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i had a cortisone epidural in my L3/L4 lumbar about 2.5 months ag...

Posted at 7:28 PM on Sep 01, 2008 by jsuth08, #34068
i had a cortisone epidural in my L3/L4 lumbar about 2.5 months ago. 30 seconds after procedure, i had severe dizziness and then fainted. Got up about 15 seconds later, i had no idea what had happened. My heart was racing and I felt out of it. I had the procedure in major hospital in Winston-Salem, NC, and they kept me for observation. I immediately felt different, i felt very anxious, nervous. Blood pressure was high. They admitted me to ER and they observed me for several hours. I had several bad 'panic attacks' where my heart unexplainedly increased to 130-150 bpm standing still. I felt extremely dizzy and light headed. They released me from the hospital and said i had a vasal vago reaction. I thought it was strange as i have had shots before with no problems. (doctor did hit a nerve with needle during procedure, very painful so i thought maybe that contributed to the fainting). For two weeks after the procedure i had trouble sleeping, irritability, nasaeu, stomach pains, bloating, chest pains, heart pounding, headaches, depression, dizziness and light headedness- thought i was dying at times. doctor's put me on a beta blocker to keep my heart rhythms under control. The meds made it even worse. Stayed on for about a month and a half then weened off. Nearly three months later, i still have extreme nervousness ,bloating. All the while doctor's all along said that it couldn't be the cortisone. I have not had any of these issues ever in my life, i knew it was the cortisone shot. This has been one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. Glad to see other people with similar experiences from this drug. I have seen neurologists, and cardiac surgeons, general md's about this and they all couldn't connect the shot to my symptoms. Cardiologist wanted to put me on a calcium channel blocker when i was off beta blockers, if it were there choice they would throw more drugs at it. I don't wish this effect of cortisone on anyone!!!!!!!!!!
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