My unnerving steroid injection experiences

Because of my problems with my shoulder, I’ve had corticosteroid injections (also called cortisone injections or steroid injections) more than once. Doctors (at least the ones I’ve had) don’t counsel you on anything to watch out for, they just give you the shot and send you on your way. Which is why, when I started having side effects, at first I thought there was something wrong with me.

Harmless beginnings

Corticosteroid injections are often given to alleviate pain in a specific joint or location, often due to arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis, or some other condition that is causing inflammation there.

The first time I had a corticosteroid injection was from a crazy older doctor who couldn’t even decide what to diagnose me with. He went round and round, from ankylosing spondylitis to Marfan syndrome to fibromyalgia and back again. At one time, though, he seemed to think that a steroid injection in my shoulder would help, even though he didn’t know what was wrong with it (so couldn’t really know the proper place to inject, you would think). The problem was, he decided that since I was young I only needed half a dose, even though I was 18 and had been fully grown for 6 years. Needless to say, it didn’t work very well, and I also didn’t notice anything weird in the days after.

When I switched doctors, the physician assistant again tried a corticosteroid injection on my shoulder, this time specifically for bursitis. I had had some pretty bad mood problems from taking oral prednisone, another steroid, but I didn’t think it related to corticosteroid injections. They’re supposed to be pretty harmless, right? Maybe that was naive, but that’s the message I got after much time around doctors. And it was reinforced by experience: this time, too, it didn’t particularly seem to help or hurt anything.

Things get real

Fast-forward a year. I finally demanded that someone figure out what was wrong with my shoulder, because I couldn’t take it anymore and there had to be answers. After several ultrasound investigations, my rheumatologist found several problems: bursitis, calcific tendonitis, and arthritis. He decided to give me a steroid injection to help with the bursitis. No big deal, I thought.

It was a big deal a few days later when I had a middle-of-the-night crisis about schoolwork. I mean, I’m not always completely put together (or even close), but that was a little out of hand. It took me sobbing on the ground around 2 AM to realize that maybe corticosteroid injections weren’t as harmless as I thought. That was when I put together this reaction with my reaction to prednisone. I had a hard time finding anything about side effects that matched mine, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible, right?

Then, when I thought that I was over the effects of the injection, I got another surprise: an early period. I didn’t even realize at the time that the early period had to be because of the steroid injection, though. Since the mood weirdness went away fast, I never even thought to mention it to my doctor.

Things get really real

A few months later, when I went back for another ultrasound of my shoulder, my doctor recommended another corticosteroid shot in a different place. The last injection hadn’t been a great experience, but it was honestly already mostly out of my mind. Plus, an injection in this location was supposed to help more.

Wrong.

The first thing I was hit with was an enormous bruise. That’s actually a side effect I was expecting from a shot, though. The next thing I got was, again, the terrible and depressive turn of mood. It was rough, and my partner was definitely not happy (having to bear a lot of it), but I got through it. But then… my period didn’t come. At all. And my period was never late.

I tried to be calm about it, but as it reached day 10 and my period still hadn’t come, I was starting to have a hard time pushing away my worries. I couldn’t be pregnant, right? There was no way…

There was actually no way. And yet, a few days later, I broke down and bought a pregnancy test so that the logical side of my brain could stop arguing with the anxiety-consumed other half.

Needless to say, the pregnancy test was negative.

In the end, my period was over two weeks late because of the corticosteroid injection. And because of that, it was extra heavy, extra painful, and extra long. I accidentally bled through some things as a result. Awkward.

To make matters worse, the injection helped for two weeks before my shoulder went back to being really irritated that someone had stuck a needle in it. I went though all that suffering for nothing,

The research

I thought that, given that I hadn’t heard much about steroid injection side effects, what had happened to me was rare. After all, with a simple warning, the panicking stage of my steroid shot adventure could have been avoided. I also could have guarded better against mood swings, and been more aware in general about how it would effect my productivity and other important parts of life.

Although initial searches for corticosteroid injection side effects only bring up things like bruising, tenderness, or chance of infection at the injection site, there actually are a lot more side effects that can happen. But to get to them, you have to dig deeper.

By searching for the specific name of the medication I was given, triamcinolone, you get with a more informative list. Having to be that specific in the search could be a problem, though, because the first few times I got a corticosteroid injection I had no documentation of which corticosteroid I received.

Once I finally found the side effect list, I felt vindicated. It includes “more common” side effects like mood changes, dizziness, headaches, and shortness of breath (common doesn’t mean not concerning). There’s also a whole list of side effects that says the incidence rate is unknown. So, they know that these are all possible side effects, but they don’t have enough research to say how often they occur.

“Menstrual irregularities” is listed as having an unknown incidence for triamcinolone, which seems to indicate that it’s not very significant. When I mentioned this symptom to my doctor, he seemed surprised that it was possible. However, when I dug deeper, I was surprised to find a study in 1998 found that half of women who receive triamcinolone injections have some disturbance of the menstrual cycle. Half. And it’s not the only study with similar findings. With menstruation being something that many people monitor closely, something that has so much possibility to cause panic or joy, patients should be informed of the high likelihood of menstrual disturbances before getting a corticosteroid injection. I didn’t do extensive research on any of the other side effects, but some of them may warrant better warnings, too.

Anyways, I’m advocating for more awareness about possible side effects of steroid injections, not saying that they aren’t worth it. Corticosteroid injections can be extremely helpful for alleviating symptoms of arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis, and other conditions. In fact, a steroid injection can even cure these conditions if they’re localized. At the very least, a handout about the medication should be given, like I get when I get a flu shot but have never gotten for a steroid shot. This is obviously a choice that varies from doctor to doctor, but it’s worth noting that education like this is important.  Getting one of these injections is a decision everyone has to make for themselves, and it’s important that it’s an informed one. The problem is that I don’t think it often is.

For me, terrible and depressive mood swings and periods that are more painful than my shoulder ever was don’t make me think that steroid injections are worth it. It took me way too long to figure that out, because of the lack of good information out there. I hope this is able to help people in similar situations to me: at their wits’ end, thinking that they’re going crazy. It’s not you! And you’re not the only one going through it.

To close, some exciting news: I’ve launched a page on Patreon! If you want to see about fun features and extras, hop over there to check it out.

Thanks for reading about my experiences! I hope they’re helpful! Or at the very least, entertaining.

-Bri

I love creating resources like this, but each one takes a lot of time and research. If this post helped you, consider supporting the site with a coffee! Thanks! <3