epidural steriod injection #2

[river rat]

hey there all you wonderful and helpful people. i just wanted to ask if anyone else had had another esi shot as close together as mine will be. my last one was on oct. 14th. it hurt like hell the first two days after it, but then the pain got alot better and i had better mobility and quality of life. my doc wants to give me another one on dec 9th, i can only get three in 6 months the nurse told me. should i wait till the pain gets real bad, or is this an insurance thing on their part or is having the initial two closer together really gonna help with the swelling and inflammation of those two lower herniated discs? sorry so many questions at once, i just feel like others out there like me can give me a better perspective than those at the dr. office can, they give me conflicting info. thanks for being there and listening, rr

[gdbreedlove]

I had one at the end of April of this year and another the first of June. The initial ESI should some improvement, so the DR was anxious to do another one in hopes that I would feel 100% better. Well, the 2nd one never really affected me one way or another, and now afetr several months from the initial injection am back to square one. It just depends on the indivdual and the severity of the condition...I'm told! Good luck, hope all goes well!

Greg

[out2lunch]

Hi River, I don't really have an answer for you, sorry! But, I was just wondering if your pharmacist would be able to help you? They're suppose to be the specialists when it comes to meds right?? Worth a shot anyway, take care!!

[heboy]

rr,

I had an injection on Oct. 24 and was scheduled for another 3 weeks later. Since I seemed to be getting steadily better after the first injection, the doctor thought it would be reasonable to wait and see. He suggested (at least in my case) that the improvement was a reason not to try another injection. Since the injection helped me, when nothing else has, and I know that I only get 6 a year, I am happy to try and spread it out for as long as possible. If my pain had been worse, I wonder if I might have felt more desperate, and been more tempted to try another right away.

Good luck,
heboy

[river rat]

thanks everyone for helping me out. i'll probably just go for another one and see how it helps me. the pt i've been doing does cause my back to hurt so maybe the shot will help with the ongoing inflammation. later, rr