Hi, I had a myelogram done last friday june 22. I had a bad experienced because when they were injecting the ink I start having real bad pain. It was like I was in hell or something. They told me that I had to stay at the hospital for 4 hours after the procedure because the ink was toxic to the brain. I was not able to sit or lay down. My bed was in a 30degree angle. After I left the hospital headaches,nauseas and my legs where bad. 5 days in hell my Dr. tells me that I may have a leak in the spine that maybe thats the reason for my pains. If I still feeling the same I have to go back,the Doctors have to go back and seal the little hole that they made on my spine. Sorry that I dont have nothing great to say about the procedure but I hope yours are better than mine.

Take care,

[quote="blueberrysteve"]hi

i have taken mris. but they dont show my problem. is there any chance a myelogram could show my problem and the mris couldn't? has anyone out there gotten a myelogram that was helpful in showing their problem?[/quote]

Hi,

I've taken a myelogram before for my backache and let me tell you it's a harrowing experience. Few hours after i reached home, i started vomitting many times and had headaches that felt like someone was pounding my head with a sledgehammer. It was so agonising that I had to beg my parents to send me back to the hospital.

I've checked with doctors and MRI is the best so far in detecting back problems.

I've been almost pain free for the past few years and I attribute it to exercise and I use a combination of balms and glucosamine creams.

When I went to the hospital I had heard terrible stories and I just prayed it wouldnt happen to me. First of all it took them three times to get the needle in straight so they could inject the dye, then bang, it hit me like a ton of bricks falling on your head. I was sick for almost 7 days and Im not sure if Im okay yet or not. I had a very severe headache and vomitting, and it felt like I would never walk again. My legs drawed up and would not straighten. Today it has been 10 days and my head still feels funny like im in a water bubble or something and my ears hurt really bad. The vomiting has stopped, but still cant eat hardly anything. I hope it is worth it for you because this chick will NEVER have it done again.

My mother went in for a lumbar myelogram last year and they messed her up. For anyone out there contemplating have one, STOP WHILE YOU CAN. I am not sure what they did to her, but my mom, an active 46 year old went in for one of these and was subsequently hospitalized for 7 days in intensive care. First, they transferred her to another hospital because an ER doctor did not know what my mother had gone in having seizures. As we were walking into the ER, she tensed up like a cat and eventually stopped breathing. They injected her with morphine for about 6 hours before she was transferred out because nobody could figure out what she had. At hospital # 2, a group of doctors saw her and they all pointed fingers at the referring doctor alleging that the procedure had been done prematurely. Her legs were practically stiff, she was unable to breathe and all she can do is cry and scream of how much pain she was in. Finally, after 5 days they performed a blood patch and although her constant headaches went away, she still gets them all the time. She lost her job as has been unable to return and is in bed 20 hours of the day. She cannot sleep and loses her memory frequently. Terrible mistake to agree to the procedure entirely.

I have to say the staff at the hospital was nice, but the test itself was terrible. It's been a week today and I still have tons of pressure in my left ear. I couldn't sit up for 5 days without a pounding headache. The recovery has been bad and has increased the pain in my neck and arm.
I sure hope the test was useful to my Doctor. I won't even know that for several more days.

Usually an MRI with contrast medium is superior to a Myelogram.Based upon my own experience of having had 3 myelograms and the subsequent problems I believe that an MRI is much much safer.I suffer with Adhesive Arachnoiditis which I believe was caused by the pantopaque dye(oil based) used in the myelogram I received in 1972 and 1978.I am now permanently disabled and my advice would be to stay well clear of a myelogram even though they are now water based.The immediate side effects are nasty the long term are even worse.Best Wishes.

Out of all the test and procedures I had to have prior to my back surgery, including a diskogram, the mylogram was by far the absolute worse. The poster above who said it was like being in hell hit in right on the head. When they injected the dye, it was like a ton of hot led started in my butt and then melted all the way down my legs (best way to discribe it), I couldnt move my legs at all and it was the worse pain ever. Not to mention I had a reaction to the dye which I guess is pretty common, so I had a fever of 104 and was throwing up for days. I would NOT recommend having this done unless its absolutly necessary

I have backed out of a Myleogram 2 years ago. I was on the table almost to have the needle go in my back and I couldn't go through with it. I now am almost totaly unable to walk, almost ready to get a wheelchair and at 55, I can't let that happen. I am still working and have so much to do with my life. I don't want to be in a wheelchair. I have pinched nerves, scoliosis, degenerative disc disease. I have had the MRIs. Is the Myleogram absolutely necessary? Can they tell the same thing from MRIs? I begin shaking and my heart races when I think about the pain of a myleogram. My life seems over because of the severe pain I experience, and I will almost accept anything except for letting them inject my back with no sedatives. Is there any alternative? Scared to death in Texas, CW

Don't have a myelogram! Mine was excrutiatingly painful, followed by a weeklong headache during which I could not sit-up or stand-up. I now have several headaches every month. I never got headaches before my myelogram. I also have a permanent hearing loss as a result of the myelogram. A friend of mine had a reaction to the dye injected into his spinal canal during a myelogram. As a result, he is now a quadraplegic. An MRI gives a better, clearer picture, and is way, way safer.