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Unable to walk suddenly

361 replies

TROUBLEDMAM · 03/07/2018 02:16

So on Thursday I suddenly became unable to walk
I could feel my back hurt n giving out n my legs trembling
Ive suffered with sciatica before n thought it was the beginning of an episode
Until Friday when I realised I couldn't walk at all
I called my gp out n she said it was sciatica n a pulled muscle
Give me strong drugs n left
Come Saturday night the drugs weren't masking the pain n I was sure they was something more wrong
I rang 111 who phoned an ambulance
They wouldn't take me to hospital said ring my doctor today
I did this n she said she would call back after speaking to another doctor but never did

I'm in absolute agony I'm pissing in a bucket
I've had muscle relaxers called lorazepam
Codeine phosphate paracetamol every four hours since Friday n I'm still in agony

Any one know wat I can do next?

OP posts:
smellycoat · 09/07/2018 20:13

I am sorry for your plight. Keep hustling for help - if it is spinal cord pressure it really needs an urgent diagnoses. I too
used to suffer from sciatica and it stopped me from walking, and took AGES to get better. I remember minding my first baby at floor level - both of us- I could crawl painfully at least.

GardenGeek · 09/07/2018 22:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MarklahMarklah · 09/07/2018 23:26

I can't believe how little help you're getting. I thought along with head injuries, people suddenly not being able to walk were quite high up the list of priorities for medical attention.
OP have you emphasised how much of a change from normal this is? I'm sure you have but if you're just saying you have a painful back, then they're perhaps underestimating your pain threshold.
Do you have any numbness or tingling? You were quite definite before that this was not sciatica.
Unfortunately it sounds as though you're going to have to keep on shouting until someone listens.
Hope you get this resolved very soon.

JohnHunter · 09/07/2018 23:33

Sorry @GardenGeek but can you be a little more specific?

TROUBLEDMAM · 09/07/2018 23:48

I'm going to ring the gp tomorrow
As I simply can not go on like this not been able to sit in a chair only laying is really awful
Two weeks on Thursday I really thought I'd be better by now
I feel like I have expressed how much pain I'm in and how not normal this is.
I hope my gp can help
I've avoided morphine today because I hate the side affects and I'm worried taking it daily

I'd love some fresh air too

You guys are so kind thank you for replying x

OP posts:
GardenGeek · 10/07/2018 00:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ollivander84 · 10/07/2018 00:31

John - sometimes you have to go back. My friend went back, and back, and back again. Undiagnosed cauda equina, she had it for months before anyone actually scanned her

Mine was diagnosed very quickly at the same hospital luckily

JohnHunter · 10/07/2018 00:42

@GardenGeek My opinion is that the clinicians have probably done everything that they can for the OP. I presumed that your suggestion was based on the idea that there was something more to be done.

JohnHunter · 10/07/2018 00:45

@Ollivander84 - Yes, I think that's true, but it sounds as if the OP has been assessed by quite a few different people, including a GP, the A&E doctor, and whichever team of doctors ended up admitting her for a few days. Back pain can be debilitating but there isn't always a cause that can be treated with anything more than pain killers and time.

GardenGeek · 10/07/2018 00:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ollivander84 · 10/07/2018 01:27

John - I get that. But my friend was assessed numerous times by a GP, and countless a&e doctors. They all refused to scan. Until a different GP rang a&e and insisted they scan, she was operated on straight after

Ollivander84 · 10/07/2018 01:28

Posted too soon! I spent EIGHT years asking the doctor why I was always ill. Over 50 blood tests and all "normal". I was diagnosed with autoimmune neutropenia and sent to haematology as an emergency by a locum GP

TROUBLEDMAM · 10/07/2018 01:30

I understand that some times they isn't an under lining cause but how can anyone just assume when no scans have been done
I currently can't sleep as the meds I'm taking the side affects are awful
I've tummy ache n feel sick
N a headache all afternoon that won't shift
My meds are
omeprazole once a day
naproxen twice a day
senokot 2 twice a day
Paracetamol 2 four times a day
Codiene 2 four time a day
Morphine when needed but can have 5-10 ml 4 times a day
topiramate 2 once a day
levothyroxine 150mg daily
fluoxetine 40mg daily
Lacedo
lorazepam 2 a day

