Hip bursitis or SI joint or sciatica - excruciatingly painful

[Localher0]

Sorry for the long post but here's a bit of history. I have had lower back pain off and on for a few years and an MRI 7 years ago showed that I had a couple of bulging disks but I've been managing it with physio and anti inflammatories when needed.
About 2 months ago I clipped my front tyre when driving and got a sort of side to side bump but it didn't actually hurt (and I'm not sure if I'm looking for reasons) but my back flared up shortly afterwards.
The initial flare up seemed to calm down after a few weeks. Tried chiropractor as my regular physio was away but didn't really like it and went back to physio as soon as I could.
For the past month I've had worsening hip pain. Physio thinks it could be bursitis but it is SO bad when I get up after sitting or lying that it takes my breath away and I have to hobble round until my leg starts to walk. I feel as if my whole left side of my pelvis is bing compressed with the pain going into my leg and sometimes travelling down to my foot. But it's not a shooting pain more a muscle spasm.
At night if I roll over or straighten my leg then I get a huge stabbing pain in my left buttock and front hip and actually woke up DH when I shouted last night!! Up till now I have found that once I'm up and moving the pain lessens but after inactivity it's worse again.
I have an appointment with a rheumatologist booked next week and am hoping for xrays and an MRI but I guess my question is can bursitis really be this painful? I'm taking naproxen and paracetamol but they don't seem to be working .
Thanks.

[yorkshireteaspoonie]

Hello OP, Yes! bursitis can absolutely be that painful (greater trochanteric bursitis is the thing to google) then yes, I've had it for 18 months and I've had to amend a lot of things to get at least some level of comfort.

I have mixed connective tissue disease which causes chronic roaming inflammation across the body in all tissue and joints, which is how I developed it.. however for some reason middle aged (though I'm not quite there yet!) women are prone to this more than any other 'group'

I've had physio etc but you are basically left to manage/get on with it. Exercise of any kind where you lay on your side is out, it's just too painful. There is a NHS leaflet of recommended exercises, it does help to do them. I took it to my Pilates teacher and now we incorporate them into my routine and all side laying exercises I do up on a roller with my legs in the air (as I can't bare any pressure on my hip)

I also invested in a new memory foam mattress as I'm naturally a side sleeper and a body pillow. Sleeping with a pillow between your knees helps keep your pelvis aligned and takes some strain off

If It is bursitis you have to live with it rather than there being a straightforward ‘solution’ As part of my overall auto immune condition I’ve had steroid injections, oral steroids, DMARDS and immunosuppressants... non of which had any great affect on the hips.

[Localher0]

Thank you Yorkshire for responding. Unfortunately my pain got a lot worse this week and when I saw the specialist today he suspects it's actually a disc. So I've had an MRI and will get the results on Monday. In the meantime I am on cocodamol, naproxen and diazepam and walking like a bent to one side old lady.