Should I go to A&E?

[Aandespine]

I'm 5mo pregnant. Woke up yesterday morning with excruciating back pain. I cannot walk unaided (thankfully have a pair of crutches at home I've been using to shuffle to the bathroom and back), cannot sit, even on the toilet seat I'm having to lean to one side, cannot bend over. I'm struggling to lift myself up from the toilet seat, cannot turn over in bed. I'm climbing the stairs on all fours then I take a while at the top (in a lot of pain) to stand up straight again. My lower back is numb and I'm getting tingling pain under my belly, and shooting pains down one leg. One leg feels heavy and weak.

Have been to see the GP. They can't tell me what the issue is, no advice re recovery time or prognosis. They've just prescribed dihydrocodiene. No other advice besides to go to A&E if I experience incontinence or numbness down below. I pleaded with them for an MRI which they say they'll try to request without any guarantees/it will be at the discretion of the radiographer who will decide if there's an indication for it.

Now I've had sciatica in the past and the pain was in no way near this. I'm in tears numerous times a day and the pain is literally exhausting me. I dred going to the toilet. I'm bed bound. I have a family member taking care of my 2 young children.

I haven't yet been to A&E because I cannot sit and wait there for hours to be told the same thing (pain meds and no further diagnostics).

Please tell me what to do

you’re asking if you should go to A&E but then you say it’s impossible for you to go to A&E?

I'm not a medical professional, but yes, if I was in your shoes I would be going to A&E.

you saw the GP today?

Well, I would go, but if you can’t sit and wait, I’m not sure what the answer is.🤷‍♀️

Call your midwifery team for advice, if your community / antenatal team have clocked off you can call labour ward to speak to someone. Say you are bed bound and where can they refer you urgently

Have you tried the painkillers?

Yes saw the GP today.

Sorry I meant that I don't want to go to A&E just to be told the same thing - painkillers and no MRI/diagnosis.

I called them after I got back from the GP and they told me to go to A&E

I'm not a medical professional but this sounds a bit like spd-symphysis pubis dysfunction. Might be worth calling your midwife team at the hospital first before considering a&e?

Sciatica type pain? Sounds like you need a physio.

Has it got worse since seeing GP? Did you "put on a brave face" for the GP and understate how bad it was?

If not given that you saw GP today and will have Friday evening A&E chaos, I'd be tempted to tough it out until tomorrow, but I'm not a medical person and am not feeling your pain!

Yes. They've done nothing.

Honestly, I can’t imagine anything worse than sitting in A & E for 12 hours in that much pain. I think I would try to wait it out and take the pain meds if it was me personally. My total amateur guess would be that it’s SPD that is aggrevating your sciatica and pressing on a nerve. GP was useless with SPD but an osteopath was like a miracle worker.

I have had similar symptoms in the past and was taken seriously at A and E and I wasn't pregnant at the time. They'll likely give you an x ray and if that shows nothing then an MRI. I couldn't sit or stand but I did find a bench I could lie on. You'll likely have a long wait on a Friday evening though.

You need obstetric physio I would have thought... Unless you have signs of cauda equina

They can't do much for back pain in a&e so yes you will be sitting there in pain for many hours & prob given the same advice as your GP

If you get numbness or incontinence then definitely go straight to a&e

Are you taking ibuprofen as well as the codeine. I found that combination helped

Acute back pain/sciatica can be one of the worst pain there is. I had it from a slipped disc & far worse than child birth, dental pain, broken bones & a deep burn.

I'd be booking to see a reputable osteopath, they really helped me with my SPD.

Does it feel like all your insides will fall out when you take a step?

Can you ring 111? Saves you sitting for hours in a+e and they might be able to send you somewhere better?

GP do not normally commission mris, it is normally by referral.

Sorry cross post I see the midwife team have said to go to A&E.

I think they would be very unlikely to undertake an MRI scan unless there was indications of cauda equina where the spinal cord is compressed. Which is why they have asked you to watch out for numbness and incontinence. But for peace of mind and perhaps help with pain management A and E might be an option if you don't feel able to wait to access a walk in appointment etc. however, sitting for hours in a chair in a and e on a Friday night would not be my preferred option

Problem is, if you got an mri and diagnosis nothing further would happen after that for just now anyway. I've been there so know how awful it is, it is nothing you can begin to imagine pain wise. I just can't see A& helping unless you have loss of bladdee/bowel control or numbness in thar area

I had SI issues. It was fucking agony. I saw a physio who was useless and a chiropractor who at least got me semi mobile but I ended up being signed off at 21 weeks. As soon as I had delivered my twins it disappeared. A and e won't do anything.

Ibuprofen is generally avoided in pregnancy.

Sorry to hear you are in so much distress. It's bloody awful having back pain. I've been utterly devastated by it at times but I wasn't pregnant so I took Tramadol and Naproxen (or sometimes Codeine 30mg - but that constipated everyone without exception) which helped me enormously.
I also saw an Osteopath who was fantastic. They are far more helpful with back pain than a GP. I'm not sure whether you can find one that specialises in pregnancy - or maybe they all do. A TENS machine may help.
My MRI I had didn't show anything in the end - they said with back pain it's sometimes like looking for a needle in a haystack. I do believe it is a sacroiliac joint/facet joint issue though, which an Osteo fully understands.
Pilates was a Godsend for me (my Osteo ran her own classes). For months I felt like my back was going to snap but I. Her classes I knew if it went into spasm she could help me out of it. At the worst point I couldn't walk without a stick and had to beg borrow and steal friends to keep my business was going.
It WILL get better - but that pain can make grown men cry - it's as bad as childbirth. If you need stronger painkillers call the out of hours Drs or call 111 and ask for an ambulance to attend. You shouldn't be left in this kind of excruciating pain. Good luck.