Sciatica & low back pain

[Horseshoebeach]

I was hoping all this would be gone by now or at least easing a bit. But several weeks on the low right back pain, buttock (rump area), sciatica in leg down to the ankle, is quite literally making life hell. First off I thought it was down to a fall I had. The x-ray I had confirmed there was no fracture with a little additional info re osteophytes lower down in the spine. Sitting for longer than 10 minutes is difficult to say the least. Then there's getting up from sitting with muscle type spasm, then finding a comfortable position to sleep. It's always there. Had an MRI (don't know results yet) & I'm so embarrassed to admit I barely made it through (felt panicky). Then at the end when it was over I asked the radiographer if he had all he needed and to take longer if he wanted (had calmed down by then) but he said he had all he needed. Now I'm worried in case he felt the need to rush it because of my anxiety. Many people have it so much worse with pain and illness and I know that. I just feel in such a mess with this and want this thing to start feeling just a little bit better. Has anyone been through something similar that seemed to go on? This is my first time posting so apologies if I'm on the wrong thread (& so sorry for the moody rant) X

So I'm having the microdiscectomy today . Feeling nervous but after a horrendous nights sleep again last night I know I need this doing .
For those thinking about gabapentin it has worked at reducing the symptoms of the sciatic pain although not removing. I've had some issues with dizziness and fainting though .

I've also tried a TENS machine which I've not used since labour. Does it make a difference? Hmm I think it distracts you if you know what I mean. I used it last night when I was in agony bouncing of the walls in pain and it did ease it.

I'll let you know how the op goes today and the recovery .

Good luck TicksyLiesSmith!

Princessannaofarundale I know what you mean I would feel exactly the same as you you seem to be managing fairly well I suppose if I was as mobile as you I would probably want to wait and see if I improve more are you able to swim at all I was just day dreaming yesterday really thinking that would be what I would start with may be not even swimming just in the water walking around funny the things you start to fantasise about I live near the coast and the other night the pain was so bad if I could have driven I would have gone in the sea kept thinking how cold it would be and then wouldn’t feel the pain 😲😅 I tried to sleep in bed last night first time in weeks slept better but had spasm as usual and as I thought would happen couldn’t get up couldn’t get my legs of bed as in spasm and can’t twist back 😔

Tricksylie good luck for today

Allypally999 was your pain unbearable as in nothing makes enough of a difference for me it’s the constant level of pain that’s so exhausting sleeping 3 hours if lucky I am only 5 ish weeks in so maybe I’m expecting to much I’m still waiting for mri

Good luck tricksy. I am thinking of you.

Gosh I'm still so undecided but I need to make a decision. I can drive and get abiut and whilst i can feel constant tugging in nerve in buttock i am only in severe pain maybe once a day now for an hour or so in evenings. I don't know if this is just the medication working or whether i am improving. I wish in a way I could have another mri and see what is going on. Or maybe i should just wait and see if medication can keep me going until body does eventually heal? DH seems to think I should just get the surgery and get it over with but it's such a big thing. I can't rush into it .

User I was just same as you 5 weeks in. To be honest I was same as you before the gabapentin about a month ago. I'm 19 weeks into this now. I did try swimming about 5 weeks ago and just getting in the water made my leg cramp and spasm so could barely walk around the pool. It wasn't really any relief which was a shame because I was imagining instant relief if the water took pressure off but it didn't work like that for me. I will have to give it another go. I couldn't actually swim now, but wading about in the water might help??? Not sure.

Yes the pain just got worse and worse until I could hardly function and the drugs did very little. I was in constant pain day and night so life is much better now though I am still limited. If it helps with any decisions my physio (seen for years and very helpful) reckons that 10 years post surgery you are the same as 10 years without. The surgeon I saw re my shoulder didn't seem to disagree either. Neck/back and shoulder surgery is very hit or miss and can do damage. Research lots.

The more I research the more confused I get. So many people on here saying they were fine afterwards and a few months later were back to normal. But dig further into it and there are so many others out there who say the opposite.

Princessannaofarundale I really don’t know what I would do in your situation at all I would feel exactly the same as you I’m having my mri tomorrow evening so that’s something been chasing it and earliest appointment even though the consultant I saw put in the letter for it to be prompt I think his words were earliest would be beginning of March so paying privately that’s my Xmas present done yay😏 shame about the swimming as I was reading what you had put I could imagine it feeling exactly like that 😩 you just get so fed up don’t you but reading back b over your posts and the advice you have given me maybe you have turned a corner it’s the sleep that’s the worst I think I was stuck in bed last night got about 3 hours if that and am in more pain today back to chair tonight

I hope Tricksy is doing well after her surgery. I feel for you User and Princess - I am only two weeks in and already feel so fucked off! The pain shifts about up and down my leg and the buttock spasms started to come back today which fills me with dread as they are killers. Also feel like someone is grinding a screwdriver into my calf just above my ankle. I honestly don't think that the epidural really did anything, but I had to give it a try.
I'm on amitryptiline and asked my specialist for gabapentin but he said it's not a magic cure and wants to see me at follow up in 3 weeks. I've been doing some research and he's right - it works in a small % of people but not all. I need to have a review with my GP about the amitryptiline soon so will also ask again.
It's going to be a pretty miserable Christmas as I'm exile in my bedroom