OP posts:
Ollivander84 · 10/07/2018 01:31

I know you've got the laxatives but try and make sure you're drinking plenty too, and eat some fruit/veg - tinned pears helped me! You don't want to be constipated alongside

TROUBLEDMAM · 10/07/2018 01:31

I just feel like I'm not getting better
I feel so low and down I could just cry 😭

OP posts:
LuluJakey1 · 10/07/2018 01:38

Just to sympathise, and empathise. I once put out my arm in a supermarket to take a small tin off a shelf and I felt 'something' in my back 'move'. Within half an hour I was in complete agony.
It was a Saturday and by the time Monday arrived I could not walk, stand, sit, go upstairs. I could not drive , lift anything at all- even a cup- get dressed or undressed, bend or straighten, turn over if I was lying down, or get up. I was crying out in pain and racked with awful muscle spasms. It was across my lower back.

The GP came out and did nothing except provide painkillers and valium. Would not send me for x--ray or scan because he said it was 'soft tissue damage'. He said if it had not improved in 4 weeks he would consider sending me for an x-ray. In the meantime, take the painkillers and valium and lie flat on the floor.
I lay on the hard floor for a month all day and night. It was the only place my back was manageable and even then it was agony. DH left me on the floor in the mornings in my nightie, with a light blanket over me - I couldn't stand the weight of anything else on my legs- cartons of yoghurt, a banana, water and painkillers. If I needed to go to the loo, it took about 45 minutes to get off the floor. I would sob. Using the loo was agony as my back spasmed sitting. I could not use the upstairs loo. I could not go upstairs for a month. I could not lift my legs to climb the stairs even once I could crawl. I was sure I had done something terrible to myself somehow or had an awful disease.

One night the pain and spasms were so terrible DH called an ambulance and they gave me some kind of gas mask and took me to A and E who sent me home the next morning with morphine and the same message as my GP.

It took 2 months to be anywhere near recovered and my hip was knocked out of balance and my spine misaligned. I needed physio for several months. I felt old and frail (was only 30) . However, I lost over 2 stone existing on yoghurts and bananas. It took 6 weeks for me to be able to dress myself - putting pants and tights on was impossible.

Afterwards I had sciatica a couple of months later which was very painful in my bum, leg, knee and calf, a burning pain. Lasted about 3 weeks.

I did make a full recovery from it all and they were right, it was soft tissue damage and it was better after 4 weeks and much better after 8 but took about 4 months to fully get better. But it was incredibly painful and it felt like no one cared medically.

It will improve, I am sure it will. In the meantime try and rest. Flowers

TROUBLEDMAM · 10/07/2018 02:04

Oh god that sounds awful op
Ironically it feels like my hip they did say in an e that they wanted to x Ray my hip and never did
Sitting on the toilet is awful my legs shake like crazy
I can mange the stairs very slowly but today was a bad day I never went down stairs but I'm having a I'm fed up day today no positive left in me

I hope it doesn't take this long to get better I don't know how I will cope

Why did u only eat yogurt n bananas op?

I'm glad you made a full recovery tho
Thank you for sharing your story with me x

OP posts:
Rockingaround · 10/07/2018 02:09

You need a qualified medic to examine your legs to see if there’s any evidence of spinal cord compression. If there is you need an urgent referal for an MRI. My husband is a doctor ... where do you live?

Rockingaround · 10/07/2018 02:13

Not exactly - just your region/local hospital

Ollivander84 · 10/07/2018 02:39

I stupidly forgot to post this!
It was actually a physio that sent me for an MRI after the doctors said no... might be worth a try if no improvement. I was seeing her via work and she referred me. I'm so grateful to her as she refused to treat me and sent the referral through, and it was after that MRI they first decided I needed surgery

Slartybartfast · 10/07/2018 08:01

try and have faith in the medics op.

TROUBLEDMAM · 10/07/2018 08:15

Rocking around ~ I live in the north east of England

OP posts:
TROUBLEDMAM · 10/07/2018 08:16

James Cook university hospital is my closest one x

OP posts:
TROUBLEDMAM · 10/07/2018 08:17

My gp is ringing me back this morning

OP posts:
Slartybartfast · 10/07/2018 08:28

Have faith in your GP op

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