May I ask what arachnoiditis feels like. I imagine it is very painful. My reason for asking is an MRI looking at my lumbar spine reported, "can not rule out anachnoiditis." I have no idea whether or not I actually had arachnoiditis.

The report actually said, "Thickening-caudal nerve roots: cannot exclude history of arachnoiditis"

I took prednisone for other things and it relieved all kinds of inflammatory pain. I was always told that one reason doctors don't like people to take prednisone is because it relieves the pain but doesn't prevent the damage.

Another reason is that serious things can happen and people present in a way that doesn't reflect how serious the situation is. I once showed up in the emergency room because someone called an ambulance. I didn't want to go to the emergency room.

I wasn't outwardly displaying any distress except for being somewhat short of breath. A heart monitored was placed on me and I was taken for a CT-scan on a cart. When the CT was done, I was asked if I wanted to walk back to my room which I did. That was when all the alarms went crazy and doctors and nurses raced by me looking for the patient who was causing the alarms to go off.

It took some time for them to find who it was but they came back to me. They asked me if I wanted to lay down and they put me in a wheelchair to take me back to my room.

A doctor came in shortly afterwards to tell me what the CT-scan showed. He said I had a massive, multiple, extensive and bilateral pulmonary embolism. He said I should be having some chest pain but I denied having any pain at all. I was thinking I could go home and be seen by my PCP later. The emergency room doctor said I had a bed in the intensive care unit.

The doctors in the intensive care unit seemed to focus on how much prednisone I was taking. Then they started to suggest that prednisone might have contributed to my lack of symptoms. Prednisone might have even caused the pulmonary embolism.

Too much prednizone caused my liver to release to much glucose and turned me into a diabetic. Further, it weakens your immune system

Hello @lanieg. You will notice I have moved your post into an existing discussion on arachnoiditis, which you can find here:
- Arachnoiditis: Looking to talk with others: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/arachnoiditis/

I did this so you may continue your discussion with @dadcue and @bannisterkl while also connecting with other members such as @lynetteh1 @skeeter79 @escobedoch23 and @milesdaviskindofblue who have shared previously.