prednisone vs. cortisone

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timeload

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ok mt GP put me on prednisone until i can get a cortisone shot, my issue is that i'm not getting any relief from the prednisone. does this mean that i won't get much if any relief from the cortisone shot? she tole me that the prednisone was the same thing as cortisone just in pill form.


anyone have a problem getting their wife/husband to understand the pain they are going through?
 
Timeload
I am sorry you feel so much pain. I did not find relief from prednisone for a week and then only kicked in for 3 days and the pain was back, but my disc had herniated and was pressing on my sciatic nerve.

I did find a great pain medicine doctor who looked at my mri (did you get an mri?) and was able to target a epidural cortisone shot with fluroscopy (xray) right into my disc area, she went in sideways which is different then the traditional up from the bottom shot approach. It took 2 shots about 3 weeks apart to give me relief. In the mean time I managed the pain with pain medicine, not prednisone. You can only get 3 shots a year in the same spot so make sure they are going into the right place. These shots are given by pain medicine doctors. You need to find the real source of your pain, shots can manage the swelling but may not fix the problem. Finding the real source of the problem will be your best long term solution, shots are often a bandaid if the problem is not fixed it will come back again.

As far as getting you family to understand that is a hard one. I have been in so much pain a couple of times that I just have to go to bed or lie on the couch. Sometimes you have to just not do and your family with get it eventually. I feel your pain and would not wish that pain on my worst enemy.
Good Luck hope this helps
PEmom
L5S1 discectomy 2008, 2/2009, 5/2009
L5S1 Posterior TLIF 4/27/2010
 
what is your exact dosing currently with the pred? that too can make a really huge difference upon whether or not it will even hit your level of inflammation(this is what your doc is assuming is behind your pain at least to some degree or it would not have been rxed at all for you) that is what it is simply rxed for, inflammation. getting that very direct injection of cort directly into the inflammed area is wayyy different than simply taking any oral form of pred. it hits the main base generator much more directly than ANY possible oral simply could in taking down that inflammed area.

the ONLY thing that i have personally found after having many different types and places where i have had cort injected is in almost every case, until things simply get absorbed, the pain may go up some before it will get better. this just appears to be more of the reality of this type of injection, so don;t be suprised if this simply does happen to you post inj.

just exactly where are you having this injection done, spinal/back/neck area?? is this an actual ESI or strictly ONLY cort alone? when is the injection scheduled for? marcia
 
I started out with 20mg pills- 3 on the first day, then 2 the next 2 days, then 1 the last 2 days. I have gotten minor relief over the last 2 days just enough to take the edge off. I have to schedule the cortisone shot my GP wanted to wait until the results of the MRI came back.

I will be getting a shot in the lower lurabar around the L4-5 disc.

How long did it take before the cortisone no longer worked at all?
 
unfortunetly that one thing is sooo very very highly individual and just takes into acct sooo many differing factors that it seriously would be very hard to tell you that. your PM or the anesthsiologist who is doing this may be able to actually give you a much clearer idea just knowing what it is exactly that you have going on and are dealing with there, sorry. it can simply vary from anywhere to like one day or up to weeks, so it IS really dependant upon YOUR true level of structual issues, how truely inflammed that area is and where exactly they inject with area and what they may also use along WITH that cort as well.

sounRAB like you are on the medrol dosepak thing there? if you are even getting that edge off somewhat, that really is a good sign that hopefully that cort will be much more beneficial when injected directly into that area of the real underlying inflammation. hopefully the overall lasting benefits will last much longer for you. like i said, it all depenRAB. please let me know how things go. good luck with that inj, marcia
 
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