sciatica

[essexgirl58]

I have today been diagnosed with sciatica. I have heard it can be very painful but mine is not that bad. I can walk fine but when I sit down I get painful twinges and then as I go to stand up it is quite painful but once I am up an on my feet and walking again it is fine and the pain has gone.

The hospital doctor said no two people are the same and whilst one person has it very badly, another has it mildly. I was given naproxen but it has not helped at all. I wass also given co codamol but am reluctant to take it because the side effects are drowsy and dizzy and I do not wnt either of those.

I do have some Anadin Ultra which I got from the chemist over the counter and I am wondering if that would be better at easing the pain. I am sat up in bed at the moment and if I try not to move too much its ok but if I suddenly move I get painful twinges.

Any advice. ? On a scale of 1 to 10 , my pain is about number 4 which is not tht bad compared to some who say theirs is horrendus. Mine is more annoying than anything

I have very painful sciatica for the last 6 months. I cannot sit for longer than 20 minutes - most of the time I cannot do 5 minutes. I am only allowed to take ibuprofen and paracetamol due to breastfeeding and then the gp was very reluctant to prescribe it , he wanted me to use mindfullness instead. I do exercises too. I have recently asked for another physio appointment and have to wait another 4 weeks just for a telephone chat about it. Follow the exercise advice on the nhs website and good luck

The important thing is not to do anything to make it worse so stop doing anything that is hard on your back like heavy lifting, and reduce bending and twisting and pushing and pulling (like hoovering) to a minimum with good posure. Be very careful with posture and don't sit in one position for long periods, use a lumbar support.
Gentle exercise like walking or swimming can be good if it doesn't hurt you, it sometimes helps to walk briskly rather than slowly but don't do anything that is painful.

I had a horrific bout of sciatica about 18 months ago and after a couple of weeks of awful pain, was recommended a TENS machine by a pharmacist friend. It literally saved my sanity.
It's never completely gone away but some days it's more bearable than others. On the bad days, the machine goes back on.

I've had several episodes of sciatica. Usually a combination of hot water bottles, pain killers and time have solved the problem, coupled with gentle exercise. A few months ago it flared up again and a friend recommended deep tissue massage and acupuncture. The therapist analysed where the problem was coming from (weak left knee which led to me compensating with right leg, which twisted my back), suggested exercises and gave me 3 sessions of (fairly painful) massage and acupuncture. My back has not felt better in the last 20 years. Highly recommended!

I have had one bout of sciatica just over a year ago – I was in so much agony I could not make the slightest turn over in bed and having to crawl down the stairs to go to the doctors it's the most agony I've ever had in my life – doctors prescribed me Co-Codamol, amitriptyline and morphine – I have subsequently also had gabapentin - I was in bed for about three weeks – I am tons better now - I still have numbness down my left leg from about mid calf – I'm looking into going to see an osteopath to see if I can finally get the numbness to go away
I had a CT scan which showed I had a bulging disc thankfully , fingers crossed , I've not had a massive recurrence and I hope it stays that way – it was the worst pain I've ever had.

@Yusanaim

a few years ago I had a pubic rami fracture. That was horrendously painful and I was in so much pain I was prescribed morphene for 3 days wich was the only thing that worked.

I happened to mention to a chirpractor (he was fixing my upper back) that my right leg, when I'm lying on the floor knees bent, won't drop out to the side. He did something to my pubic rami and it was so much better - must have subluxed it at some time. Could old injury be related to your injury?

No idea if the two are related. I doubt it.

I find that doctors just prescribe pain meds for back issues.

I would echo all of the other recommendations to go to a chiropractor or osteopath. Or physio.

Something is out of whack and pressing on a nerve. Pain killers will mask the pain but they won’t actually fix the issue.

I had horrendous sciatica a few weeks ago which was sorted with a visit to a chiropractor. There are various types of chiropractic. I went to one who uses the McTimoney method which is quite gentle.

I have a relative with sciatica, she uses tramadol and amitriptyline.

Something is out of whack and pressing on a nerve. Pain killers will mask the pain but they won’t actually fix the issue

true but sometimes you can't fix the issue. My relative has had three operations.

