I received shot in my hip on 8/29 and have slept only 2 hrs, a nite since then. I cannot even work now, job is very physical. Am nervous, shaky,whole body twitches. Finally decided to take Dr. advice and take Xanax last nite ( only 1/2 pill) It did calm me down and help me rest, but now feel out of it, and still shaky. How long does this anxiety, nervousness last? This was my 1st shot. Also am afraid to drive much. Never really took any med but aleve. Just want to know how long these effects typically last.Also, don't have much appetite, just nervous eating. All my doctors tell me they have never seen this happen before. ( I really don't believe them) Also, should I go to cardiologist or neurologist ? ( having some chest pain and numbness in left arm) I don't want to take much of the Xanax, says it may be addictive, and don't need more side effects. Help
Corisone shot injection side effects, how long do they last? 9 days now?
Question posted by eice on 7 Sep 2011
Last updated on 31 August 2024
The information on this page reflects personal experiences shared by our community members. It is not reviewed for medical accuracy and should not replace professional medical advice.
137 Answers Page 4
Hello everyone! I received my 3rd cortisone shot in my knee 3 weeks ago. The next day started with an extreme facial flush and continued to get them everyday for a week. Since then I get them every few days and now my bp is elevated, light headed, tingling, shaky hands, headache and combination of hot and cold flashes. Ugh, this has been miserable and Dr's keep telling me its bot possible to still be the shot. So frustrating because I did not have these extreme symptoms before the shot. I did have occasional dizziness and headaches but I had received 2 shots before this so maybe those were causing those symptoms. I feel maybe this 3rd shot sent my body into chaos. I have health anxiety and this has caused MAJOR anxiety that I have never felt. Please tell me this will get better and let me know if you had similar symptoms. Thanks!
My symptoms are starting to get better, sometimes they seem to go for a few days but then reoccur however i do feel like they aren’t as intense as they were, my main symptom still is the shakiness in my left arm plus the muscle twitches all over my body, I also had the tingling and light headiness but that has passed now, my bp was also elevated when the symptoms were at their worst but now that has returned to normal, I also suffered with anxiety as my doctor was saying that the symptoms were not connected to the injection however I believe they were, I have an appointment with a neurologist in a couple of weeks so hoping that could give me some answers, try to do things to distract yourself which is what others told me and was the best advice, the more you think about it the worse you feel, I wouldn’t have thought a month or so ago that I would be feeling much better but I do, I think we just need to ride out the symptoms, I hope you start to feel better soon...
My symptoms are starting to get better, sometimes they seem to go for a few days but then reoccur however i do feel like they aren’t as intense as they were, my main symptom still is the shakiness in my left arm plus the muscle twitches all over my body, I also had the tingling and light headiness but that has passed now, my bp was also elevated when the symptoms were at their worst but now that has returned to normal, I also suffered with anxiety as my doctor was saying that the symptoms were not connected to the injection however I believe they were, I have an appointment with a neurologist in a couple of weeks so hoping that could give me some answers, try to do things to distract yourself which is what others told me and was the best advice, the more you think about it the worse you feel, I wouldn’t have thought a month or so ago that I would be feeling much better but I do, I think we just need to ride out the symptoms, I hope you start to feel better soon...
Thank you so much for the reply! All of the responses on here have helped so much knowing I'm not alone. Everything I read and every Dr said this isn't possible to still be having side effects when I clearly am. I'm just passed the 3 week mark so I'm hoping I feel a difference soon. Thanks again!
Thank you so much for the reply! All of the responses on here have helped so much knowing I'm not alone. Everything I read and every Dr said this isn't possible to still be having side effects when I clearly am. I'm just passed the 3 week mark so I'm hoping I feel a difference soon. Thanks again!
Praying for you and that you feel better also. Hoping your neurologist can give you some answers.
Huge update for everyone here. After doing a lot of research I found out that Activated Charcoal removes corticosteroids from the body. My first dose was 24 hours ago and the cortisone side effects literally feel half as strong now. I don't want to get to optimistic because this seems too good to be true.
I had a steroid injection mid November and am still feeling the effects. I had a week where my anxiety was off the roof, bursting into tears and couldn’t cope with anything so much so I had to take time off work, the the excruciating headaches started for around 2 weeks, crazy dreams started which led me to having night terrors. The next symptom was the shaking in my left arm that’s moved to moved my left leg and and now sometimes affects all my limbs, I get muscle tightness mainly in my chest plus the muscle twitches have now started too all over my body. My symptoms started to ease a little around 8 weeks but now at 12 weeks I feel back to square one. I’m now waiting for a referral to neurologist To rule out any brain problems but it’s seriously starting to get me down, just want to feel normal again.
Joduds, I’m sorry you are going through all this. I had a steroid shot at the end of September and I too went through “phases” of symptoms as I would call it. I started with the anxiety, tremors, headaches, terrible insomnia, dry mouth, extreme nausea, and had that off and on and then I started to get heart palpitations (never had them before in my life), chest tightness, achy muscles, muscle twitches. I am almost 5 months post shot and still deal with headaches, some anxiety, and muscle twitches. I too have thought about getting checked by a neurologist but, unfortunately for me my doctor has kind of written me off and said she felt my symptoms didn’t come from the shot and that I need to see a mental health provider. So I feel like I’m kind of on my own. I have an appointment with my ob/gyn in hopes to get my hormones checked which I don’t think is a bad idea given I feel these shots mess with the hormones in our bodies.
