Resolved question:
My daughter has had a herniated disk since 2009. Well, the last couple of weeks, it got really bad so a back doctor prescribed her oral prednisone, and now she is even more debilitated than ever. Can barely move and is just lying in bed. The doc on call just told her to go to the hospital. Do you think it's the oral steroids causing the pain? Please give me some advice on what she could do to alleviate her pain, as she screams from just crawling or walking. HELP!
Submitted:
4 Days
Category:
Internal Medicine Specialist
Hello,
Thank you for choosing DoctorSpring.
I am sorry to hear about your Daughter's pain and will try my best to help you.
Oral Prednisolone will NOT help in disc herniation / prolapse pain . This has been tried and found to have no promising result. So I DO NOT recommend oral steriods at all. On the contrary long term use can cause many side effects too.
But the current pain is not due to the steroid intake. It should be the herniation getting worse and pinching the nerves.
Was an MRI done ? At what level is the herniation ? Was surgery considered ?
For now the best option would be a strong NSAID like Acelcofenac+ Paracetamol. Alternatively you can use an OTC pain medication like Ibuprofen 400 mg two - three times a day.
If you can provide me more details like - the level of prolapse , MRI report , past treatment plans etc I might be able to help yu better. You can reply as followup
Hope this helps
Thank you
She had an MRI in 2009, and it showed the herniated disk. The back doc wanted to try her on the oral steroids ten-day plan before he did another MRI, and she is just in excruciating pain now. She did PT to no avail. Surgery is not an option now.
Well the steroids will not help in pain for short term. BUT there are intra thecal steroid injections (injected into the spinal cord) which can provide pain relief.
NSAID pain medications + Opioids are the best option now. You can also use pain balms.
With this amount of symptoms you should consider Surgery. If you can share the MRI report I could get the opinion of our Spine Surgeon whether she is a good candidate for surgery or not.
Thank you