For me it’s either lying in bed or sitting upright, I can’t slouch on the couch with it.
Funnily enough, I’ve found the most comfortable chair to sit in is one of the reclining garden chairs.

@ColinTheKoala - that’s hard. Sorry to hear that. I agree that obviously sometimes it isn’t as easy as seeing an osteopath or chiropractor but sometimes it is. It would always be my first port of call rather than GP.

Pelvic fracture particularly the pubic rami are associated with sciatica. The nerve is closely associated with this area.
I have had chronic sciatica for 20+ years, it’s actually piriformis syndrome. Combination of anatomy, pelvic separation during pregnancy and occupational hazard ( I use a foot pedal at work which causes over use of piriformis muscle ) creates a perfect storm. Interestingly I experienced the worst bout ever during the first lockdown when I couldn’t work for 12 weeks and again I’m having problems at the moment after extended sick leave.
Physio exercises help, deep tissue massage helps. I only have problems sitting on hard surfaces, my arse is a bit bony. Standing still is the worst.
At the moment I’m starting to recover after 12 mnths of pain and numbness. The trouble is pins and needles down my leg and foot but at least the pain has gone and I can feel my foot again.
When the pain is acute I take ibuprofen and diazepam because the leg muscles spasm. GP put me on baclofen last year it’s an antispasmodic and was brilliant. I take a very low dose now just to prevent spasm.
Another possible underlying cause was fibroids. I was hoping to have them treated this year but was diagnosed with breast cancer and prescribed anastrozole. One very welcome side effect of the drug is that it rapidly shrinks fibroids. This may be the reason my sciatica is gradually improving.

This is very good for piriformis syndrome. Take it slowly - you should feel a stretch, with no pain. You can leave out the rocking, although that massages the muscle. Also, as you breath out, try to relax the muscle too - sometimes the muscle will fight relaxing.

its odd because I took two Anain Ultra. They worke well. They wore off after about 8 hourss so I took two more and the seond lot did not work as well.

Watching with interest. I have piriformis syndrome and after having a relatively good week it seems to have come back with a vengeance. Driving me mad!!

I've had sciatica on and off for a long time - I have a slipped disc which causes it and so if I have a bad back it will be coupled with shooting pains.
The worst it ever gets is when I go through very sedentary periods and since I've taken up regular exercise it's hardly ever.
As PP said - walking. It will hurt but keep going and it will ease up. Keep moving even when it hurts to move. Just take it slow.
Pain killers deal with the symptom not the cause.
I've also had acupuncture for it which did work really well but got quite expensive.

@Claudia84

I've had sciatica on and off for a long time - I have a slipped disc which causes it and so if I have a bad back it will be coupled with shooting pains. The worst it ever gets is when I go through very sedentary periods and since I've taken up regular exercise it's hardly ever. As PP said - walking. It will hurt but keep going and it will ease up. Keep moving even when it hurts to move. Just take it slow. Pain killers deal with the symptom not the cause. I've also had acupuncture for it which did work really well but got quite expensive.

yes. I need to find out the cause. I have absolutely no idea what the cause is. I had absolutely no back issues before last Thursday and then on Thursday went out for the day and did some extensive walking across cobbled ground. I went on a walking tour of the area i was in. Before the walking tour I was fine. Ater the walking tour i was not. On tis walking tour we went up steps and down steps and across cobbled ground and in an out of buildings. I did not fall or lose my footing so I have no idea what could have caused this. The walking tour lasted an hour and a half. For the hour and a half i was walking fine no issue and we finished the tour and that was when the pain started. I had spasms down my right leg and in lower back so took some painkillers and carried on with the rest of the day. I thought nothing more of it until on the Friday I was no better and found that sitting made it worse so decided to rest in bed which was better. On te Saturday (yesterday) I got out of bed and was very stiff but no pain. Again thought no more of it. Went about my day but then I got spasms down the right leg and deided to investigate so went to a pharmacy and spoke to the pharmacist who asked me to describe my symptoms an he sai it was sciatica. Never in a million years did I think it could be sciatica. I decided to seek the advice of a doctor for clarification and went to my local hospital. The doctor confirmed it was sciatica but would not recommend a scan to see the cause becaue in her opinion i was not that bad beaue i could walk unaided. She just gave me a prescription for pain killers and sent me on my way telling me to get some physio.

