Dear Dr. Spinks,
I was referred by Dr. Matthew Hummel (Neurosurgeon) to Austin Pain Associates. I had an MRI which showed multiple disc degeneration between C2-C6 with desiccation of the cartilage in between. This morning, I had an epidural steroid injection guided with fluoroscopy without sedation (He advised against sedation and I was fine with having it done with local anesthetic). The Dr. injected some lidocaine to numb the point of entry for the catheter which pinched and hurt some, but wasn't anything unbearable. About 10-15 minutes in (I'm guessing), he told me he was almost done and was just injecting the steroid at that point. I felt pressure and discomfort, but then this pain suddenly intensified to the point of wishing-for-death kind of excruciating pain that there are no words in the English dictionary to better describe. I was crying out and people could hear me yelling down the hall and he did not abort the procedure. Slowly, the pain started to subside and it became bearable after 15 minutes or so. I also felt some tingling sensations down my arms, but this went away completely in 30 minutes. My question is, what do you think might have happened to cause such unbearable pain? It felt like my neck was being put in to a vice and then was about to explode--but no burning sensation. The doctor told me the degree of pain I experience indicated that I had a lot of inflammation in that area. I did a lot of research on Google and it didn't help me to find any answers. I'm doing much better now, and have some aching and soreness, and so I don't expect to have any serious or long-term problems despite what I experienced this morning. I just want to know what happened (I'm a pediatric nurse practitioner by the way). Thank you in advance for any insight you can provide.