DH's sciatica and work tomorrow.

[BloodyPlantagenets]

Dh has had an awful sciatica flare up since Boxing Day. I took him to the walk in centre on the Sunday and it took us fifteen minutes to get from the car to the surgery, that's how bad he was. He was prescribed a boat load of meds and told he was unlikely to be able to work until he was pain free as he sits at a desk.

So for the past however many days he's been hobbling around the house and occasionally whimpering in pain. He's on a heavy duty painkiller and anti inflammatory as well as diazepam.

He reckons he's going to work tomorrow. I've told him I think that's ridiculous and he is being pig headed. He says that because he can walk ok and drive (he drove to the shop today as a test) that he'll be fine to sit at a desk and type for 8hrs.

Please tell me I'm not being unreasonable here. I think if he rushes back to work he'll fuck his back up even more and end up with more time off.

AIBU?

[doitanyways]

I'm not sure but I thought the advice was to try and keep moving? It could have changed though. Apologies if so.

[BloodyPlantagenets]

Yes the advice is to move as much as possible. He's a software engineer so sits at a desk and types. The doctor we saw last Sunday asked him what he did and said he's unlikely to be able to work for a couple of weeks. Dh thinks that because he's not in as much pain as he was that he's better.

I've pointed out that he's still hobbling and wincing and that sitting at his desk is likely to exacerbate it.

[BloodyPlantagenets]

He went back to work early after having his appendix out and set his recovery back by weeks, so he has form for this.

[Wolfiefan]

Sitting WILL make it worse! Trust me I've been there. How far is the drive? What if he gets there but can't drive back?
Plus if he's on that many painkillers can he drive safely?

[BloodyPlantagenets]

It's about a twenty minute drive. I'll go and get him if he's stuck but that's not ideal.

I don't think he should be driving on all his meds but he's stopped taking the Valium now so reckons he's fine.

[BloodyPlantagenets]

C'mon, I need lots of you to pile in and tell him he's mad so I can show him this thread.

[Marzipanface]

I currently have this. It's horrendous. The advice is to keep moving if you can. Rest if gets really bad. Only he knows really if he can cope with work but sitting in that position could aggravate the nerve even more to the point where he develops neuropathic pain which is dreadful and doesn't respond to painkillers. He'll know very quickly if he can cope as soon as he attempts to stand up from his seated position. Advice is to 'perch' rather than sit back on the seat. I would more concerned with his concentration levels and his ability to drive safely on that cocktail of drugs to be honest. He needs to take it easy.

[Wolfiefan]

If he has an accident he may not be covered.
Trust me he doesn't want neuropathic pain.

[BloodyPlantagenets]

I'll tell him to google neuropathic pain.

[Wolfiefan]

Will he be able to concentrate at work?

[Marzipanface]

Just to say that me not taking the early warning signs of sciatica seriously, covering them up with painkillers and carrying on with life as normal has resulted in the past year of my life being a blur of pain and frustration at my lack of mobility. 2015 has been a wash out for me.
I should have had physio and taken drs orders seriously when first diagnosed. I now walk with a stick and am facing surgery. If his doc says to take time off then he should.

[Penfold007]

If he's taking Daizepam he can't legally drive.

[PennyHasNoSurname]

how is he standing? could he set up a standing desk somewhere?

[BloodyPlantagenets]

Marzipanface I'm so sorry you've been so debilitated. I'm going to show him this thread and make sure he takes it seriously.

[BloodyPlantagenets]

He can't stand, sit or lie down comfortably. He thinks because the pain has receded with the painkillers that he is fine to go about his day, I think he's being foolish.

[JohnLuther]

I think he's being foolish too, not resting can have long term consequences.

[Marzipanface]

He really needs to take it seriously. He absolutely can't be cavalier about his back. I know how much pain he probably is in and sadly it is easy for it to get far far worse. I know how tempting it is to just keep going and pop pills but trust me and Wolfie when we say neuropathic pain is shocking and doesn't respond to normal opiates. Sitting in the same position all day will crunch his sciatic nerve. He needs gentle movement but also rest regularly to take the weight off the nerve. If it doesn't get better itself he'll probably need physiotherapy. On a positive note, people do recover from sciatica if they follow docs orders. Can he work from home on a laptop?

[GloryHunter]

My DH came home from work in agony on 14/12 with sciatica. Dr prescribed diazepam and diclafnic, didn't touch the pain. He couldn't stand, sit, lie down - awful. Twice over the Christmas period I called 111 as he was in so much pain and on one occasion a Dr visited in the middle of the night. Really worrying as he is a carpenter and if he doesn't work he doesn't get paid. He had a telephone consultation with our GP a few days ago and he prescribed amitryptiline (for nerve pain, I also take this to control headaches). It could be a coincidence but the morning after taking this drug he was completely pain free, very tired though. He is going back to work tomorrow, still completely pain free.

[MiscellaneousAssortment]

Can he work from home doing heavily reduced hours? So he can sit and work for a few mins, then change position, do a bit more, change position, do a bit more, have a lie down, stretch, hobble etc?

A desk job isn't going to help him recover, it will put strain on his body until it completely stops working and he has to lie down flat on his back for weeks. Does he really like that idea?!

[captaincake]

He needs to be extremely careful re. the diazepam and driving situation.

[kali110]

I lost my job because i couldn't concentrate due to my pain and my job was sitting at a desk!
Tell him to rest.
He needsto put his health first.
I've never done that till i nearly died last year.
Tell him he needs to rest up.
I have a chronic pain condition so am in pain all day everyday, i do suffer with sciatica too it isn't fun.
He needs to
Take his health seriously.

[kali110]

Is there a certain limit of diazapam re driving?
I take 2mg and 5mg. 2mg
Does nothing to me.

[BloodyPlantagenets]

Thanks all. He's not taking the diazepam any more, his last dose was this morning. He's going to see how he feels tomorrow but is still planning on trying to go in.

[ohtheholidays]

Ouch poor bugger,sciatica is an evil pain.If I was him,I would be taking some time of work,it sounds like he needs it.

I've had it in the past and it's made me sick without any warning.

I had a friend that had sciatica she didn't slow down at all and just relied on painkillers.Her's ended up getting really bad,she could hardly move,she couldn't drive or walk and in the end she was taken into hospital for an emergency operation,I don't want to scare you OP,I just think like others have said he really should be careful.I think it took about 8 weeks after the operation for my friend to be able to move around again and she was only 32 at the time.

[Mummylin]

When I had sciatica I was told not to sit or longer than 20 mins at a time. I agree the pain is horrendous and it went from my backside right down to my toes on one side.i had my meds fom the doc but also tried herbal stuff. Nothing seemed to dull the pain, it took months for it to go, so I would say to your DH to take things easy and not go to his sitting down job at the moment.