Sciatic Nerve
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Have any of you experienced a chronic sciatic nerve issue?
I had an "attack" a couple of months ago that lasted for a month or more. It hurts so much it basically renders me worthless to walk anywhere. Even sitting or standing is a exercise in extreme discomfort.
It finally subsided and I had about 6 weeks or more of relatively pain-free existence.
It's back. And I would not wish this on my worst enemy.
Any ideas any of you might have for relief is most appreciated.
I have been icing it, doing stretches, several times a day, etc. I do not like to take too much in the way of Ibuprofen or Acetaminophen but when I do I usually take 600-800mg of Ibuprofen once every other day or so.
Getting old is painful.
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Been there, done that.
Where, exactly, is the pain located? Does it radiate down your leg? No numbness?
Multiple causes for sciatic nerve pain.
Most common is a lumbar disc pressing on one of the nerve roots that comprise the nerve. These usually get better on their own, but it can take months and months....and months. That's what happened to me. When I showed my neurosurgeon friend my MRI, I could hear him salivating.
A strained muscle can also cause these symptoms. If the muscle is in spasm it can be compressing the nerve. Antinflammatories and muscle relaxants can help.
Spinal stenosis is another issue - but it usually causes localized pain, and perhaps weakness, not sciatica per se.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@mark said in Sciatic Nerve:
@George-K It starts as stiffness/dull pain in the right lower lower back follows right above the right hip which is extremely tight and painful and then shoots through my right thigh.
If it's in your thigh, in front, that's not sciatic nerve (L4-S3). Sciatic pain is posterior, in the back of the leg and thigh.
Your symptoms are more consistent with L2 distribution.
It's possible a bulging disc is causing this, but usually disc problems are lower (L4 and down). Could be muscle spasm compressing the nerve after it leaves the spine, as I said.
See your doc.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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A few years back, I couldn't drive a standard. Couldn't pick my leg up high enough to depress the clutch. Lasted for darn near a year. Muscles would knot up, just above my knee.
As Dr. K said, not sciatica, but no fun at all.
OTOH, my MIL did have a pretty bad case. She let it rock on for so long, she experienced some permanent nerve damage before the neurosurgeon did her surgery.
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A strained muscle can also cause these symptoms. If the muscle is in spasm it can be compressing the nerve. Antinflammatories and muscle relaxants can help.
I had a four day bout of just that a year ago last June. I was up a ladder deadheading the lilac trees in the backyard. Didn’t notice anything right away but the next day I noticed it was getting painful to sit and lay down. By bedtime it was unbearable to lay down in one place for than half a minute. The only time I had relief was when I was either standing or walking. Doc said it was sciatica and that it shouldgo away on its own after several days. If not then call her again. I literally jogged it off on the elliptical machine in basement. Haven’t had it since and have been careful not to twist and stretch while up a ladder. I have had knee problems as result of working up ladders in past. This was yet another.
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Doc did x-rays and prescribed a muscle relaxer cyclobenzaprine and an anti-inflammatory, Meloxicam.
Once a day on the Meloxicam and 2x daily for the cylclobenzaprine.
Took my first dose at 12:45 and then went to bed and I was actually able to get a couple hours of restless sleep
Better than no sleep.First PT session is scheduled for January 4th. With the holidays, I was told I was lucky to get one that fast. They also put me on a cancelation list.
Using a walker for the first time in my life.
Doctor followed up and said I have now more arthritis since my last xray in 2018. X-rays show mild to moderate degenerative disc disease.
Getting old is freaking painful.
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@mark said in Sciatic Nerve:
Doc did x-rays
X-rays can be remarkably unhelpful in something like this. Yeah, they'll show arthritis, but your problem is soft tissue, which doesn't show up on an x-ray. Nevertheless it's a good place to start.
and prescribed a muscle relaxer cyclobenzaprine and an anti-inflammatory
The first time I blew out a disc, I took 10 mg of cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril) and fell asleep for the evening. The second time I blew out a disc, I was taking 50 mg. a day - and working. Spasm was that bad.
Once a day on the Meloxicam and 2x daily for the cylclobenzaprine.
First PT session is scheduled for January 4th. With the holidays, I was told I was lucky to get one that fast. They also put me on a cancelation list.
PT will be hard, but hopefully helpful. If your problem is muscle strain/spasm pressing on a nerve, breaking the spasm is what you need to do. PT will strengthen you, and the cyclobenzaprine will break the spasm.
Using a walker for the first time in my life.
It'll help with stability. I found that there were some positions of standing that were unbearable, and I had to twist my back just so to break it. Those bad positions made me feel unstable.
Getting out of a car? HA!
Doctor followed up and said I have now more arthritis since my last xray in 2018. X-rays show mild to moderate degenerative disc disease.
Actually x-rays show loss of disc space because of degenerated discs. We don't know if the disc is herniated, or bulging, pressing on a nerve root.
Getting old is freaking painful.
"Not fer sissies." Wait 10 years.
Here's D4's MRI. You can see the dark bulging disc pushing on the spinal cord's sac. An x-ray can't show that.
Here's hoping it resolves quickly.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Always remember, Operation Valkyrie was an act of sedition.
Warning: I post things that interest me. Read and comment at your own discretion. -
@mark I’m glad you saw your doctor. I hope drugs and PT help. I don’t know if this is helpful, but I was confined to bed for days in 2015 with excruciating bilateral lower back-butt pain. No injury or event prior; it just happened one morning when I got up, and over 24 hrs it got worse & worse til I could hardly move .. I had some relief standing but couldn’t do that all day & night. I put off going to the doctor for a few days. I was stiff, in bad pain by then. After the doctor visit, the tests (no injury, mild age related osteo changes in my lower spine), the strong drugs for acute pain, the PT visit, I was left “to rest”, and to do a few exercises & eventually a walking regiment. One thing also recommended, & I got, & still use to this day for flare ups is a Dr. Ho’s TENS unit. I was skeptical at first, but for me it worked. I just wore it, left the pads on, used it standing, sitting, in bed, whenever the pain was so bad. I’ve learned since, specific situational type anxiety seems to be a flare-up-trigger for me…this Dr Ho unit seems to relax the surrounding muscles just enough so I can get into a hot bath tub & soak, do these same PT exercises, get my head and anxiety in order to ward off another acute episode. ??Perhaps google it or ask your doctor, PT of it.. maybe it could help with sciatica too??
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Wow blonde, that sounds exactly what I am going through. Thanks for the recommendation. I will get one to try.
George, as usual, thanks for the great info.
I actually got a little sleep after taking the drugs yesterday. Not great sleep, but maybe a total of 3 hours.
Last night was not good. Very sporadic sleep pattern. Would fall asleep for 10 or 20 minutes then wake up and not be able to get back to sleep.
I did find a couple of hours of "sleep" this morning. I will probably spend the day in bed again. So boring!
And 2 weeks to go until PT. I hope it's better by then.
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The TENS unit that Blondie linked to is pricey. There are less-expensive units available. I assume they differ in reliability and the ability to set various programs of stimulation.
You might want to go cheap before making a bigger investment.
We've used this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NCRE4GO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
And gotten pretty good relief.
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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