New member - Newly diagnosed

Hi everyone. This is my first post to a site like this. I'm hoping some of you can share some insight.

I am a 45 year old female and a recent MRI has shown I have a .06 CM synovial cyst located at L5 S1. The pain caused by this started very recently. I did experience lower back pain initially about 2 years ago, but managed the pain with PT, which I continued at home religiously after my sessions ended. The cyst is a new diagnosis, as an MRI wasn't performed when the milder symptoms first appeared. I've been dealing with a much higher level of pain that extends to my left ankle for about 6 weeks now.

I've switched from my family doctor to an excellent spinal and neuro surgeon who has been fabulous. A Naprosyn prescription has gotten the pain under control and it only flares up under certain circumstances (like stepping down out of my SUV, rolling over in bed, etc), but not enough to continue my PT routine yet. He recommends against surgery at this time, which I agree with. My current plan is returning to professional PT sessions for 6-8 weeks, continued weight loss (I'm down 25 of my 100 pound weight loss goal), and spinal steroid injections. I also have prescriptions for Naprosyn and Tramadol (which I don't intend to take. One dose was enough and I did not like the way my body reacted to this drug).

He has me scheduled for my first transforaminal epidural steroid injection this Tuesday. I'm hoping some folks here might have had a similar procedure and can share experiences.

I've been off all meds except Tylenol since Wednesday evening in preparation for the injection. The pain is slowly returning but has not reached below my upper thighs yet. I'm also experiencing horrible lower back spasms and extreme stiffness. Does anyone have tips for dealing with the spasms? They are relentless, especially when lying down. Sleep was non-existent last night and getting out of my bed this morning took a great deal of unnatural maneuvers to get my feet on the floor.

What can I expect from the injection? I intend to go to work after the Tuesday morning injection (I have a desk job).

Is pain relief immediate? How long does it take to return to feeling "normal?" Until I stopped the anti-inflammatory meds a few days ago, I was feeling about 95% as far as walking and moving pain-free.

Did you continue to take anti-inflammatory meds after your injection or were they not needed?

I'm sure I'll have more questions as I go along, but these are the ones on my mind this morning. Please share what you can. This is all so new to me and Google searching has only given me "medical" answers. I'm looking for real experiences.

Thank you Straydog. I do have a laundry list of questions for my doctor on Tuesday morning, but at this point, Tuesday seems so far away. I am actually supposed to drive home to visit family next weekend (600 miles each way), so I'm a little concerned I may have to cancel and that is weighing heavily on me this morning.

I actually do have a Flexeril prescription that my family doctor had written a few weeks ago. My experience with Flexeril has not been great. Drowsy, but not much relief. I actually took 2 last night (5 mg) and saw no difference in the spasms. Today I am working to stay hydrated and will lay on the (moist) heating pad this afternoon to see if that helps at all.

Hey Tina and WELCOME=)

Just some thoughts...If it were me, I would cancel that long drive.  That distance is hard on anyone's body, especially with spinal issues.  Secondly, as previous post suggested, the injection will cause discomfort at first.  Agreed that you should plan to take the afternoon off and allow your body to relax. No, to answer your question...relief will not come instantly, if it comes at all.  Results and degrees of relief post-injection varies from one patient to the next.  I hope that you will have success with yours. 

I can only speak from my personal experience.  I have attempted several different series of epidural injections over the years for both cervical and lumbar pain. I did not get relief, with ANY of the injections.  The cervical ones actually made my spine even more "angry".

Meanwhile, have you ever tried Skelaxin or Soma?  IMO I would try one of those before enduring the injections.

Hugs~~Dixie

Hi Tina and Welcome to the forum! Usually most people don't get immediate relief from those epidural steroid injections. Usually the first day or two after the injections you could even hurt a bit more, but by the third or forth day you should probably start getting some relief. ( If it works for you???) not everyone gets relief with the injections, and the amount of relief and duration can vary widely. The most I ever got was three weeks. but some get three months or longer! It all depends on the individual, everyone is so different.

I hated Flexeril never worked that well for me and made me dopey! I take Baclofen for my muscle spasms but that makes allot of people sleepy too, but not me! I am on a pretty hefty dose, 30mg every eight hours, but as I said we are all different and what works for one might not work for another. Hopefully your doctor can find something that will work for you. But if he prescribes something that your not comfortable taking tell him, he can always change it!

Again I Welcome you to the forum! I wish you well and Good Luck to You!

White Beard

I also get relief with a fleril/flexmid combo for a muscle relaxer, but I can only take it in the evening and only in the evening....I cannot do the flexmid all the time as I'll go into a asthma flair if I take it every day...so it's weird but works for me...Maybe ask your new pm doctor about another muscle relaxer to try...Only problem is if I'm off the muscle relaxer for 2 or more days then I get spasms like crazy and can't walk down the short hallway we have. I was off the muscle relaxers for nerve testing, so the results would be more accurate and it wasn't worth coming off them...
Spasms are very painful and I hope you can get a medication that'll be of better help for you...

However, I'm one that has not had any real relief from injections either, so for me, injections are not worth it, except the knee the steroid knee injections did help, but not any of the nerve blocks for my back... I had one injection in my neck and ended up with a very painful and stiff neck for 3 months, so that's not a place I'll have injections done ever again...and I hope my story doesn't scare you as many people do get relief from injections, just don't get an injection crazy doctor either....

Keep us posted on how your appointment goes and it's good you have a list of questions to ask....

Hi Tina and welcome aboard!

I thought I'd second (or third?) it about that long drive. I would most definitely consider postponing such an extensive drive so soon. That's a long drive just in general, but given everything preceding? Yeah,...I'd reschedule to be sure.

Happy to have you join us!






M.

Hi Tinageee,
I'm new here too. Reading your post, must mean you are at the Dr right now. :) I hope the injection helps. When I blew my shoulder out, I had injections and they definitely helped. The Dr won't inject my cspine because they don't want to mask that pain, for fear I will do more damage. My pain is caused by nerves and the constant nerve irritation, creates muscle spasms and adhesions. The Dr put me on lyrica for the nerve pain and I receive graston therapy (where they break up muscle adhesions manually) to try and loosen everything up. Graston therapy combined with massage therapy has helped me. Just thought you might want to know about that. I am not a fan of pharmaceuticals but lyrica has made the pain manageable. It makes me feel better, but I take it at night, because it makes me a little loopy (I hate that feeling). Not sure if your pain is from nerves, but you might ask the Dr if it could help.....
Hope you are feeling better today....you aren't alone :)

Welcome Tina,
The epidural injections are awesome. I would get one now if I could but I am recovering from cervical fusion and not allowed any steroids for awhile. But if your doctor is good they provide much relief. It may take 3-14 days to get relief. At first you will feel good then the pain may increase from the additional pressure and irritation. You should take it easy and stay horizontal so the meds can stay where they put them for the first 24 hours. But they are wonderful. I had a failed L5/S1 surgery and they can't fix it so epidurals are my only way to deal with my leg and foot pain from the permanent damage and pressure on my S1 nerve root.

Save surgery for the "OMG. I can't function another day until they do something and pain meds don't help anymore" situation (which I hope you never get to).