9th March 2006
My Ortho wanted me to have ESIs regardless of my telling him repeatedly that I had had a terrible reaction to the oral steroids he'd given me right off. (swelling, weight gain, depression like none I'd ever experienced before, etc.) and my telling him that I couldn't go through with it 1) because I keep running low grade fever; 2) the 1st clinic wasn't gonna give me more than valum; 3) I was terrified and had read that it wasn't a good thing to do. :nono:
He just set me up with another doctor for eval for ESIs in January anyway. :confused: While I was waiting to see this new guy, I read the Burton Report and I wrote to the FDA. I was surprised to get an email back from the FDA confirming that Kenalog and DepoMedrol are not approved by them for epidural injection.
I also spoke with my DO about this practice and she told me that doctors do these ESI's all the time. I asked how they could when it's not FDA approved use and she said that it's called "off lable" use and another term I can't remember, but amounted to it being commonly accepted practice by all doctors and the medical community and insurance because doctors do it and have done it for years. If I remember my history, they also used to do leaching and blood-letting as a commonly accepted practice. :eek:
In talking with the PM doc about his drug of choice, Kenalog, he said he uses it because DepoMedrol adhears too much to the nerves and causes more "clean-up" problems when surgery is done later. The package insert reads, "This product contains benzyl alcohol which is potentially toxic when administered locally to neural tissue." Kenalog states under Not to be used in, "Injection into the spinal cord (intrathecal injection)" The short of it is, when I told him what I knew and how I'd reacted to the oral steroids, he said I was not a good candidate for the shots.
One more thing. My DO gave me a nasal spray to try to treat my headaches thinking they might be allergy congestion related. I came home and used the spray immediately. The next morning my throat was nearly swollen shut. It turned out that the nasal spray she gave me had a steroid in it...and yes, I had told her of my intollerance to the oral steroids. :nono:
I guess it just confirmed that I have an allergy all right...to steroids, but was pretty scarey.
I just said all that to say this. Please be careful and listen to your body and your Higher Power when dealing with doctors and proposed treatments. Find out exactly what they are wanting to do and research it and if you can't find good info or still have questions, come here to the board and ask. Someone is sure to know something.
Yall have a blessed day.
Houston
He just set me up with another doctor for eval for ESIs in January anyway. :confused: While I was waiting to see this new guy, I read the Burton Report and I wrote to the FDA. I was surprised to get an email back from the FDA confirming that Kenalog and DepoMedrol are not approved by them for epidural injection.
I also spoke with my DO about this practice and she told me that doctors do these ESI's all the time. I asked how they could when it's not FDA approved use and she said that it's called "off lable" use and another term I can't remember, but amounted to it being commonly accepted practice by all doctors and the medical community and insurance because doctors do it and have done it for years. If I remember my history, they also used to do leaching and blood-letting as a commonly accepted practice. :eek:
In talking with the PM doc about his drug of choice, Kenalog, he said he uses it because DepoMedrol adhears too much to the nerves and causes more "clean-up" problems when surgery is done later. The package insert reads, "This product contains benzyl alcohol which is potentially toxic when administered locally to neural tissue." Kenalog states under Not to be used in, "Injection into the spinal cord (intrathecal injection)" The short of it is, when I told him what I knew and how I'd reacted to the oral steroids, he said I was not a good candidate for the shots.
One more thing. My DO gave me a nasal spray to try to treat my headaches thinking they might be allergy congestion related. I came home and used the spray immediately. The next morning my throat was nearly swollen shut. It turned out that the nasal spray she gave me had a steroid in it...and yes, I had told her of my intollerance to the oral steroids. :nono:
I guess it just confirmed that I have an allergy all right...to steroids, but was pretty scarey.
I just said all that to say this. Please be careful and listen to your body and your Higher Power when dealing with doctors and proposed treatments. Find out exactly what they are wanting to do and research it and if you can't find good info or still have questions, come here to the board and ask. Someone is sure to know something.
Yall have a blessed day.
Houston