Expert: Dr Ian Jackson - please note UK based - 1/15/2008

Question
Hello, I recently had an epidural with steroid for a herniated lumbar disc, at L4/5. The doctor injected the left side of the spine first, with no problem. However, when he injected the right side I experienced a swimming sensation in my head, my ears rang and I felt nauseous. I groaned and grabbed my head, so he slowly removed the needle, flipped me onto my back and lifted my legs. After some minutes and once I was recovering he took my blood pressure, which was now at 100 over 60 (I'm guessing it had been a lot lower). Can you please tell me what happened? Thank you.

Answer
Hi Angela
I'm not quite sure what type of epidural you were having. The main question would be was he injecting some local anaesthetic as well as the steroid? I suspect that the tip of the needle ended up inside an epidural vein (there are lots of them) and so when he gave you the injection the drug went straight into your blood stream. The symptoms you describe do sound like those we see when a patient gets local anaesthetic injected into their bloodstream.
However I can only guess at what happened and it would be best to ask the doctor concerned for an explanation. I hope this helps.
Kind regards
Dr Ian Jackson