Stay strong! I know it seems impossible sometimes but you matter and your concerns matter. I still have my meltdowns and repeat over and over that I just want to feel better. Keep yourself surrounded by people who will listen and help you through the rough days. That has helped me a lot. Plus I cut out all caffeine and also put a strict limit on my sugar intake and that has helped. I’m still waiting for the day that I feel normal but the other people on this forums has given me hope that my day will come hopefully.
hi, i had the same side affects only i have heart palpitations as well. i’ve had the shaky ness but it’s more so of just a random twitch. i got my shot a week before thanksgiving and after around 8 weeks my symptoms have subsided besides the palpitations which i still have. i had terrible headaches everyday for 2 weeks and thought i had a tumor or whatever u name it. went to 3 doctors and a cardiologist and they found nothing wrong. put me on a low dose of anxiety meds which started to help with the headaches. all the advice i can give you is it takes time. find something you love to do and it will help distract your mind from your symptoms you feel. get out more and maybe go on walks. i found this to help ease my mind and just know that time is your best friend through this process! you’ll get better. just have to find things that distract you. the more you focus on it, the worse it’ll get. maybe change up your diet and get rid of sugar if you eat it a lot and maybe do some yoga or meditation just anything helps! we’re all in this together :)
Yes, Hang in there Joduds and others, it will get better. In my last comment, I had been on an antidepressant for 5 days, Paxil. It's now been more than 4 weeks since I started it and I feel 100 times better! I wish I would have gone on this med months ago but I wasn't ready to try it. I feel 95% back to normal now. I plan on staying on it at least 6 months or until I feel like I want to try to go off it. I'm not trying to tell anyone to go on an antidepressant, it's a personal choice, but it has really helped me. Especially this particular drug because it really calms and helps you sleep, which is what I had trouble with the most - just anxiety so often, bad depression like I've never had, some suicidal thoughts even though that's not at all what I wanted and of course trouble sleeping. It's like the cortisone gave me this bad anxiety and depression that really put me against myself. Like there was a devil in the back of my mind.
Awful and messed up. SO weird and never ever had this in my life. But now on Paxil I am getting back to myself again. I still have bad thoughts here and there but it's easy to put them out of my mind and no real anxiety either. And I sleep like a baby. I'm really focusing on the positive, seeing my therapist every week and my family dr once a month. She has been a godsend and so understanding. So if you feel like I did and are considering an antidepressant, talk to a dr, have them monitor you on it, and power through the first couple of weeks, because you will still feel kind strange and wonder if you can stand it. If your dr will give some anti anxiety meds for you to take only when you really need to so you don't get dependent, those will help you over the rough patches. Just stay positive and know it WILL get better. But you do need to be you own advocate. Find dr's and people who will be supportive. I have found several docs and long time nurses in the mental health field have heard of these reactions to cortisone before. They are often quite supportive. I'm now 8.5 months post shot and I'm pretty sure I will be completely back to myself in the next few months. And you will too. Stay strong and I'm here for support any time. :)
I think I just want to rule any serious illnesses out like ms or Parkinson’s then I could relax a little knowing I just need to ride the symptoms out, I received a letter today from the hospital telling me a neurologist will be reviewing my medical records before deciding what action needs taking next, they said i may get referred to another department or back to my own doctor so I’ll just have to wait and see, my own doctor doesn’t believe there is any connection with the injection plus the orthopaedic consultant who recommended the first injection told me to have another injection when I told him my symptoms, I don’t get how no one seems to recognise that there is a connection.
Thanks for all your kind words everyone this site has helped me so much when I am having down days, I definitely do eat too much sugar so will start looking to eat a healthier diet and try the meditation and yoga which I have practised in the past, it’s just sometimes hard to get motivated when you feel so stressed but I will make an effort from now on, unfortunately I have tried antidepressants in the past when I went through a challenging period in my life and they didn’t work for me but know they can be great for others. I’m feeling more positive after reading all your comments , thanks for taking the time to respond.
The amount of time it takes depend on how bad your reaction was. Most seem to get better within a few months, but I had a severe reaction and I'm still very sick at 19 months.
Huge update for everyone here. After doing a lot of research I found out that Activated Charcoal removes corticosteroids from the body. My first dose was 24 hours ago and the cortisone side effects literally feel half as strong now. I don't want to get to optimistic because this seems too good to be true.
Hi Joduds. I read your post and was hoping and wondering if you were ok and doing better? I had a spine epidural injection 3 weeks ago (it was my 3rd in 5 weeks) for back pain . I can relate to most all of your side effects . The anxiety the whole body twitches the upset stomach overall feeling sick and tired muscle weakness soreness pain , depression .I realized after reading these posts I’m not alone. I just want to feel better again and for this to go away . How are you ? Did you make it thru ? And was wondering if the muscle twitches ever go away !? Did you get help from a neurologist ? Just wishing you the best and if you get this was wondering if you could help answering some of my concerns ( is the twitching from the effects of the steroid fi they go away?) take care - Steve
Joduds,
I hope you see this message. I am officially 3 months out from my cortisone (Kenalog) injection and I am having a lot of the same symptoms and fears you experienced. 3 days after my shot I started to experience muscle twitching/spasming all throughout my body, tingling throughout my body, radiating/buzzing sensations in my legs and feet, bruising easily, goosebumps, numbness in my fingertips while sleeping, shakiness in my legs, arms, and hands. And now I'm starting to have vision issues and ear fullness, etc. I too am scared I have a serious neurological disease, such as M.S, a brain tumor, ALS, etc. I even did an EMG test (and passed thankfully). I currently have a MRI scheduled for next weekend in order to rule out a brain or spine issue. I am very nervous about it as this has caused me to be convinced I do have a neurological issue. However, all blood tests and other testing has come back normal so far.
This MRI will be the last step and then I can hopefully just relax and ride out my symptoms. But your post has been helpful to me. It has helped to reassure me that I'm not the only one experiencing this and it's most likely not neurological. Any other advice you could give me would be great. How long did it take for your spasms/twitching to fully go away?
I had a cortisone shot in my shoulder on May 31, 2019 and have had a pretty rough time mainly because of the horrible anxiety, agitation, dark thoughts towards myself and depression it caused, unlike anything I've EVER experienced before. I'm glad I found this forum because it helps to know others have experienced the same things. I had no idea any of this could happen to me and the doctor didn't say anything. I wish I had never gotten it, and never will again. I am 7.5 months since the shot and have tried to tough it out with just lowest dose Ativan only when I need it because I don't want to get dependent on it. But I haven't been able to "will it away" and have realized I am definitely depressed after all this trauma.
