you were OK is really terrible advice

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Replies to "Just because you didn’t experience any severe complications doesn’t mean that they don’t happen, and quite..."

Well, apparently you know a lot more about this than I do. I have known quite a few people who have had epidurals, many on a regular basis, without any side effects. Not to say, as you mentioned, that some may experience side effects, but, as with every invasive medical procedure, there are always potential risks. That is always noted by your doctor or other health professional. If we made all our medical decisions based upon risk factors, none of us would ever have any procedure performed.

I am so sorry to read about the horrible experience you had at such a young age.
You're absolutely right about the need for patients to be given full, complete, information about these injections before blithely administering them as "something to try".