To ask about gabapentin and nerve pain/sciatica success stories?

[SpamChaudFroid]

After nearly 3 months of sciatic pain, (it's bad, I need a stick to be able to walk, well shuffle really) and many different drugs, (codiene, amitriptyline, diazepam) my GP has prescribed gabapentin. I am seeing a physio who has made an appointment for a second opinion as to whether it needs further invstigation, (eg. steroid injections or material removed).

Has this worked for anyone? please someone tell me it works

I am week 4 of agonising sciatica and sounds very similar to yours Spam. Mainly the walking 10 metres then being in agonising pain - down back of my thigh. I’m wondering if this is sciatic nerve pain or perhaps muscles spasms like * describes? They come on like a contraction and increase in tempo so perhaps it is a spasm - would this happen if the sciatica was caused by a slipped disc?

I have been prescribed diazepam which I’ve not started yet; if this doesn’t work I’ll know they’re not muscle spasms I suppose. I’m also on cocodamol, pregabalin and naproxen. All seem to be doing nothing at the moment

I’ve got a two week old baby and have had to stop breastfeeding to be able to take some of these drugs, it’s heartbreaking as was going so well but I’m in so much agony.

That asterisk should say Pookie

PookieDo, the pain when I'm walking is now concentrated at the outside of my thigh and side of knee, feels just like cramp. The stick helps with the back pain (I think) so makes walking possible. I really can walk only about 20 steps without it. I still have to stop every 5 mins for a "rest". The pain's still causing me to sweat/shake when walking.

Madness! Sometimes I think the NHS take the short view - surely it makes more sense to operate on people than spend 10's of years in doling out medication, physio, doctor's appointments.

Not really, because it isn't just about money. Many back issues will resolve given time. Any surgery involves risk, from both the surgery itself and from the anaesthetic, however small. Also the outcome isn't always what the patient is expecting/hoping for. I had surgery for a prolapsed disc which was causing severe cord compression (so no choice whether or not to go ahead). Almost 20 years later, although the risk of paralysis has long gone, I still have daily pain - which I was warned was likely - and the discs either side are degenerating due to the increased wear and tear.

There's a place for surgery, but it isn't always the answer.

Eggbert, I'm no expert, but you probably have sciatica and muscles cramping as well? Like Pookie says, they do it to protect the injury. The piriformus muscle, although tiny, is probably the little fucker responsible because the sciatic nerve passes through it. So any time the piriformus goes into spasm, the nerve gets irritated and sends out its pain signals. So kind of like a vicious cycle, before I was given the stick, my back and leg would start the crazy cramping if I just thought about walking on it. I do hope the diazepam will be helpful for breaking that cycle for you. It must be utterly awful for you to be in pain like this with a tiny baby, I hope you have a partner who's really pulling their weight. Do try a TENS machine, it feels like you're having the sore spot massaged.

Am taking puppy to get his hair and nails done today - his nails are getting a bit Freddy Kreuger-ish because he's not getting as many walks as usual, and bathing him myself would be bloody stupid, (and I suspect one of the things that contributed to the disastrous state of my back).

Just had a thought - has anyone tried kratom for their back? I saw it mentioned on a few back pain sites, that it worked when nothing else did. Well I sent off for some and I can safely say it wasn't any help for me at all. It's a relative of the coffee plant. And I am going to order some DLPA today, it's an amino acid supplement that does a similar job to gabapentin/pregablin, but in a more natural way.

Just tagging on... been having the most awful sciatica / disc flare up since Sunday. Only on naproxen, décontractyl, and paracetamol atm. I have a rheumatology appointment in 10 days, but need to survive till then.

What are your flare-up first aid tips? I’ve been resting a lot (on back, knees up and on front over the end of the bed), ice every few hours, warm baths and the drugs.

As for what triggered it... I have a dodgy back anyway (scoliosis, si dysfunction), am a bit overweight and don’t do enough core strengthening exercises - but the real trigger was stepping off a pavement and thinking that the road was a lot closer than it was. I really jarred down on my left leg and think I’ve caused the disc to either herniate further, or start a new one.