And after reading other's responses on this forum, talking to doctors, my therapist and one friend who went through a much worse reaction after an IV infusion of steroid 7 years ago, I realized that an antidepressant might really help me. So I finally started that 5 days ago and so far it's going ok, but I know it's very early yet. I'm nervous about feeling "weird" on the medicine because I'm so scared to feel worse than I already have been. I think I will do ok and hope this works. I'm trying to stay positive. I don't know how long I will need to stay on this med. I would love to hear some encouragement from others who, like me lived a nightmare for months, feeling like you're nuts, but have now recovered fully from it. How long did it take? Are you completely back to normal now emotionally? What helped you the most? I really need to hear that I will be back to myself at some point!
Hang in there guys, over a year now for me and I’m gladly back to normal. It might take some time but my advice would be to eat as healthy as you can as when I ate not so healthy food like pasta and sugar of any kind it amplified my symptoms 10 fold. Try to stay away from high stress situations even though I know it’s hard these day and just take it day by day. A funny thing that helped me get the unit was the song “three little birds” by bob Marley. It brought me to tears of joy many times while struggling with the symptoms, give it a shot. Best of luck and wishing you a speedy recovery
Thanks to both of you. I have gone completely off alcohol and caffeine but haven't tried going off starch and sugar. I'm doing Nutrisystem diet right now so that's kind of hard but I will try. I was going to switch to eating as natural as possible - all organic and whole foods, nothing processed. And I'm drinking lots of water of course. Also helpful have been yoga, meditation and listening to positive self hypnosis recordings on YouTube at night while I'm trying to get to sleep, which has become a stressful time for me because that's when I had my worst anxiety attacks during the first few months when the drug was still raging in my system. My therapist has suggested journaling at difficult times which helps too. I look forward to not having to take something to make me fall asleep. Never had these problems before in my life. I so look forward to getting to the other side of this. It's been a long, hellish road and I'm ready to be done with it and have my life back - happy and strong, and being able to travel again.
I too have had a cortisone shot only in my spine. I asked my primary prior to agreeing to have the shot if it would make me anxious bc I know prednesone really makes me crazy. I was assured it does not. Two days after i had the injection i thought i was loosing my mind. Feeling crazy, anxiety, unwanted racing thoughts, heart palpitations, and crying. I didnt know what was wrong with me. My grandson said you must be sad from the pain of the shot and then it dawned on me when he had said "the shot" so I looked it up. It was the cortisone. This evil nasty drug. FINALLY i found this web site with allllllllll these ppl having my same symptoms. Im not going crazy or loosing my mind but I am suffering a long term reaction to this crap in my body they shot in me. Its been 7 weeks so far. Worse in the morning. I take lorazepam to help me deal with it. Also started taking Zoloft. No doctor I know will admit these things happen but all of us here know they do bc were living this nightmare. Stay strong ppl and know its NOT YOU its the drug.
I am dealing with this too. In fact I am fighting off anxiety and anger right now. Just took a lorazepam. Had a spinal shot of hell like 7 weeks ago. I may get a good day in between but mainly I fight to get by daily. My primary dr wanted to put me a mood stabilizers bc he feels Im "overwhelmed" with my legs being numb due to a pinched nerve in my back (which is why I had the shot) Are you kidding? Mood stabilizers? I wasnt like this BEFORE I had the shot. Sure I have anxiety, but NOTHING like this. And NOTHING that Ive had to take pills for. Anger, anxiety, crying, racing thoughts, feeling Im just not gonna make it. This web site is the one thing that gives me ANY hope bc I read all of this and I could have written any one of these posts myself bc each one sounds like me. Drs say noooooooo its not the shot. The shot is out of your system already. The shot doesnt cause these things blah blah blah.
I guess everyone here is nuts right? We all have the shot in common, we all have the same symptoms. I guess were all making it up. Im so angry we have to go through this. I wish all of you luck. And hang in there. Its NOT YOU!!! Its what they gave us.
Hang tough ,You’re absolutely right and you’re gonna be okay. Stay strong
I'm almost at 18 MONTHS now and still getting side effects on a daily basis. It feels like I'm getting a new dose every single day, it's insane. It's much weaker now than the first few months but the progress is so slow. It's criminal that doctors inject this poison into humans.
By the way the reason doctors treat you like you're crazy is because the pharmaceutical companies somehow get away with claiming that the half-life of this drug is only 12 hours. Just because it can't be detected in the blood does not mean it's out of the body.
Big news for everyone here. After doing a lot of research I found out that Activated Charcoal removes corticosteroids from the body. My first dose was 24 hours ago and the cortisone side effects literally feel half as strong now. I don't want to get to optimistic because this seems too good to be true.
Hey guys I had a Injection July 15 2019 and the effects mentally hit me hard at 2 weeks they just let up at 6 months but now I feel very very sick been lightheaded for 4 days vision is shaky I can't drive or concentrate ibs symptoms have returned whole body hurts I have neck pain head feels heavy feel very out of it and tired also have chest tightness none of this was going on until now why is it these physical symptoms have started out of nowhere?
I have wondered what happens when we reach the other side because I'm not there yet. When patients take corticosteroids long-term they can't just suddenly stop, because their body relies on the drug for cortisol and when they stop they go into severe withdrawal. Doctors will say though that a cortisone injection can't have systemic side effects because "it leaves your body within 12 hours" but we all know that's bs. Some of the withdrawal symptoms of corticosteroids are listed as fatigue, weakness, muscle aches, abdominal pain etc. I wonder if you're going through that.
I got a “long term” cortisone shot in November and the only symptoms that I’m still dealing with are super bad headaches randomly and heart palpitations. I’m around 6 weeks since I started feeling them and scared they just won’t ever stop. For anyone who had the palpitations, when did they got away and how long did you experience them? Also how did you deal with them and the anxiety of thinking you’re all messed up and dying. I need some real stress relief
They will stop. Palpitations could also be from the anxiety your getting from the shot. This may seem lame to you but try very hard to relax by maybe meditating or breathing slow and deep breaths and concentrating on that. As someone told me when I was in the thick of it, cortisone injection stirs everything up in your body. I dealt with it for months but now feel much better. So, it does go away but may take awhile. What helped me was when I got on prozac/fluoxetine 10mg, it eventually calmed me down. Accept the feelings the best you can and realize it does go away in time, take it from me.
