Question: Hi,

I had a caudal epidural 4 weeks ago as treatment for lower back pain and suspected lumbar disc problems. Since then my pain has increased along with a couple of weeks of experiencing peripheral nueropathy ( diagnosed by a physician). It all feels like a reaction to the epidural and I'm wondering if this injection can make your back pain worse rather than better? Have had another MRI to rule out Arachnoiditis and blood tests which ruled out infection. However my pain is different now - burning around the lower spine and for the first time since my back problems started ( 10 months ago) I now have a stabbing pain in my lower spine.( Previous MRI showed a protruding disc at L5/S1 but two more MRIs in past 6 months say no disc protrusions.) my pain is worse and my sitting tolerance gone from 15 minutes to less than 5 minutes. Not sure why my pain would have increased or what to do next?

Thank you Dr Panwar, I will upload my MRIs today for you. In the meantime to answer your other questions:
1. The pain in my lower back didn't radiate to my lower limbs until recently ( last 4 weeks) following the epidural. It is more of a heat/burning sensation particularly down the back of my right leg but I wouldn't say it presents as bad pain instead, more of a heat sensation. However for 4-5 months before the epidural I had lots of gluteal muscle spasms particularly in the minimus and medius glute muscles. I have also had aching hips and groin aching. The glute spasms have gone the past month but the aching hips still remain.
At present my pain seems very concentrated around the bottom of my spine and sacrum area. I now also have aching through my buttocks as well. What has changed in the past week is that I have experienced more sharp pains at the bottom of my spine on the left side that stop me in my tracks! I have avoided bending and lifting for months and am conscious to keep my back straight when I have to do so.
2. For the past 3 weeks I have had tingling and burning sensations in my hands, arms and mostly my feet. I also experienced getting sensations in my upper spine and neck but this has now subsided. My feet continue to feel 'hot' . No tests were done to diagnose peripheral nueropathy other than my doctor telling me that that was what those symptoms represented. They have improved substantially this week.
3. I have experienced no bladder problems.
I can say that my pain and mobility has worsened by 30-50% at least since having the epidural. I am able to sit only for 5 minutes if lucky and now experienced sharp pains from that. ICAN stand for 20-30 minutes but then need to move. My feet seem to tire and feel hot the past few weeks as well - something I didn't feel before the epidural.

Many thanks
XXXX


Hi Dr Panwar,

The link to my three MRIs on Google Drive is:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=YYYXXXU0YwZGc

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

XXXXX


Hi Dr Panwar,

There may be a problem with the previous link so I have zipped the files and created another link for my MRI files

https://drive.google.com/open?id=XXXXXX

Many thanks
XXXXX

Thank you doctor Panwar. I was tested in a blood test for vitamin B12 deficiency and appeared to have normal levels. I also take Vitamin D each day and have done for a few years - should I be taking more of these?

Thank you for your time.
XXXX