The discs don’t really slip, they bulge or herniate or are compressed

A bulge is usually when you start to get some symptoms as it’s irritating a nerve and your body over reacts to try to protect the area, your muscles all go into a high alert and the nerve can also behave disruptedly also causing muscles to do weird and painful things. A bulge probably wouldn’t get treated with surgery as as long as it doesn’t rupture it can heal itself over time. I had a bulge that healed although it was a good 3 months

If it has herniated then it either heals on its own a lot longer but can take a few months or you need intervention with it like an injection or surgery. Herniating can cause the fluid to leak out and it can cause extreme pain and be debilitating. The steroid injection accelerates the fluid being reabsorbed/dissipating and aids healing (we steroids do) it also has anaesthetic in it (wonderful) and they use a CT scanner to inject it directly in the affected area with a long needle

My 2nd time it had leaked out all onto my nerve area in L4/5 (I don’t have the MRI pic but it was so clearly just a white splurge with no definition) It had been bulging and giving me pain but the point where it leaked was so much more defined and obvious because it wasn’t just painful and stiff, my leg wouldn’t actually work properly. It twitched and jerked, was completely numb all my toes and calf and the burning sensation was unbearable. My whole leg would suddenly cramp up and I couldn’t move to get it out. I couldn’t lift it independently at all on examination. The pirifomis seemed to turn into a rock because it ended up over manipulated (by me and physio trying to get the spasm out) so it was just completely hard and made everything worse. It took months to get it all back to a better state but I can’t balance on that leg ever, it’s so weak and has permanent nerve damage with some numb patches and still is prone to cramps

I never had any back pain!

Thank you Spam my DH has been amazing, he’s doing everything for me. My poor DS who is three has hardly had a look in from me I’ve been so caught up with sciatica and his baby brother.

Today was a “good” day - I’ve took 5mg of diazepam and codeine in the day, along with my other drugs (Naproxen, pregabalin) and I actually managed a little walk to our local shop (about 200 yards away but still felt like a huge achievement as I’ve been in the house for three days now!) I used the baby’s buggy to steady myself but managed to walk upright for some of it.

I’m in pain now but the spasms are not as excruciating as they were - maybe 6/10 instead of 9/10 for pain. I’m also feeling pain in my ankle now but not sciatic - more like it is strained from the funny walking I’ve been doing for 4 weeks. My hope is that maybe the sciatic pain is reducing so I’m more able to feel other pain IYSWIM?

Just realised my naproxen runs out this weekend, not sure they were doing anything, hope the GP will prescribe more next week!!!

After having a good day yesterday, managing to stay upright for most of the day and only stopping to gasp every now and then, the pain has hit overnight and I can’t get comfortable and have resorted to my emergency diazepam. Blast it. I’ve not heard of kratom. I’ll look it up. bogstandard lying on my back with knees bent wouldn’t work for me because it seems to bend the spine at the wrong point. I need to lie flat with some sort of padded lumbar support underneath at the sore point. I’ve tried alternating between ice and heat too. And have also tried CBD oil.

Eggbert, I'm glad about that. I unexpectedly lost my DH 3 years ago, and I must admit to feeling a bit alone and sorry for myself at times. I also found that the pain has moved around a lot. The bit that hurt to begin with doesn't really hurt much anymore.

I've woken up with numbness/slight tingling in both sets of toes ad a slightly numb feeling on the calf of the gippy leg. Odd. I started taking naproxen on Thursday, I hope that's not causing it? I have been using the TENS machine a fair bit....

I can't remember if you said you have a TENS machine or not daisy. Give it a try if you haven't. It's very soothing.

Spam I’m really sorry to hear that. I hope you have some support nearby?

My heel is numb as is the skin on the back of my thigh. The chiro / osteo / physio I’ve seen all said this is normal and will probably be the last thing to resolve. I also thought it was my overuse of my TENS!!!

Obviously if genitals / undercarriage gets numb you need to go to a&e xxx

Thanks Eggbert, I do have a lovely neighbour and a brilliant friend to keep me sane during this. My DSis is also off work after breaking her arm. I was thinking yesterday, the HCPs really should take your pain seriously and not make you wait the usual 3 - 6 months to see if you can manage because pain makes you withdrawn and depressed, and could make it harder for you to bond with your baby. Being a new mother is fraught enough as it is.

That’s exactly how I feel spam. I had PND with my first, but my new DS is a pretty chilled and easy baby and I feel like I’d be really enjoying it without this pain. I’ve got to the point a few times where I’ve been crying so much and feeling like my whole maternity leave will be lost because of this problem. I won’t get this time with my new baby back.

HOWEVER. I have just had an accupuncture session in a little Chinese clinic near my home. And I cannot describe the relief it has given me. After he’d finished the session I felt same as usual, pain down my leg etc. But then I walked up the road and the pain began to reduce. I’m now sat in a cafe in absolute shock because I can walk and stand. I really hope it’s not a temporary feeling. Have you tried accupuncture?

On the acupuncture question, my mother has been plagued by sciatica (they have operated three times and she may need another op - every time they sort out one nerve root another one flares up) but acupuncture really works for her. If you can afford it, definitely try it.

I haven't tried acupuncture for this Eggbert, but I will now. That's bloody brilliant that it's helping with your pain. I was hobbling about with the puppy yesterday and a lovely woman stopped me when I shuffled past her fence and gave me a number for an osteopath - she said he shifted it when she'd exhausted all other avenues. So will ring them Monday.

