what is this pregnancy-related pain and how do I get rid of it?

[elportodelgato]

I don't know if anyone can tell me what this is and how to relieve the pain?

I am 32 weeks pg with DC2 and I don't remember this from DC1 at all

I am finding that if I sit down for longer than about 15 mins my pelvis sort of seizes up. I have to stand very slowly and then wait a while before I try to walk. Walking is then quite painful for a few minutes, mainly in the very bottom of my lower back but also tops of leg joints and round the front of my pelvis.

I am trying to sit with my knees lower than my hips IYSWIM as this seems to help somewhat but actually the only comfortable position is lying down which I would love to do more of but I still have 2 weeks at work. I feel like I am audibly creaking.

Is this SPD? or just general pregnancy awfulness? and is there anything I can do other than lie down more?

[Applemuncher]

I'm sorry, I don't know but I'm bumping in the hope that someone will be along soon to help!

[Nagoo]

I've got this. Dc2 also. Some days it's better than others but i'm 40+4 and it didn't go away. I just found I had to keep moving. Pillow between the legs at night. Sorry that's rubbish news isn't it ?

[CrazyPlateLady]

Yep I get this. Had back pain from 16 weeks with DS, same this time round. I am 28 weeks and already struggling to walk around much. Its sooo painful. I was referred for physio last time and they gave me a support belt. It is fantastic and I have been using it again. Have heard that sitting on a birthing ball may be more comfortable.

Our crappy foam sofas aren't helping me much, neither is sitting on this bloody computer chair! And still 12 weeks to go.

Isn't pregnancy fun!

[mejon]

I'm exactly the same - 31 weeks and for a few minutes after getting up I just sort of shuffle like an old woman. Particularly painful when I get up from bed - not very handy if I need a night-time trip to the loo - and if I've been slouching on the sofa. I've just got a ball which I must try to remember to use more.

No idea if it is SPD/PGP but mine does seem to ease after a while so its not constant.

[Miffster]

Had this and it was grim, caused by loosened pelvis - periformis muscles going into spasm trying to hold pelvis together - locked muscles crushing sciatic nerve - it got worse and worse until I was in tear-inducing pain. The following helped me and now it has mostly stopped.

1. Go to physio, many hospitals have physio clinics for pg women
   
2. Get a support belt and wear it
   
3. Get a birth ball and sit on it as often as you can. I took one to work and used it in the office.
   
4. If you can't cope with the pain, go to GP and get signed off for a few days. Back pain is debilitating and if you can't sleep it is worse.
   
5. Do yoga - think about how you sit, stand and lie, imagine you have a thread running up your spine and through the crown of your head, connecting you to the sky, drop your shoulders, take deep breaths, ground your feet into the floor - all that hippie stuff. It does help.
   
6. When rolling over in bed or getting up from seated/sitting down again, or when first walking and moving around CLENCH YOUR BUM CHEEKS. Engage your arse. Makes a huge difference for some reason.
   
7. Paracetamol and a hot bath helped a bit.
   
8. Ibruprofen gel was recommended by GP to be massaged onto the sore spot. you can't take the tablets but 'not enough can be absorbed through the skin to cross the placenta if you use gel'.
   
9. Tuck in your tail and lift up your chest and push back your shoulders, flatten the curve of your back, do some pelvic tilts against a wall.
   

10. Don't just put up with it. The more you throw effort into dealing with it in the earlier stages, the better and it can go away - but it may well just get worse if you do nothing.

good luck.

[CrazyPlateLady]

Check to guidelines for paracetamol. They are now saying pregnant women shouldn't take them.

[Miffster]

No, they are not saying pregnant women should not take paracetamol. The study looked at self-reported multi-painkilller use from women in Finland - ibruprofen, paracetamol and aspirin in women who had noticed some concerns with their baby boys, and prolonged use of multiple painkillers in the second trimester was of moist concern.

Well, in the UK, taking ibruprofen, and aspirin during pregnancy are not encouraged. Paracetamol on the other hand has been widely used for years.

You may have misunderstood the reports if you think that (not surprisingly, the media reporting was crap).

Of all the articles on it, this one is one of the more balanced ones...

www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8117289/Painkillers-in-pregnancy-linked-to-sex-organ-problems-in-baby-boys-research.html


It's always better to ask your GP before taking any medication - especially if you intend to take it for a prolonged period of time - but there is no reason to say 'pregnant women shouldn't take paracetamol.'

[Miffster]

Finland and Denmark
most concern

[CrazyPlateLady]

There is no need to be so snippy.

I just read a few stories that said they are now concerned about pregnant women taking paracetamol and I advised the OP to find this out first. There is nothing wrong with me saying that.

[Miffster]

'They are now saying pregnant women shouldn't take paracetamol' is pretty explicit - and worrying - and as it happens, wrong. Why write something that is likely to frighten people?

[Miffster]

Sorry. I am indeed snappy about this. I am sorry that I snapped at you. I am however absolutely sick of the scaremongering and judging - often based on media scare stories - which have been written up with an eye to a frightening headline - by journalists who don't understand risk, and what they are writing about, and which then get repeated to pregnant women, often frightening and distressing them entirely unnecessarily.



This 'don't take paracetamol when pregnant' one is just the latest in a long line of sticks to beat pregnant women with. And it is incredibly irksome.

It's always worth checking, rather than just skimming stories, and going to the source, rather than the headline, and asking medical advice, rather than reading a few stories and repeating what you think they say.

[CrazyPlateLady]

I didn't say don't take paracetamol because its dangerous did I? All I said was "they are now saying...." I'm not scaremongering but just reporting what I have read. Given that I just read the stories that are in the paper without researching every bloody thing they report, I am just basing my advice to the OP on a few stories that I have read. It is always better to get the opinion of a professional, like GP or MW when taking anything in pregnancy, which is what I am advising to the OP.

I'm not going to go and check every bit of advice I give on here first. If the OP wants to listen, she can. If not, so be it. I'm not doing research every time I give an answer to someone.

[elportodelgato]

hi there - sorry have been offline for a few days. Miffster your advice is BRILLIANT have been clenching my buttocks furiously and it does really help. Am going to go and get a girdle thing to get me through the next few weeks at work. Today has been way better for some reason, maybe because I haven't left the house which gives me hope. Thanks all, I am so glad I'm not alone with this evil pain. Damn pregnancy, so unglamorous

[Miffster]

Oh good, glad it helped. :)
Hope pain goes away soon.