Severe muscle spasms in neck due to pinched nerves

Hi Pinky & welcome to the forum. Sorry to read what you are dealing with for health issues.

Many of us here have had epidurals for neck & back pain. Usually they are done in a series of 3 injections spread out over time. What you are experiencing is pretty typical with one. It is not uncommon at all to have increased pain for a week to 10 days afterwards. Hopefully if this one works after some time passes you will start feeling the effects of it working by having less pain. Relief is not immediately. It was two weeks before my son could tell any difference at all. Once he started improving then his dr recommended PT. He wanted to give the inflammation time to settle down some.

You know the thing about eppies is some people can get total relief with one, or someone else gets no relief with the first one. Its a chance we take to try & get the pain level down but there is no guarantee either.

I see that you are now on Baclofen for muscle spasms. What mg does the dr have you on? I was started on 5mg initially & it did nothing. My dr increased it to 10mg & it made all the difference in the world. If needed you probably have room for increases in it, especially if you feel it is starting to work.

Anyway, rest & let your meds work for you & hopefully you will get some good results out of the injection. Take care.....

I am glad to read that your dr is open minded about possibly not doing a 2nd or 3rd eppie if you have no improvement with the first one. Some drs will insist on doing the series regardless. Trigger point injections worked better for me with the spasms along with medications than anything for quite a while. With that being said I still required a muscle relaxer & pain medication. I was still working & never had the time to take off. I really do not believe your medications will mask your pain to the point that you would not know if the eppie helped or not. If this is a big concern then talk to your dr about trying to reduce them to see where you are at but I would not do this right away. I would give the eppie some time to see what it calms down.

Something else you may want to run by your dr is trying some regular Ibuprofen with your pain meds. It can work really well for inflammation with some folks, its worth giving it a try as long as your dr agrees. Are you alternating heat/ice at home? Has the dr given your physical therapist given you any neck exercises to do at home? I think those of us with high pain tolerance pay a big price for being that way. It takes so much to knock the pain back down.

Keep us posted on how you are doing.

Hi Susie,

Yes, that was my first visit with that doctor and he seemed to have a pretty open mind about not prolonging the situation. He listened and gave me run down of all options.

I will discuss the possibility of taking anti inflammatory meds along with my regular meds. That makes a lot of sense to me.

I am pretty big on research, so along with my chiropractor and trainer, I have been doing neck and back exercises, alternating heat/ice and using an over the door cervical traction device. I roll up a towel or use a neck pillow as I have straightening of the cervical lordosis which correlates with muscle spasms. I have a tens unit, which no longer provides any relief. I pretty much try anything that may be beneficial to my recovery.

I tried working for a month. I ended up using the 2 weeks of vacation I had left. I am a supervisor, with many responsibilities and my job requires me to do a lot of walking. I am not a crier, however the muscle spasms and the inability to do my job, had me in tears a couple of times. After my new doctor reviewed my MRI, he told me that he was "pissed that I would try to work in my condition."

I'm am (was) a pretty busy person. I tried despite my condition. Single parent with 4 kids. No matter what I felt they motivated me to keep pushing. However, when you hear that any sudden movements, falls, etc could permanently damage nerves or cause paralysis, you stop and think about what needs to be done.

I have cabin fever and I am so ready to mow the lawn and go to work and attend events with my kids again.

Patience is not in me when it comes to being in control and doing what I want, when I want. I guess I have no choice, but I will definitely keep trying to do things at home to improve.

Don't let a chiro touch your neck and don't do those cervical traction exercises either! You could end up paralyzed. Your situation with herniation and impingement is serious! Even phys. therapy should only be done with direction of a neurosurgeon! I would highly recommend seeing a neurosurgeon if you haven't already. It doesn't mean you'll get surgery.

What kind of doctor are you seeing? Sounds like rehab. I wouldn't let anyone but an anesthesiologist do any cervical injections. The side effect of not being able to move is serious.

You're probably still having swelling after only 2 months. Are you on anything for that now? Prednisone or an NSAID?

Don't rush back to work. Listen to the doctor! Your kids won't thank you if you get yourself disabled and not able to take care of them from wrecking yourself by working.

There are other types of injections that might relieve the pinched nerves. Facet joint injections are usually a test to see if nerve ablation will work. Sometimes they work all by themselves. Trigger point injections might help the spasms, but don't count on it.

You've already tried just about all the anti-spasm meds. I tried all of them too, mostly just being put to sleep, especially with Baclofen. I take Valium 2 mg occasionally.

You need to know if you have any spinal cord involvement. Don't do anything active until you talk to your doctor. You can get a copy of the report for yourself by just calling the radiology department. Spinal cord injuries take a year to heal, sometimes more. It might be less if the cord is not involved, but don't rush it!

I wouldn't simply expect surgery just because things haven't gotten better fast. If you get a little out of shape this year it's OK. Recovery from this injury is not a sprint, it's a marathon.

Best wishes.