I want to have a scan. I want to see what is causing this. Years ago I was told I have slight arthritis in my right hip so i told this doctor and she sai oh it could be that or it could be a slipped disc. To be fair she checked my spine and felt all the way down and said i have no slipped disc so I said how can you tell without a scan and she said I can feel and if you had slipped a disc I would be able to feel it. She said everything seemed in order.

I am not deemed bad enough for a scan???? we do not know what is causing this and so how the hell can we treat this.

Chiropractor has mine under control as trigger by a twisted pelvis. Have it in my dad's family very common. Have other spine issue and leading UK spine surgeon want me to build up my back muscles I let go off as the Siactica.

I was so upset when I saw the hospital doctor but reading the other omments on this forum, it is clear that even without painkillers I am not as bad as some of the people. Am I being a wus? Am I over reacting? It is hard when you sudenly find you can no longer do the things you used to do like dancing. I belong to a dance class and at the moment cannot go. I have a sitting down desk job which at the moment cannot do as sitting down causes spasms. I can sit in bed because a bed mattres is soft and i am not pressing on the sciatic nerve but sitting on a desk chair is uncomfortable unless I try putting numerus cushions on the seat but firsst i want to see my GP to discus whether this is wise. Obviously I will call in sick until I have discussed the way forwar with my GP because prolonged sitting in an upright position my aggreate the sitiation, whereas in bed I am in a semi laying down position and not bolt upright. Ho hum it is what it is and I just have to suck it up and deal with it

Honestly mine was like that too. I could hardly move, and I was used to walking regularly. Mine wasn't sciatica but a middle back strain caused by poor posture and then carrying a heavy rucksack and bags round school during covid (kids stayed in one room, teachers moved).

Heat, gentle exercise. Tennis ball in the small of you back and lie on the floor to massage. Foam roller on wall and do gentle squats (these were key for me) plus chiropractor and I'm back to myself again. I am now very conscious I need to sort out my core strength.

They don't normally give you an early scan for sciatica unless they are worried about Cauda Equina syndrome when a big disc herniation is crushing all the nerves in the base of your spine. The red flags for it are numbness in the saddle region between the legs and trouble with passing urine and bowels. So do be aware of that and speak to your doctor right away if you start having any problems in that area. This is an emergency as it means your nerves are being severely crushed and can lead to lifelong problems so they want to operate right away. If it's just normal sciatica they prefer to try physio and rest for up to 12 weeks (which often works) and then look at steroid injections before thinking about an operation as of course there are a lot of risks involved. They probably wouldn't look at doing a scan until they get to that point. They can tell it's sciatica from the way it travels down your leg hitting the areas that are affected by the nerve, and they can tell it's piriformis by if it is eased by certain movements and things like that.

IME painkillers do not work at all. I found TENS helpful when I was in serious pain, even used it at night to get to sleep. There are several youtube videos of stretches and exercises for sciatica so I suggest trying some of those to see if they help.

@essexgirl58 - lots of people have recommended that you see a chiropractor or osteopath. I would try that before a GP. One appointment could well see the issue sorted.

It can take some time to heal. And can be from you hips or back. They found people who carry their wallet in their back pocket then spend hours driving would often have sciatica. I spe nt a large part of a summer laying down with cold packs to reduce the swelling that was pressing on a nerve. (I had torn a muscle in lower back.) A physiotherapist came to the house once a week for 6 weeks, she gave me a stretchy resistance band and I showed me a couple of exercises to do with it. She also checked around the house and recommended grab bars in the bathroom, and ordered a Rollator Walker for me, which was great, as I had trouble with left leg dragging and my legs had collapsed a couple of times without any warning, and I felI on steps, and in the shower several times. I have permanent damage in that leg now.
I hope you feel better quickly.

[quote Peridot1]@essexgirl58 - lots of people have recommended that you see a chiropractor or osteopath. I would try that before a GP. One appointment could well see the issue sorted.[/quote]
i cannot afford a chiropractor Saw GP this morning and she said I have quite mild sciatia and gave me back exercises