Epidural?

[salsabike]

Think I mentioned before that I had some epidurals during the days when my fibromyalgia was extremely and chronically painful. They were very helpful.

[KnottedYet]

Are they planning to do the epidural to calm down the symptoms while they fix the actual cause through some other method?

Feeling like you've got a "crick" should be giving them a big hint about what the next step should be.

I wish I could get you in to my clinic. We've got a spine specialist that I'd *love* for you to see. Wanna come up to Seattle for a nice long vacation in the middle of the cold and rainy season?

[smilingcat]

Hi knotted,

Maybe I'll take up on your offer My good doctor had ordered some X-rays for my back. Not sure if was going to call me or I had to make a followup appointment. So I let it go. nada from the office so I called. The office person said he'll call back to let me know what I need to do. still nothing and its been a month? I guess it wasn't serious enough for me to rush back. Still... my back is in bit of pain.

So how expensive is it going to be out of my pocket? I've riding really easy no hills and less than 10 miles. and slooowww pace. How much slower can I go? nobody knows. GRRRR....

I loved Seattle BTW. and we last visited there in Jan/Feb 2 years ago.

Smilingcat

[Wahine]

Snap - the epidurals can be very helpful and just because the prednisone did not work, does not mean the epis won't. Part of the problem is the physical barrier between the blood that carries the meds and the nerve tissue which is encased in dural tissue. The epidural is a strong anti-inflammatory that will be applied directly to the nerve root in question. I would give it a try, IMHO. But Knott's also right, they need to find out what is causing the inflammation/nerve irritation and correct that as much as possible.

Maybe you and Smilingcat need to take a trip up to the Gorge......I'd be happy to try to figure things out for y'all. And the scenery is waaaaaaaay better here than in Seattle.

[Zen]

I've heard of cosmetic surgery tourism, this may be a whole new venue for an enterprising entrpeneur

[snapdragen]

Well, I think I'm going to at least postpone the epidural. Going to check out some other options, talk to my PCP.

/whine off.....for now.

[SadieKate]

2nd opinion and with a spine specialist. Since this is no longer occupational health, you should be able to shop some specialists, shouldn't you?