Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Sacro Injections, your experiences??

Hi All

I've been away yes for quite some time but I suppose that is a good thing as my pain has been mild just slowly fluctuating between sore , bearable and ok.

So now I crawl back with my tail (inflammed tail) between my legs begging for those of you whom know EXACTLY what I'm going through for a shoulder and advice. My sacro particularly my left is very inflammed, I am having what only can be described as series of contractions within this joint. It reminds me very much of childbirth only thing is the thing keeping me up all night has no need for breast feeding!

So it is with great Fear I am seeing my rheumy and begging for the injections into the sacroilliac joint to help me with my pain...
So I was hoping a couple of you may be able to let me in on what I am getting myself into, will it be worth the pain of the procedure, I have 3 kidlits and I cant walk so this is what seems to be my only option no matter how happy ending or horribly scary your experience I would surely be grateful for the input please!!

Many thanks
Sal

Sally,

I am so sorry you are going thru this, girl I have so so been there.

I have been in the hospital several times with IV steroids for my SI joints and have had cortisone injections in them 4 times now.

The one thing I think I can say with certainty is you cant get the shot or shots in the Drs. office or at least I have never been able too. I have always had to go to the hospital. The SI joints are so far down or so far in that they have to use an ultrasound machine and thread the needle down until they get there.

I am not going to lie, it is not a pleasurable experience but if you cant walk like I havent been able to in the past then it is not an option.

If you are truly hurting and cant walk then get in there and do it.

If it isnt that bad you can take oral steroids or check into the hospital for a few days for IV steroids, but that doesnt always work once the inflammation has gone so far.

I would say with your kiddos you had better make an appt and get in there. Usually once you get it ina bout 24 hours you will start to notice relief and in 2 to 3 days will be as good as its going to get.

pm me if you have any other questions, I really feel for you.

Take Care,

Lisa

Hi Sally,

I have had the injections. I get mine in the drs' office but the clinic is attached to the hospital and they do have the scan right there. I didn't think it was so bad. My biggest problem is I have trouble with local anesthetics so they only give me enough to get there and that is all. It doesn't take very long at all.

They scheduled me for 3 but after the 2nd one didn't help, the dr. said the 3rd one wouldn't either so I never went back for it. We just went for pain control pillwise.

I hope it helps you tons. It does a lot of people. It is not nearly as bad as it sounds. It is mostly fear of the unknown. You have to lay very still face down and they will explain everything as they go. I got really hot but they put a fan on me and I was ok. I could feel it going down my leg and then when I told him I could feel it going down the other leg, he said, OK we are through. Let me pull out and that was it. I got up, found hubby and went to lunch.

Best wishes for less pain, a glorious day and a successful procedure if that is what you decide.

Blessings.
Possi

Hi Lisa thankyou so much for taking the time to reply,

I have always turned down the offer of the injections and have usually found that within a few days I have gotten better. Its just that this time round I keep feeling that I'm slowly getting worse each day so its now or never time to hit it. I keep feeling if I do it sooner rather than later that it may prevent futher damage.

I just am one of these scaredy cats when it comes to medical procedures that I have not seen done or had performed I feel vulnerable so I like to get all the info available and the best info is generally from the patients themselves.

The procedure is/will be done in a hopsital so I just will have an initial consult and take it from there I was warned should I ever require it it would mean a visit to the hospital with someone to drive me and pick me up.

If it goes ahead and I need more info i'll be sure to take you up on your pm thankyou

Sal

G'day Possi

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my question. I'm trying to forearm myself with expectations so that I dont become overwhelmed, they say information is power and I'd like to trick myself into thinking I still have control over the event even though I dont and it needs to be done.

I'm crossing my fingers that it will solve my curent predicament. I'm on way too many painkillers and it cant be doing me much good anymore and I'm sick of the current roundabout of painklillers etc.

I'm hoping this will bandaid the problem for a little while atleast goin to have to try everything until I find the one that fits.

When I get it done which hopefully wont be too far away I'll let you know how I get on, well if I get the best outcome and have little to no discomfort you'll here me yipee from over the body of water that seperates us anyway!

Thanks mate
Sal

hi sally:

i had limped for at least three months before rheumatologist sent to me an orthopedic surgeon for a consult. he said to do both SI joints. it was so painful, even while sleeping, i could feel the pain.

i had both SI joints done in the hospital under a scan. i wish i knew what to expect because it helps to know what's going on while they're doing it.

they use an x-ray scan to pinpoint the exact area in the joint of the SI. doctor uses a lot of anesthetic which stings. but that was the truly worst part of it all.

after both sides were injected with cortisone, i felt a little better the very next day. just a little bruised but nothing like what SI pain is. it was worth it and the cortisone kept the pain away for at least several months.

LAK

Hey Sal, SI pain sucks in such a big way. Thankfully ( ???), my left SI fused before I knew what was going on, so they never had to send me for one of these. Just wanted to commiserate and say that had I known this procedure existed, I might've gone for it. My lower back was just deadly for a few years there. Hope it helps you feel better.

Many hugs,

Sally,

I had the injections once and it didn't do a thing. If you decide to get it done I hope you have better results. Good luck.

Sherri