I'm at 17 months and still sick. It can take up to three years.
hi i’m not sure if anyone else is in this forum anymore, but i got a long term cortisone shot 11/25/19 and have had the worst experience ever. i’m 22 and never had anxiety, panic attacks, severe headaches, heart palpitations, and feeling super emotional and depressed. this is all too much for only being 22... i got the shot because i had a sharp pain in my back leading to my chest and i asked about the side affects before getting the shot and all he said was “you’ll be sore for a few days then you’ll be fine” liar! i have cried almost every other day since i got the shot and i’m also a full time student about to start back up school again. i know people say it gets better and some symptoms have subsided, but the main thing i have now is heart palpitations. i went and got an EKG and they said everything was normal but i still an super nervous of this sometimes.
anyone with heart palpitations from this shot, did yours go away? and if so, how long did they last? it’s been about 5 weeks for me now.
Hi I wish you a speedy recovery. I was in the same exact situation as you, 22 trying to balance school with this horrible reaction but it’s doable, I made it out and so can you. Don’t let this set you back in your academic endeavors. I also had bad palpitations for weeks like you and for me, it was around 8 weeks before they really settled down. The first 8 weeks were the worst of all the symptoms and after that it was a slow gradual process back to 100% recovered. I’d say youre almost through the worst of it but it really depends on the person. I went to every specialist you could name and nothing was ever found so I wouldn’t rely on the medical industry to do anything for reactions like this. I’m over a year since my shot and can say I’ve been fully recovered for a while now and just always keep in your head that it will get better as time passes and life will return to normal. Best of luck on your road to health. Happy and healthy new year to you.
maddxbachx Hi, I did not have the palpitations with my side effects but just about everything else! I had a steroid shot in spine for my lower back. The side effects were terrible. One thing I noticed about these shots everyone here is posting about is everyone has different reactions and many are the same. I have had palpitations several times the last few years with my blood pressure meds and ya, it can be scary. I got rid of them by breathing better and trying to keep myself calm which is not easy but not impossible. They are temporary after a few days and will subside eventually so don't panic about them, they are not life threatening! You will feel better, it may take awhile but you will improve so be patient! The steroid shot increases anxiety and depression symptoms and can make you feel unwell for awhile. I was sick from it for months but again, everyone is different. I am in my 60s and have had anxieties and depression for many years but they got worse with the shot.
I am not ashamed to say I cried often also which my condition felt hopeless. I made it through after months of feeling the pits, you can too! If the anxiety and depression keep making you feel bad, see your doctor and ask them if you need to be on something for your anxiety. I am on prozac and after a short time, I was already feeling better. I wish I had acted faster with that but I didnt want to be on meds. Keep positive it will all get better sooner or later! Hang in there!
Loveforall223, thank you so much for your response! you truly made me feel so much better and to know you went through the same thing as me. i’m glad you were able to fully recover from this awful shot. i wish you a happy 2020 and all the love and health to you. thank you!
I'm at 17 months and still sick. The side effects are much weaker now though.
Activated charcoal:
I've been experimenting with different doses and frequency, because the cortisone is constantly circulating from the blood to the liver to the small intestine a little bit at a time. I'm taking activated charcoal in capsule form. You're also going to need oats or oat-based high fiber cereal. It's high in soluble fiber, prevents diarrhea and constipation from the charcoal, and it acts as a sponge to soak up both the charcoal and cortisone so the drug can be neutralized.
This is the regimen:
-When you wake up take 1g of activated charcoal. Immediately eat a very small bowl of oats or oat cereal. Do this every hour for the next 6-8 hours.
-You need to drink a lot of water to prevent dehydration and constipation from the charcoal.
-Take a multivitamin at night because the charcoal also depletes vitamins from the body. If you take any medication take it at night also as far away from the charcoal because it also interferes with it.
-Start with a smaller dose to see how much your body can handle. I may increase the dose of charcoal in the future.
-I also experimented taking the charcoal on an empty stomach every hour. It worked quite well except this causes diarrhea.
-Last point, either use water or a very small amount of milk with the oats. I read that milk can reduce the effectiveness of the activated charcoal.
Don't expect an overnight cure. The cortisone is spread throughout all the fat tissue and blood in your body. It takes time for it all to circulate through the liver and small intestine where the charcoal can bind to it before it's reabsorbed into the blood.
Also, please report back on how it worked for you. I'm seeing huge improvement.
I had same thing happen to me after four shots in both elbows Within few days developed all of those symptoms. I had been getting these for two years every three/four months. Very scary. Never had anxiety ever!! Dr gave me Ativan!!! That wasn’t good. On it three months. She couldn’t explain why I reacted that way. Ativan made it worse and through my tsh for thyroid off. Rough few months getting straightened away. No more cortisone for me!!!
I’m amazed to read the side effects people have to these shots. It confirms for me what I already believed. Thank you
I’m amazed to read the side effects people have to these shots. It confirms for me what I already believed. Thank you
I’m amazed to read the side effects people have to these shots. It confirms for me what I already believed. Thank you
First off always takes left arm numbness & chest pain serious! Everyone’s different but I have all your side effects & several others as well. I just took my last 5mg cuz I’ve been weaning from 60mg daily for six months. I’ve never had the left arm numbness but occasionally haste some chest pain and very scary shortness of breath. Please get the chest/arm looked at immediately & so u know waking in middle of night & simply vomiting can be a sign of heart attack to so go straight to Er. Anyhow I’ve read tons of responses and from what I read how long side effects stick around depends on the person & how huh the dose. Also you are lacking your appetite and I’m indulging into food like I’ve never eaten and foods I normally don’t eat. Google side effects of prednisone there’s tons of info. Wish I the best & happy holidays
P.s docs saying they never heard of it? Please don’t listen myself and many others experience identical side effects-go Google-trust me
You are definitely having a reaction to the steroid. I am very sensitive to corticosteroids myself and had the exact same reaction from using Flonase, which is not even a strong as what you had done. It almost ruined my life. Corticosteroids effect the adrenal glands. Don’t let anyone make you believe different because it is a real issue. I started feeling better about a week after stopping Flonase. If your doctor is telling you that they have never heard of this then they are not a very experienced doctor. Some people are just very sensitive to steroids. Hopefully you’ll notice some improvement in the next few of weeks. Good luck
It's the injection. Doctors will treat you like you're crazy though and say the injection left your system after 12 hours. They're clueless.
