I have had cortisone shots a few times. Knee, back, and hip. Only once did I have an issue when I had two shots within 3 weeks. (One in knee and then 3 weeks later one in hip) A few days later I had horrible pain in my lower abdomen. Spent 4 hours in the emergency room. Did every test they could until they found fibroid tissue in my uterus. Now I had been in menopause for 6 years. I asked the doctor if the cortisone shot could have aggravated it. He said possibly. A couple of days later I started to bleed and went on line and sure enough found all kind of stories about vaginal bleeding after a shot. That little visit cost me $2,000. Talked to my GYN and he told me that it can happen but I had to have all kinds of tests to be sure. (the bleeding started exactly 7 days after the second shot) I am sitting here now having had a shot in my hip 5 days ago with awful pain waiting to see. I am so done with cortisone shots! Had the doctor told me this before the shot, could have saved the $2,000. But now I know!
I am 3 years post-menopausal and had an extremely heavy bright red flow start 6 days after receiving a Kenalog injection to the abdomine. I've found all kinds of posts from women on this and other cites describing similar experiences, but nothing from board certified professionals stating that this is no cause for concern. I contacted the gastroenterologist that administered the Kenalog and he said it is highly unlikely that the steroid has anything to do with the bleeding. He advised me to see a Gynecologist as soon as possible.
Please see the recently published study entitled Abnormal Vaginal Bleeding after Epidural Steroid Injection, in the American Journal of Ob/Gyn published this month. It shows that steroid injections do in fact cause abnormal bleeding. IF your doctor is not aware of this study, you should make him/her aware.
I have degenerative disk disease, spinal sentosis and bulging disks and know how painful this can be then it was accompanied by bursitis in my hip which drove me nuts....I decided to go for the steroid and/or cortizone injection two weeks today I had a show one day and it disappeared then about five days later had another heavy show which also disappeared and today again which is exactly two weeks to the day have had another heavy show.
I am 62 and my last period was at 51 and have never had any trouble. It does make you worry.
A study was done 2011 plus. Of the women who did have abnormal vaginal bleeding after epidural cortisone shots, 70% were premenopausal and 30% were post menopausal. See: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23816843
Sure wish I'd known about the possibility. Had terrible scare, ER trip, thousands of dollars of testing, weeks of worry, to finally be advised it was probably from a cortisone shot. No one had warned me.
I have worked for an OB/Gyn for 20 years. Whenever a patient calls in complaining about abnormal periods the two questions I ask first are 1. Could you be pregnant? and 2. Have you had a recent steroid injection? The majority of the time, they have had a recent steroid injection. Steroids affect every organ in the body and can interrupt menstrual cycles too.
I am feeling very reassured reading these posts. I had two Kenalog injections (40mg in each) in each arm for tennis elbow. I was just finishing a period when I had the two shots on 25th October. I usually have a 26-28 day cycle. Ten days later what I thought was another period started which really scared me as I've never had any irregular periods or bleeding before. I have now been bleeding every day (but three) for five weeks. It starts to tail off then comes back full on again.
My GP and my physio who gave me the shots both say this can't be caused by the injections but I'm finding more and more evidence that that it can. I have another appointment next week to follow up and will be looking at having bloods and an ultrasound scan.
This has been very upsetting as we were supposed to be trying for another baby now and of course I dont want to go ahead if I am going to need these investigations to rule out anything serious.
The fact that health professionals don't seem to have any knowledge of this is appauling. If I had been advised of this I would never have had them. The worry it has caused thinking that there may be something serious wrong has been terrible never mind the fact that my hormones and cycle are totally up the shoot right at a time when I didn't need them to be..
I am in the UK so am lucky that I don't have to pay for any consultations or investigations.. I'm just sorry for you who do have to pay as well as having the worry and pain of having these side effects.
I would love to know what has happened to those who have posted and when your symptoms have settled.
I am 32 years old with no prior issues of period bleeding. Eight days after my injection I started bleeding, was four days late on my period. It wasn't normal from the start and thought I was going through a miscariage. Saw my obgyn who did an exam and bloodwork- everything was normal. Confused and scared, not having a pap smear in two years with a prior history of abnormal paps, I thought the worst. At week three, my doc ordered an ultra-sound. It is now week four, bleeding between light and heavy and waiting for my ultra sound next week. I was so relieved to see this post, when I thought "what if this is from the injection?" and started searching for more answers. I called my Ortho, who stated that I was not the first female to have problems. I questioned if they were all pre/post menopausal (I am not) they said not necessarily. This side effect was never listed, they have it written that you may have bleeding if you have underlying bleeding conditions which is false. I would have thought twice about the injection if I knew their was a good chance I would be bleeding for month(s), but most of all I wouldn't have been scared to death that I had the big C!
I have not had anything resembling a menstrual period in over 10 years. A week ago I had two steroid shots to my lumbar 4-5 spinal area for severe spinal stenosis. I am now experincing abdominal cramping and light vaginal spotting. Thank you all for sharing. Since I am 72 and do have a small uterine fibroid growth, I will still have to check with my gynecologist to be sure nothing serious is happening.
From Annie; Addendum to my post two days ago. I found out today that the two steroids shots totaled 80 mg of Kenalog. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, so I take 4 mg Prednisone daily. I have had Prednisone doses as high as 40 mg tapering back down to 7 mg per day. My PCP injected at least 10 of my trigger points with Depomedrol last spring. These Kenalog injections have been the ONLY steroid treatment that has caused this abnormal uterine bleeding for me. I am going to try another injection of 40 mg of steroid into my right Sacroiliac joint in a few weeks, but will insist that it be something other than Kenalog. I downloaded and printed the NIH article on Abnormal Vaginal Bleeding after Epidural Steroid Injection. It was printed in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Sep 2013. I gave a copy to my spinal surgeon and will be sure the injection specialist gets it also.
Has anyone suggested surgery for the spinal stenosis? There are minimally invasive procedures now. Some of your symptoms suggest Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy- also called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. A pain management doctor should be familiar with this condition.
According to the study done by the NIH, only 2.5 percent of women have this problem with the steroid injections. Go online with the search words: NIH 2011 study Abnormal Vaginal Bleeding after Epidural Steroid Injection. The study was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology not until Sep 2013. I have lived with a torn meniscus in my knee for 8 years. Doing regular quadriceps exercises and wearing a Cho-Pat knee strap should be a big help. The only need for surgery is if the meniscus flap gets into the joint and locks it up.