Intolerable pain for 5 weeks after kenelog injection (desperate)

My girlfriend has had Lyme for 8 years now. Igenex panel results: Lyme disease, Tick borne relapsing Fever, Babesiosis, Bartonella. She also has mold toxins in her, we have not addressed the mold problem and have no idea how.

Her lyme doctor recently stopped trying to treat the lyme because she wanted to get her pain down first. The LLMD sent her to a pain clinic and they gave her a kenalog injection and .5 mg of Naltrexone. Ever since the injection her pain at the injection site has been 7/10 in am and 9 or 10/10 nightly for 5 weeks. We then took another steroid called medrol dosepack but it did noting.
Shes doing coffee enemas, taking Glutathione, Alkaceltzer gold and lime, epsom salt baths, and electrolyte powder.
Trying to avoid gluten.
A few days ago she thought she was getting better but aggravated her back trying to open a drawer.
Shes had a normal MRI and nerve conductive test.
Were waiting to see a new LLMD, were hoping to try some ozone therapy.

She just stopped taking serratia two days ago and Im hoping that will help. I think she may have been taking it by mistake. Last week she was diagnosed with a yeast infection and started treating it with Fluconazole. Her llmd suspects she may have a bladder infection (frequent urination and painful sex) and is waiting for her joint pain to go down so she can take a biofilm buster which is necessary to take the bladder infection test.

Do you guys have any tips for dealing with the pain? Driving makes her pain way worse and also walking.
According to a physical therapist she has a leg imbalance, but we stopped seeing the PT because were sure the pain is from inflammation. She does light stretching when she can but is afraid to make things worse.

To anyone whose had a steroid injection how long did it take the pain to subside?

Thank you so much!

Post Edited (robinhobb) : 2/24/2023 7:25:11 PM (GMT-8)

hello and welcome to the forum

sorry to hear of your girlfriends troubles

some doctors still use corticosteroids in Lyme patients for their inflammation reducing effects - but they are known to have immune suppressing effects ( in fact that is generally why they are prescribed) this immune suppression is aimed at reducing inflammation - but can cause flares of Lyme symptoms in people infected with borrelia - and possibly other chronic infections.

i don't know if this is the cause of the issues your girlfriend is having - but since you mentioned two separate corticosteroids i thought i should mention that its a risk factor for flares of lyme symptoms.
in animal trials corticosteroids can significantly increase the numbers of lyme bacteria present in the animals tissues.

and there are studies showing worse long term outcomes when steroids are used in treatment of lyme induced facial palsy
eg https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27598389/

i assume it was a joint like a hip or a knee or shoulder that was injected
feasibly if this joint was problematic due to lyme in the first place - then steroid injections into that joint could either potentially help the issue via reducing inflammation or aggravate the issue by suppressing the immune system - i believe i have read accounts of both outcomes in people here.
which outcome occurs in an individual may depend on things like the individuals immune system.


if it has been aggravated by the injection it will hopefully gradually return to baseline over time

all the best

saraeli said...
Is cannabis legal where you live? This has helped the most people I know who are suffering from acute pain.

Do you have a brand or type that you recommend? I read somewhere that something called rick simpson oil is good?

i think most people use actual cannabis for pain - as in cannabis with THC in it

its a personal thing - not everyone gets benefit from it

CBD seems to be more for things like inflammation and immune dysfunction as far as i can tell

I’m so sorry your girlfriend is in so much pain. I have sciatica nerve pain that is excruciating in my right hip that comes and goes. If it’s related to Lyme disease steroids and PT won’t help. I have had both done and it hasn’t helped me.
I am now trying ZHANG protocol as I may have nerve damage from the inflammation.
Antibiotics, antivirals and steroids have not resolved my pain.
I hope you find a resolution with your Lyme doctor, it may take longer to get relief for the pain.
I will post if my current treatment makes any difference to my pain.
Best of luck!