I also have severe reactions to any type of steroid injections! I get extreme anxiety to the point that I can't function!Severe jitters,shakiness,to the point that I can't even leave the house. I will NOT under any circumstance or possible pain relief get any more Injections!The anxiety is so horrible that I will not put myself through these side effects.I've heard over&over again that it's not a side effect! After far too many exact same reactions, I know this is how my body reacts.Only after steroid injections has this ever happened to me! It usually begins to get better@the 2 week post injection date. I have had other people who've gone through the same situation tell me that the same thing happened to them.
For me no amount of pain relief is worth the 2 weeks of hell! Take the Xanax,it will help you get through the anxiety.As for other concerning side effects please seek medical attention!Don't let anyone tell you the anxiety is not a side effect!! I can understand what you are going through&I pray that the anxiety passes soon for you! We know our bodies &know when something is not right!Don't let anyone tell you differently! Don't give up,when it comes to our health we must advocate for ourselves!
I had an intravitreal (eye) injection of Kenalog (Triesence) last month. The first five days I had massive anxiety and panic attacks, and had to return to the eye specialist the next day, as an emergency. I asked him to write me a prescription of something that would help, and he prescribed me low-dose Xanax. I'm very susceptible to side effects (didn't think I'd get one with an eye injection), so I do my usual thing when starting a new medication--dissolve it in water, and slowly sip it, wait, sip it some more, etc., to ensure there are no ill effects. The Xanax helps relieve the "fight or flight" head rush, and reduces the anxiety fairly well, but I still have heart palpitations.
After the first five days were over, my anxiety/panic attacks were hit and miss. They would come on at a moments notice, and stop at a moments notice. I know these are slow-dissolving, time-release crystals, so the side effects could last as little as five minutes on, five minutes off, or literally go full stop for 6 hours or more at a time. I had to cancel my cataract surgery, as my blood pressure spiked to 170/105. Since the injection, I've gone to Urgent Care, a cardiovascular specialist, and my Primary Care Provider to try to deal with the symptoms. Sadly, this is a chemically-induced adverse reaction, and is very resistant to blood pressure medications, and the like.
I've been eating beets, lettuce, salmon, nuts, etc., to try to get the blood pressure down, and am drinking stress-relieving teas to help calm me down. Oddly, after the first five days, I thought I was gradually getting better--some days I only had to take one Xanax (it only lasts about 4 hours), and some days not any at all. So, the next few weeks showed steady progress--debilitating but not as frequent or as strong as that first week.
Then I hit week 5. This was a repeat of the first week all over again--six days straight of excruciating panic attacks, followed with no sleep, insomnia, nausea, loss of appetite, weight loss (I'm kind of okay with that), and heart palpitations.
Since I had a vitrectomy (inside of the eye replaced with fluid), the half-life chart shows that Triesence has a half-life of 3.2 days, vs. 18 days for a person who gets an injection and has not had a vitrectomy. That's because the "depot shot" is constantly in fluid, and is supposed to dissolve faster. Well, I am now on 36 days since the injection, which puts the steroid down to less than 1% effectiveness. In fact, it should be completely out of my system, as it is, according to the math, at five-hundredths of 1% left in my system. Yet, I'm still having major side effects. If I didn't have a vitrectomy, and had to deal with the 18-day half-life, as probably most people writing comments here have, it would take 4 months to "technically" get out of my system.
Like other people have said, the medical community shrugs its shoulders with comments like, "I've never heard of that before", "Well, according to the guidelines it's out of your system now, so what you're dealing with must be psycho-somatic". Even my PCP doctor renewed my Xanax prescription, only with the understanding that I would make an appointment to see a Psychiatrist.
Since Kenalog/Triesence is primarily an injection of time-release crystals that dissolve slowly over time, I called the manufacturer Alcon/Novartis, and spoke with the Customer Service rep for over half an hour. He was very nice, logged the complaint, but couldn't come up with any solid answers to my questions. I asked questions like: a) how long is Kenalog designed to stay in a person's body?, b) Is there an antidote or way to get it out of your system faster? c) what is the pharmacology of it in terms of half-life, or how the crystals dissolve? Is it more powerful the second month, than say the first month? d) What percentage of people who take it experience these reactions? Again, the rep was very nice, but didn't have the answer to any of my questions, and said he could only provide information about it to a licensed medical practitioner, if they called and asked.
My retinal doctor, who gave me the injection, had a very cavalier ("CYA") attitude about the whole thing--essentially wanting nothing to do with me for fear of a lawsuit, and suggested I get blood work because it most likely has nothing to do with the injection.
My other eye doctor did tell me that Triesence/Kenalog (Intravitreally) is designed to be out of a person's body in 6 weeks, with side effects lasting for up to 3 days afterward. At least I got one straight answer. I will be at the six week mark in five days, and I start a new job in 3 days. Fingers crossed that I'm at the tail end of this horror story. It literally has prevented me from going to the grocery store, seeing a movie, or driving for more than 30 minutes at a time--for fear of an instant panic attack.
Best wishes to everyone else, who have grinned and beared it. If anyone wishes to respond or comment, I would leave to hear how long it took you to get back to normal, since the injection. It seems like most of us who are commenting are still waiting.
I’m sorry about your terrible ordeal . It took me 18 months to get back to “ normal “ although I’m left with strange allergies to cold , latex and nuts something I never had ! What helped to combat anxiety was protein rich diet : eggs , tofu , lentils. Also breathing exercises. Please drink plenty of water . Good luck and be patient.
