steriod injections

[iloveglee]

Does anyone know if there is any possibility that having a steriod injection into a joint can act on other parts of the body. theoretically that shouldnt be possible, but recently my husband has been having some chest problems, wheezing, wheezy cough etc and was given inhalers to use (ventolin). they slightly improved the wheezing but the cough got worse. then he had a steroid injection into his knee and from that day the wheezing disappeared, as did the cough and the effect lasted for about 2 months. the problem has now re-occurred but how weird was that. i am wondering if some of the steroid 'escaped' and improved his lungs in which case maybe a steroid inhaler may be better than the one has been given. getting an appointment at the doctors is a nightmare.

[Sqad]

I think that your summing up is quite correct in that there is little doubt that some steroid either leaks or injected into the wrong spot can become absorbed into the blood stream and act elsewhere....e.g the lungs.

[bricro]

My doctor told me that if your blood sugar count rises it is possible that one side-effect could be diabetes and in which case the dose is reduced . He also told me that he had kept a patient going for 18 months on steroids.

[Mosaic]

Just to add a little - I had a bad chest for almost 12 months, the only thing that worked was a steroid inhaler.

[Sqad]

bricro.....I am not the brightest bulb in the pack, but i cannot understand one bit of your post or it's relevance.

[Eve.]

I had a steroid injection in my bum for general inflammation in various joints (so more widespread) though maybe that was injected into the blood stream generally as it wasn't direct into my joint?

[iloveglee]

Well, an injection into the bum is given into the muscle, so will act throughout the body but into the joint its supposed to just go in there. still i suppose its possible some could escape. i think it was too much of a coincident for it not to be that