Sciatica - how long does it last for?

[noitsnotteatimeyet]

For the last two days I’ve had a hideous sensation in my leg - numbness and feeling ‘dead’ all the way down to my foot. Last year I had piriformis syndrome which felt similar but the stretches I did to ease that aren’t making any difference - that also was only really uncomfortable when I’d been in one position for a while (eg driving) whereas this is there all the time and worse when I’m walking. Tell me your sciatica success stories please

I have suffered from sciatica on and off for 2 years. I have tried everything. Virtually every prescription drug known to man. Lots of physio too.

I have also had a trapped sciatic nerve with hospital admission.

The only thing that has worked for me is diazepam. It is a miracle. The pain completely goes away. I now have a short course of it prescribed every time I have a flair up and it disappears after 48 hours.

On and off for years for me, usually a few weeks at a time. Paracetamol, ibuprofen, diazepam and codeine usually helps plus therma care hip and back wraps
I had surgery on mine eventually after they finally did an MRI and a sharp intake of breath followed by "let's get you some morphine"

I would be concerned about the 'feeling dead', that is not how my sciatica presents; it is a firey, cramp type pain. I have had tests/appointments over the last year so do have experience of what to be wary of. I would suggest a gp appointment to discuss.

With mine I did get that numb feeling. It alternated between pins and needles, searing pain or completely numb
If you haven't seen the GP though definitely go as you may need an MRI or referral

Surgery- L5/S1 decompression nine years ago. The relief from having the nerve released from the bulging disc after two years of increasing pain was immense.
When I awoke in the recovery room to be told my surgery was over, I thought the surgeon had cut my leg off because I had no sciatic pain and I was absolutely fine with that . The initial recovery was 6 weeks but I had a few months of physio to regain core strength and rebuild the muscles that had wasted in my buttock and leg.
Surgery was an absolute last resort after coming to the end of the road on all other therapies.
Have been tickety- boo since!

Oh dear ... this isn’t what I wanted to hear - huge sympathy for those of you who’ve had this for years.

Hmm it’s not a fiery pain at all - there’s a bit of acute pain in my lower back on the affected side but other than that it’s not painful as such it just feels numb, weak (as in I can’t take large steps as it feels like the lower leg is going to give way). It’s hard to describe but it’s most like a feeling of permanently having a banged elbow. It’s making me feel quite sick ...

I was hoping to avoid going to the GP - ironically I just had my over 50 health check and was told I was really fit and healthy, nothing wrong with me - serves me right for feeling smug ..