Hello Ewa,
Thank you for your kind comments. I appreciate the support. Out of curiosity, you mentioned it took you about 18 months to get back to fairly normal. How many shots/injections did you have, and what were the amounts... was this a single injection or a planned series of shots...
Hey EwaM54, I remember your posts saying that you lost a ton of weight but gained it back. About how long until you started putting on weight again? I'm a year past my shots and it still seems like I'm slowly losing weight. I'm 5-10lbs lighter than I've ever been and I'm approaching being underweight.
How long it takes depends on how strong it is in your body. I'm at 14 months and still sick but much less than the first few months. I predict at this rate it will take another 1-2 years for it to be over.
I was just looking for the answer to that question, and after reading these responses I emphatically agree that anxiety, nervousness, irritability, etc. can be side effects no matter what some docs said.
I already suffer from longtime anxiety/depression and recently realized I can’t take prednisone orally for my chronic, and lately acute neck and back pain, because of these side effects.
I’ve been getting injections instead because I mistakenly thought they wouldn’t have these same side effects.
I had 8 steroid injections in my neck yesterday and today my anxiety is through the roof!
Additionally, I just got it under control last week after a month of debilitating anxiety and panic attacks.
While reading these comments, a bell went off in my head and I realized I had steroid injections right before that month of anxiety, and I now think it was responsible for another couple of weeks of bad anxiety a few months ago.
All this time I thought my new antidepressant/anxiety Rx stopped working as effectively it had been. This sucks!
I’m really glad I ran across this info, and I hope another month of madness isn’t in store.
I’m adding to my own comment because I just thought of a couple of things to share.
1. I’ve had steroid injections, medrol dose packs (methylprednisolone) and oral prednisone several times in the past 25ish years, and I never had side effects until recently. So it shocks me that people that haven’t had anxiety and/or panic attacks before the shot started having them after. I hope it’s situational for u and goes away when the steroids wear off.
2. High Blood Pressure runs in my family, but I’m 52 and never had a problem until about 4-5 months ago. Now that I’ve read these comments I’m wondering if the steroids had something to do with it.
3. To the person that started feeling ill immediately after getting the shot, your doctor should have either kept u there for a while to observe you or sent u to the ER. My docs always made me hang out for a while after the injections for those very reasons. Anybody who feels palpitations, left arm pain, etc. should go to the ER. It could just be a Panic Attack or something, but don’t take the risk (plus panic attacks do need to be addressed anyway). If a Dr wants you to take Xanax, it’s not a bad idea because anxiety/panic can be completely debilitating. U can start with a low dose and add more as needed.
4.,One of my old Drs. used to give me Sarapin injections. Sarapin comes from a plant or tree or something, and mimics steroids without the side effects. They worked great! There was also an analgesic in there to help with the pain from the shot. Ask your Dr to look into it.
For those of you still riding the dragon with regards to side effects of glucocorticoid steroids, let me tell you: there is a light at the end of the tunnel. My magic number of time to improve was exactly six months. Anxiety is the one symptom that takes long to dissipate. Once you go through the steps of first ruling out cardiac or any other potential underlined conditions, time is what it takes for the steroid to be excreted and removed from your system. Everyone is different. Some recover sooner and some are not so lucky. Hang in there everyone. Some of us looking at this from past experiences at one time was like “you.” Keep the faith.
I agree with you navajochief69. I had my shot in July and it has been 11 weeks Friday and was feeling much better for awhile and just recently had migraine headaches continuously for 7 days with little relief at times. Won't rule out the shot since it has shown that the side effects hang on for some time. That made the anxiety go through the roof and ended up in the ER today. They gave me a scan and no brain tumor or bleeding etc... One thing I noticed is that the shot shakes up the anxiety to a frenzy and snowballs out of control. Just when it seemed I was becoming myself again! Its obvious this will take longer than I thought. I am trying very hard to take the headaches as what they are and let the anxiety do what they do and accept them as just extra energy that will go away over time. I look forward to this stuff finally letting go, it is a real life lesson!
I start feeling better for a few weeks and then out of nowhere the side effects become really active and I'm sick again. I don't know how it's possible that one injection can stay in the body for this long, it's absurd.
Got the injection 14 months ago, still sick.
Ya, my wife says the same thing. How does it still affect the body this long? I do not feel that my side effects are as potent as 6 weeks ago but it still impacts my anxiety there is no doubt. Although a lot of us are suffering with this months on, I feel it depends on a lot of other reasons too. I already suffered with anxiety and depression, which had quieted down the past few years.
I also have sensitivity to side effects from other drugs I have taken like Blood pressure meds. I have a hard time with many drugs and get bad reactions to them. Some people do not have that problem it seems. In my opinion is why I am having trouble dealing with the shot. If the doctor had told me from the beginning, you have bad anxieties and trouble taking some meds., you would be better served in doing phys. therapy, I may not be in this situation. He knew this and did not warn me of the possible outcome. I hate to say it, I believe meds.
these days are money driven over the sincere desire for patient care as long as they get customers and are paid. Not all doctors are like this but in my opinion are in the minority.
The only thing we know is that it gets weaker over time, so there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Do you have physical side effects like bloating or muscle weakness?
Yes, I do. IBS bloating, it was worse a month ago but I still get a muscle pain in the abdomen probably from that. I know when I work out muscles hurt more than usual. Neck muscle pain and Migraines. The jitters have returned, nervousness and brain fog. That subsided a month ago and returned. I am sure that I am going to go through a stretch of feeling right again since that has been the trend. I am trying to concentrate on my anxiety symptoms by trying to relax over stressful situations, that may help me through this.
@dexa90
Unlike prednisone which is taken in pill form, a cortisone shot is injected into the body via a muscle or joint. Cortisone (man-made cortisol) shots come in either a short acting or long acting duration. For example, dexamathasone is a long acting cortisone derivative, which can last for up to six months and is the derivative I received in my knee for osteoarthritis back on April 9, 2019. When one gets a cortisone shot the prescriber aspirates it from a vial which is in a liquid form. Within the liquid suspension are crystals that are designed for slow release to keep inflammation/swelling at bay for a specific time depending on what kind of cortisone is used. On the other hand, prednisone is ingested. Prednisone has a very short life so side effects usually dissipate sooner once it is stopped.