I don't think the naproxen are having much effect, plus they're giving me really bad heartburn, which I'm on lanzoprasole for already.

Garden is driving me mad - I'm having to content myself with doing the bare minimum - ie. watering and a bit of tweaking. I was out there all hours last summer and spent practically no time indoors. There seems to be an explosion in the aphid population this year, they're killing my honeysuckle the bastards.

I’m not a gardener but I am an avid house-cleaner and currently it’s pretty grim, the thought of just getting up to clean the bathroom is too much for me.

I also feel naproxen not doing much, I will run out on Monday so I’ll find out!

I stopped the codeine today after the acupuncture success; I am sore again today but not nearly as much as before. My pain before acupuncture was probably 9/10 and now it’s about 6. I’m going back to him on weds so hopefully more treatments will build up the good results for longer.

I’m still taking diazepam and pregabalin - the results being I’m very dozy at the mo!!

Definitely try the osteopath - the one I’ve seen was helpful and I think more visits will produce results.

I've been on turmeric supplements for the last month for my lumbar spondylosis, as well as Glucosamine with Chrondroitin. The chronic pain I was constantly in for over a year is 95% gone, the 5% is only a slight twinge if I stand in one place for too long. I could hardly walk a month ago. It was like I had a burning hot poker stuck deep in my left buttock and all the way down my thigh to my calf.

Not sure which of the supplements are working or whether it's the regular exercise I'm doing, or all 3 working together but it's bloody amazing. I was very despondent about it just getting worse and worse and eventually being wheelchair bound just weeks ago.

From what I've read the supplements are highly recommended for sciatic pain. Hope this helps someone.

Thank you Queen my midwife recommended turmeric so I’ll definitely look into this, and the others you mention. Midwife suggested turmeric tea which sounds (not envy) so if there are tablets available that’s great.

DH was making me drink turmeric lattes Eggbert which were not pleasant! The supps I have been using were from FutureYou but have found an organic one on Amazon which is cheaper with the black pepper extract and ginger which is supposed to make it better absorbed. I'm also taking Joint Ace by Viabiotics but looking for a cheaper alternative for when I run out.

I’m so glad I’ve found this thread! But so sorry that so many people have been in so much pain.

12 weeks ago I injured my back exercising & it started off with a sciatic pain in my bum & down my leg to my knee with the electric shocks when I moved & it was bad but tolerable.
I’m now at week 12 & it’s just getting worse. I’m in agony, mornings are especially horrendous & it’s so painful. Unless I’m lay completely still I have the pain in my back, hip & the sciatica goes right down & into the top of my foot. It slowly moving around into the front of my hip now too.
I’m eventually going for an MRI & my gp suspects a prolapsed disc.
I’ve been surviving with codeine & paracetamol but I was prescribed Gabapentin.
My concern is that it just masks the pain but doesn’t actually put right what’s wrong??
I’m really reluctant to take it as I’d prefer to resolve the problem not hide the pain (& risk side effects & addiction) I wish alternative remedies would help but I feel like I need to know what’s wrong & fix that

Gabapentin won’t hide the problem it will work on the nerve pain to give you relief
Often once you get some relief or are less stiff with anti inflammatory you can move more and have a better chance at recovery
If you have referral for MRI then that is good
Has anyone seen a physio and had the exercises they give you to stretch your spine? The theory is you can open up the spine and it will encourage the bulge to go ‘back in’ so to speak

Thanks. I was worried about masking it & not getting to the route of the problem. Hopefully the mri will show up how bad the problem is
I’m still really reluctant to try Gabapentin though. Just reading this thread & the idea of being on something so strong for a long time is very off putting.
I’ve heard of the stretching type exercises but unfortunately my physio didn’t get that far & stopped treatments as I was in too much pain.

Hello, can I join ye

I’ve had chronic sciatica since Nov

MRI showed minor stenosis L5S1 had caudal epidural in Jan -no change.
Referred back for facet joint injections- numbness and spasm gone but pain in my calf still excruciating.
Referred to neurologist, he saw no nerve compression.
Sent for pelvic MRI to check sacroiliac joint- waiting on results.
Am on Arcoxia having give up tramsdol and lyrica, don’t like being dopey.
I’d prefer another injection to more meds, I’m back to the doc on Tuesday 🤞

Hopefully we’ll be fixed soon Xxx

its been wonderful for me. i'm on 900mg daily (over 3 doses)

It doesn't fix it, what it does do is kill the nerve pain so I have been able to learn my limits on my mobility!

I've not needed my walking stick in the last year, and before Gabapentin I was frequently having to rely on it!