Hello all, I have been off of work for 8 months after a slip and fall accident where i ruptured a disc in my lower back(L-4/L-5) I have the bilateral leg pain and the hole works, My question is not really about my back, Shortly after i hurt myself i was given oral steroids and a short time later a steroid shot in my hip for the back pain, After getting the shot of steroids in my hip i went back to the Dr with a painful rash on my back which i thought was being caused from the pads on my Electrical stimulation unit. The nurse practitioner looked at it and said you have shingles and nothing was done.


About a month ago i went to the PM dr and got my first of 2 Steroid injection in my back, After getting the injection i felt like crap and about 2 weeks after the injection i developed shingles on my stomach and back on the same side, I went back to the PM Dr for my second injection and told him about the shingles and he looked at them and prescribed me Famvir. I never went and got the script because i am already taking to many meds(Darvocet,Lyrica,Xanax,Ibuprofen 800 mg) now a few day's later my glands under my arm pits are swelling and neck.....Has anyone else had any negative reactions with steroids???? I am a Police Officer and it does not appear i will be going back to my same job, Looks like i may be doing something like Voc rehab......Any help would be appreciated. I am going to post this on the herpes site also in case this is the wrong place....Thanks in advance.

Sorry to here the injections did not work. They did not work for me either but then I did not get any type reaction from it. Mine is slightly different though. T-1 through T-12 is fused together with deterioration next to the lungs. Combine that with spurs on the backside and you got a whole lot of not-stop pain action. My back doc has been good though, he tried the injections on me and they just didn't work. I have been on one form of pain meds or another now for almost two years. I know it will never improve, so I take one day at a time, I know my limitatons, and I follow my docs advice. As for you I would Not get any more injections until you get a second opinion or some type of cure for the shingles

If you can do some reading on shingles, they are caused by residuals of chicken pox. I think what the doctor prescribed was an anti-viral. As for steroids they do sometimes use them to get rid or skin rashes, at least the do with oral steroids like prednisone. My side effects with steroids are extreme mania. I don't sleep and am extremely hyper every time I have either the oral steroids or the injection, so I am trying to avoid steroids. You might want to talk to your pharmacist about the prescription that you didn't fill and see if it would interact with the meds you are already taking. I am so sorry that you have to go thru all of this. Take Care, Go Colts! Dee;)

If you can do some reading on shingles, they are caused by residuals of chicken pox. I think what the doctor prescribed was an anti-viral. As for steroids they do sometimes use them to get rid or skin rashes, at least the do with oral steroids like prednisone. My side effects with steroids are extreme mania. I don't sleep and am extremely hyper every time I have either the oral steroids or the injection, so I am trying to avoid steroids. You might want to talk to your pharmacist about the prescription that you didn't fill and see if it would interact with the meds you are already taking. I am so sorry that you have to go thru all of this. Take Care, Go Colts! Dee;)



deeannek Thanks for your response, I was managing the back problem just fine but my major problems seem to be coming from the Steroid injections....They seem to be running my immune system down, In 8 months i have been on oral steroids 1 time and 2 injections in the spine and 1 in the hip........Seeing if anyone else has ever had similar problems with the injections.

Obviously its triggering something within your body to bring out shingles.

Could you be allergic to the steroids or something in them to cause this? Maybe it's not shingles but some really bad allergic reaction?

If is allergy related at all, it doesnt mean you can't continue, but it depends on what it does to your body. Anything that occludes breathing is an obvious NO!

Is this a mild outbreak you are getting, how tolerable are to this rash, hives, etc, and how long does it last? What relieves it?



I am miss sensitive, and often jokingly called a "delicate flower", as I have mega allergies, but so far, I have not had any reactions to steroids other than the usual increase in apetite, hoarse voice for a few days, hopped up mentally and faster heart rate and puffiness it creates.

I wonder if it's the steroids causing this or the mere fact that you are getting an injections. Maybe there is more to it than just the fact that it's a steroid. Maybe this is mechanical thing triggering your body to react in this way? Just a thought. If it were me personally, you've had several serious type incidents with the injections. I don't know if I would do anymore, unless it was absolutely necessary. At least until you find out why.

I believe I did read somewhere that steroids can knock down your immune system. I also read that shingles cause a tremendous amount of nerve pain in the area in which they are present.

Hey Colts,
Welcome to the board :wave: Sorry you are having so much trouble. Steroids can definitely bring out your shingles. More than likely every time you are given steroids it will bring out the shingles. I have heard that they are very painful. I THINK that you can actually start taking the meds before you get your steroids to decrease the severity of the shingles.
Did you have surgery on your back? What meds are you on for the leg pain?
Good luck to you and keep us posted.

Deb

Hey Colts,
Welcome to the board :wave: Sorry you are having so much trouble. Steroids can definitely bring out your shingles. More than likely every time you are given steroids it will bring out the shingles. I have heard that they are very painful. I THINK that you can actually start taking the meds before you get your steroids to decrease the severity of the shingles.
Did you have surgery on your back? What meds are you on for the leg pain?
Good luck to you and keep us posted.

Deb


No surgery YET and i am on Lyrica 100mg 3 times a day but just cut it to 50 because of 43 pounds weight gain in the past 7 months, Also on darvocet (was on MS Contin-Morphine but talked my PM DR into getting me off that stuff.....

I am so sorry you are having so much trouble.
I am relatively young and I got shingles after I had my first steroid spinal shot. I did not know what this is and DR put me on oral meds to reduce the pain from it and to cut the healing time. It really worked.

Shingles attack our bodies when our immune system goes down (adult chicken packs). Steroids never worked for me either. Durind 3 years I had 9 shots and non of them ever worked for me.
In fact I was in so much pain afterwards for about 10-14 days. I could not sleep, makes me very restless, I try to avoid them now all together.
I read that steroids are very bad for our bones (thins them) can cause cancer and other problems include skin problems too. It brings down our immune system. In some cases it may help with nerve inflammation, but did not work for me. Not oral once,not the shots.

Best of luck to you.:angel:

I am so sorry you are having so much trouble.
I am relatively young and I got shingles after I had my first steroid spinal shot. I did not know what this is and DR put me on oral meds to reduce the pain from it and to cut the healing time. It really worked.

Shingles attack our bodies when our immune system goes down (adult chicken packs). Steroids never worked for me either. Durind 3 years I had 9 shots and non of them ever worked for me.
In fact I was in so much pain afterwards for about 10-14 days. I could not sleep, makes me very restless, I try to avoid them now all together.
I read that steroids are very bad for our bones (thins them) can cause cancer and other problems include skin problems too. It brings down our immune system. In some cases it may help with nerve inflammation, but did not work for me. Not oral once,not the shots.

Best of luck to you.:angel:




This really makes me mad because before getting the steroid injection i asked about side affects and the Dr told me that steroids were real safe, Had he told me that they would lower my immune system i would have started up Vitamin C & E to help my immune system....The injections have caused as many problems as the back injury that it was supposed to be treating....