Cortisone “is one hell of a drug.” But eventually your body will bounce back and your adrenal glands will begin to level off levels of cortisol (body’s natural hormone) which will decrease levels of adrenaline which in turn decrease palpitations, lessening the fight or flight response. Some individuals have found being prescribed a beta blocker off label and short term can help with situational anxiety. Beta blockers are used to treat rapid and irregular heart beats
as well as high blood pressure. If some of you think you might benefit from this make an effort to discuss this with your PCP and see if it’s appropriate for you. Beta blockers do have side effects just like any other medications so make sure you are well informed being taking them.
Hang in there. You are not alone!
Thanks chief! That is a well explained and the best explanation I have heard so far. It actually gives me support over my condition right now. We all have each other's back and glad I have this site and the people on it for support!
@lazy lizard
Unfortunately, there is no immediate fast acting antidote to take to counteract the effects from cortisone. Most PCP’s will tell u it’s a waiting out game until the last of those crystals finally dissipate. Just remember to add cortisone/prednisone to your list of allergies to avoid another reaction in the future.
So many of us on this forum that have experienced it know it all to well.
navajochief69 It's not always injected into a joint, it was injected straight into my vein which is probably why I got all the systemic side effects along with the fact that I have an extreme hypersensitivity to corticosteroids; I even started getting severe side effects from using a betamethasone ointment for a few days.
@skiath
You are correct. Intravenous injection will elicit a systemic response as it is being introduced into your circulatory system. The intravenous route mostly used for emergencies and in a hospital setting involving anaphylaxis shock, chemotherapy, management of MS and/or exacerbation of asthma symptoms to name a few. Intravenous introduction of cortisone will bring bring a rapid response and possible onset of adverse side effects versus IM, PO, and/or intrathecal administration.
It was 14 months ago and I had an insane reaction, thought I was going to die. Non-stop adrenaline, difficulty breathing, pain in muscles, pain in bones, pain in brain. Now I feel much better but still have some residual side effects which I think might take another year or two to go away completely. I don't understand how the crystals from the injection can be stored in my body this long when the doctors say "the drug leaves your body within 12 hours".
@sciath
Hard to say. It may take up to 18 months or longer for symptoms to subside from what a pharmacist told me once. I know that if you have a history of anxiety, OCD, PTSD, to name a few, symptoms of these conditions can amplify with glucocorticoids. What helped me get through it was going outside to get sunlight, exercise, socialized with friends, seek counseling, and focused on ruling out a medical cause such as cardiac involvement so that I can ride out the adrenaline rush episodes with piece of mind knowing it was in my head and not my heart and coming to accept the episodic anxiety attacks knowing I wasn’t going to die. The introduction of cortisone to our body for some people like us that are sensitive affects our natural cortisol levels which is a natural occurring stress hormone that regulates metabolism and blood pressure, to name a few.
When our natural cortisol levels are altered by introduction of injected cortisone your adrenal glands that regulated cortisol stop producing cortisol because the cortisone replaces it. This for some of us causes our bodies to go out of whack. It takes time for our cortisol levels to level out to bring our bodies back to equilibrium as it was before the cortisone injection. This is why people who take prednisone tabs for months at a time such as those with an autoimmune disease, must be weaned/tampered off of them to allow their adrenal glands to start making cortisol again to avoid adrenal crisis. Depending which cortisone solution is used, some effects may last short term and some a bit longer. Some are stronger than others and some last longer than others. And then there’s people that aren’t effected by them at all. Most people like us that are sensitive to glucocorticoids and never had history of anxiety but find ourselves held hostage by it. Again, I would recommend you revisit consultation with your PCP and ensure you rule out any underlying medical cause. Once you do that and if no medical correlation is found, I would seek psychological counseling, which I did, and have a mental health professional evaluate you. It’s possible you are suffering from a form of steroid psychosis which steroids can cause and only a mental health professional can determine this. Believe me. I know what you’re going through as do many of us on this forum. Keep us posted. Take care.
I agree with you that in milder cases the symptoms are mainly psychological, but in severe cases they are real physical effects on the body. To give you an idea of how extreme my body reacted to the cortisone, two days later all the bones in my body started shrinking including my face. I got DEXA scans of my spine and they showed almost 16% loss of bone mass in ten months. The first scan was taken two months after the injection however, and the bone loss and other side effects were most insane in those first two months so I will never know how much bone I lost in total as a result of the injection.
@sciath
Sounds like you may have had a paradoxical effect from the initial injection. Glucocorticoids possible side effects do include osteoporosis as well as joint damage and tendon rupture. Did your symptoms occur after one initial injection or did you receive additional injections? Which cortisone compound did you receive?
@sciath
Sounds like you may have had a paradoxical effect from the initial injection. Glucocorticoids possible side effects do include osteoporosis as well as joint damage and tendon rupture. Did your symptoms occur after one initial injection or did you receive additional injections? Which cortisone compound did you receive?
I got a single 100mg cortisone injection, which is normally a low dose because a doctor said they go up to 500mg. My body has no tolerance though. Immediately after the injection I felt a pain run down my legs and light-headed. Then I could barely think straight or form a sentence. Later that day I had heat stroke symptoms and couldn't breathe, got taken in an ambulance to ER. My body couldn't control its temperature anymore or produce any sweat. The next day was even worse. The real insanity started two days later though when I guess it went fully active and I started feeling pain in my bones. I'm feeling better each month though, now it's nothing compared to what it was the first four months.
