Cat-a-Tonic
Super Moderator
2 weeks ago, I had a couple steroid injections into my bad hip. Long story short, GP thinks it's arthritis but doesn't know what kind as he's not a specialist. Rheumy is basically worthless and has no idea, but he said a steroid injection "could help and won't hurt". He feels the cause of my pain (more towards the outer hip) might be more muscular rather than in the joint itself, and he said there are 2 big muscles right in that area, so he did 1 injection into each muscle. He did not inject the hip joint itself, just the muscles.
I felt okay for a few days after the injections, but then I started feeling really awful. Wicked nausea, zero appetite, increased acid reflux, tremendous fatigue, difficulty sleeping. Oh, and my hip feels a little worse rather than better! I emailed my rheumy, but as I said he's useless, and his only response was that he doesn't know why I'm having a bad reaction, this type of thing doesn't usually happen, and to follow up with my GP. Ugh!
So the bad symptoms lasted about a week. Then I started feeling somewhat better for a few days, but the nausea came back today and my appetite left when the nausea appeared. I'm just wondering, has anyone else had a reaction like this to steroid injections? If so, how long did the bad reaction last? I should add that I have always had a great reaction to oral steroids, they make me feel great and give me a good appetite. Someone in a different thread told me that it's a very different process when the steroids are injected vs oral, so I'm guessing that's why I'm not having a good response, but I don't really know. Anybody else been through something like this?
Edited to add: I should also mention, the steroid injections totally messed with my menstrual cycle too. I did not experience that either while on oral steroids! I was supposed to get my period the day after the injections, but it was about 5 days late and it was mostly just a bit of spotting, it wasn't the full monthly experience if you will. I'm on nuvaring so my periods are usually like clockwork.
I felt okay for a few days after the injections, but then I started feeling really awful. Wicked nausea, zero appetite, increased acid reflux, tremendous fatigue, difficulty sleeping. Oh, and my hip feels a little worse rather than better! I emailed my rheumy, but as I said he's useless, and his only response was that he doesn't know why I'm having a bad reaction, this type of thing doesn't usually happen, and to follow up with my GP. Ugh!
So the bad symptoms lasted about a week. Then I started feeling somewhat better for a few days, but the nausea came back today and my appetite left when the nausea appeared. I'm just wondering, has anyone else had a reaction like this to steroid injections? If so, how long did the bad reaction last? I should add that I have always had a great reaction to oral steroids, they make me feel great and give me a good appetite. Someone in a different thread told me that it's a very different process when the steroids are injected vs oral, so I'm guessing that's why I'm not having a good response, but I don't really know. Anybody else been through something like this?
Edited to add: I should also mention, the steroid injections totally messed with my menstrual cycle too. I did not experience that either while on oral steroids! I was supposed to get my period the day after the injections, but it was about 5 days late and it was mostly just a bit of spotting, it wasn't the full monthly experience if you will. I'm on nuvaring so my periods are usually like clockwork.