Navajochief69
YOUR THE ONLY ONE BESIDES MYSELF AND MY DOC that has said anything about the OCD thing
For years I've had harm ocd and 3 weeks after that shot it made it 100 times worse I felt insane! I'm coming up on 4 months and I still feel weird like I'm not myself but not even close to that first month I'm hoping mine leaves very soon so my brain can calm back down! If you have time please text me my name is Curtis 704-675-4972
Thank you for the outlook! I am 2 1/2 months out from a Kenalog injection and I am praying and holding on to hope that I get better soon. It’s a rough ride for sure. I’ve seen 4 different doctors and had 2 ER visits with all of them saying that they didn’t feel the shot would have caused my issues. I was completely fine prior to the shot. I didn’t have any of these issues prior to and here I sit feeling helpless. It is awful to feel this way and still have to function to work a full time job and take care of a 3 year old. My husband is offering as much help as he can but at times I feel like he is frustrated as well. I find myself crying and just saying that I just want to feel better.
Hello navajochief69, I wanted to ask what your side effects were. I am 11 weeks out from the shot and am still having: headaches/head pressure/blurry vision off and on, insomnia, waking up with a racing heart, dry mouth, extreme anxiety, shakiness, and bad nausea. I also feel like I’ve developed some pain in the middle of my back and right side of my neck when I turn my head. Just looking to see if there is any hope that this will be leaving my body. I’m feeling hopeless big time.
Checking back in. I'm almost at 17 months and though it's much weaker I'm still suffering terrible side effects every day. It was getting weaker over the past couple weeks but then bam out of nowhere it hit me again two days ago and all the side effects came back, including adrenaline, tightness in chest, difficulty breathing, and extreme bloating. At the beginning of this year I seriously thought it would be over by now. Now I'm more pessimistic and expect this to last another couple of years. That injection ruined my life and I think it's criminal that doctors inject this poison into people.
Perhaps my last comment was a bit too pessimistic, because the effects really are getting significantly weaker as time goes by. Just frustrating that I have ANY side effects after all this time. I will post an update when it's entirely out of my body, whenever that may be.
I’m going on 6.5 months post shot. Did you find that you hard flare ups? Like you’d 2 months then anxiety would be horrendous for no reason. I’m finding that it’s gradually getting better but out of the blue every few months I have bouts of anxiety. It’s ridiculous.
I might start feeling improvement for a week or two and then all of a sudden the drug flares up in my system and it's like I regress six months for a few days. It's nuts. Anxiety is the least of my concern though, the injection caused serious physical side effects which continue to this day.
As a caveat to all that remain with long term ongoing symptoms that are not resolving after six or more months I would strongly recommend seeing an endocrinologist to rule out any other physiological causes such as Cushing’s or any other adrenal gland abnormalities. Every person’s regulatory system is unique. The introduction of synthetic hormones to ones own unique body will affect each one of us differently. Our bodies are well running regulated machines. For some, it doesn’t take much to disrupt the way our naturally occurring hormones balance everything in our bodies to maintain and regulate physiological equilibrium. The introduction of synthetic hormones such as prednisone/cortisone will and can disrupt the ways our bodies regulate life sustaining regulatory functions. Hormones regulate so many things in our bodies from how adrenaline is released to influencing our moods.
This is why some people on glucoccortico steroids can experience anxiety, depression, manic type behaviors, changes in personality, palpitations, chest pain, restlessness and insomnia to name a few. These symptoms can linger on, however; soon after glucoccortico steroid therapy has concluded for some. There is no correct answer on why these unwanted adverse effects affect some more than others. It is is called steroid psychosis. And even for a smaller percentage of affected people some adverse side effects can be detrimental and debilitating because glucocorticoids can cause osteoporosis and destroy tendon/tissue. For me, I experienced anxiety, palpitations, insomnia, paranoia, loss of appetite, didn’t want to socialize, anger for no reason, lack of interest or motivation to do anything, became antisocial to where I self isolated myself. It lasted for about six months. It more or less coincided with the duration of action the long acting cortisone that was used. But to err on the side of caution, if your PCP isn’t giving you the answers or comfort you are seeking, perhaps seeing an endocrinologist can help alleviate some of the worry and possibly help bring some answers to what is happening.
Huge update for everyone here. After doing a lot of research I found out that Activated Charcoal removes corticosteroids from the body. My first dose was 24 hours ago and the cortisone side effects literally feel half as strong now. I don't want to get to optimistic because this seems too good to be true.
I got a shot in my wrist on September 16. 4 days later I had a very dry mouth for about 4 days and then on the 5th day after the shot I spent most of the day very dizzy. Then the muscle twitching started. I’m so happy I found this discussion group!!! I can’t wait for it to finally stop!
If those are the only side effects you're experiencing then you should feel very lucky compared to some other responses here and it should be mostly over within a month or two.
I had insomnia too, but only for a week or so. It was just so weird that it took 4 or 5 days before I started to experience anything! I’m just appreciative to have found this forum! ☺️
Yes the weird thing is that it takes a few days for the drug to go fully active. For me it happened after two days. However doctors will tell you this drug "leaves your body within 12 hours", which is complete BS.
For me, the physical symptoms started the next day but I didn't notice the mental effects until about two weeks later.
I want to say thanks to everyone who is sharing their information about how this shot has affected them. It has helped me so much to know that I’m not alone in this!
oh my word. I am done. I've been through the mill with drs and chiropractors. Months and months of treatment for lower back pain and muscle migraines from shoulder blades to eyeballs. They finally did an x-ray, so I have a 6 lumbar vertebrae and SI joint inflammation and grinding. Orthopedic doc decided I need cortisone shots, it's been 7 days of absolute insanity. I'm a previous diagnosis of PTSD bi-polar (2) generalized anxiety disorder and spectrum mal adaptive. I had the actual flu back in Feb of this year had steroids then .. they made me feel like I was on the Iron man competition and was winning. Lol this time, I sleep 15 minutes then up 45 ... 15... 45. pain increase in knees (both) hips(both) hungry, angry, rapid cycling with intense emotions, quick responsive anger, frustration, confusion, combative. Cleaning, organizing, crying,
Plus I stopped smoking last week, so I'm a darn hot mess.
I do believe the not sleeping is from the shots as well as intensified feelings.
Good question.
Trust me the insomnia is definitely from the shots, this is a common side effect. The first month I could barely sleep at all and I was near delirious.
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