Localhero it’s the worst pain I’ve ever experienced seeing consultant today as had mri last night so I will know what’s going on at least. Do you manage to lie in bed,I know what you mean the leg spasms are awful couldn’t sit down all evening now I’ve at least had 4 hours sleep tonight but that will be it I just pave around now for hours my legs are definitely puffy any one else noticed that I’m not prone to this sort of thing my ankles usually really skinny but all feels bigger than normal, have heard some people say they felt much better in a few weeks hope this will be you I think I’m in week six,my doctors have finally prescribed Gabapentin my doctor wasn’t keen I have it but have put of taking it as he wanted to see me for check up first can’t get appointment near impossible plus getting in car is hell so I have it but not supposed to start taking it yet 😔 really hope you manage to sleep in bed at night and get some sleep as I feel awful pain and no sleep is rotten

Princess it is not the kind of question that you will get a definitive answer to. Doing nothing will work for some people but not for others, operating will work for some people but not for others and, to add to the difficulty of the decision, no one knows why.

I was fine 14 months after the herniation, no pain, no loss of sensation. Then I was very unlucky to get CE, but my operation only dealt with the CE, so in effect I never had treatment for the herniated disc. Now I am well enough, with mainly CE side effects only, so that I would not consider another operation.

It’s a very individual decision and everyone has to take a risk, every option has different risks.

Well I finally got home last night from the 3rd op!

I'm feeling reasonably good, the horrendous nerve pain has not returned, I am however still numb in my left foot and parts of my left leg and around my groin but that is more to do with the Cauda Equina than anything else.

I'm walking (albeit with a limp) and I'm generally feeling much better.

I'm lucky in the fact that I had absolutely no choice but to have the discectomy 3 times in 15 days - had I had chance to think about it I would feel the same as PP when it comes to deciding to go ahead or not.

What I would say is researching the internet is always going to result in doubt. Those who have it done successfully tend to move on and not write about it, those who have had problems tend to be more vocal about issues they have I incurred so it's likely you see more negative than positive!

That's a good point Red - I would have forgotten about it all by now if I was 100% cured.

You sound like you are doing very well yay!

I would say to anyone getting surgery - go for the keyhole surgery if you can as the other way is much worse and harder to recover from. If you are young, fit and slim your recovery will be much faster too. You can also improve over many years (up to 3) so try to be optimistic. I have anxiety and depression and they make my back sore so I try very hard to avoid situations which will leave me anxious and sore but some things you have to do.

Good luck everybody and try and enjoy Christmas with lots of help from family and friends x

I don't know how those of you who are in continual pain with no break cope! I consider myself lucky that I'm only in pain when standing and walking.

I went for my pre-op assessment at the hospital yesterday. As usual nobody could extract any blood from me and my arms are covered in bruises. I'll be required to stay in overnight so will need to organise somewhere for the dog to stay, which I have a feeling won't be easy this time of year.

I do feel positive about it. I can't go on like this, popping nearly 3 grams of gabapentin a day. My insides are horrified, and I crapped my pants the other day for the first time in my life post nappies. (Luckily I was actually on my way to the loo.)

Glad you are finally home Red! It will take up to two years for the nerves to recover from CE but that is good news. I am 18 months in and still seeing small improvements, so I hope you find the same.

Good luck Spam!

Much sympathy! I hope it gets better soon and the MRI shows something minor. I had an MRI after having months of back pain ten years ago and hated it! So noisy and claustrophobic. Turns out I had two slipped two discs at the same time and until they healed, the sciatica was the worst pain I’ve ever experienced barring labour. It took months to get better - weirdly what cured it was being in a minor car accident! The day after, it was like a switch had been flipped. My dad had a similar episode ‘cured’ when he fell down the stairs - the leg with the sciatica gave way on the top step and he fell all the way to bottom. No major injuries, just cured the sciatica. Wouldn’t recommend either as a course of treatment though but it made me suspect a jolt can realign things...

Oh we shouldn't laugh but I am eyeing up the stairs now

Boo, thank you.

I have been accepted to go to the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport, where they will start me on the road to rehabilitation. This said, my disc has prolapsed for a 4th time, however as they have taken part of my backbone out it's not causing CE as there is no wall to crush the nerves.. but I will probably need a fusion quite soon, so Southport may have to wait.

I'm so pleased you are doing so well 18 months in. I guess we both have to take the positives that we are able to walk and not have any continence issues. I can only thank my lucky stars that I have come out of this last few weeks as well as I have.

Good luck to all on this thread, and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. Let's hope 2020 is a much better year for us all

Hi everyone, my goodness RedDhalia you have really been through hell.

How is everyone feeling today? I hope everyone is getting at least a few hours sleep and managing to enjoy at least some of the festive season.

I feel a bit of a fraud for being on here now at all. I have been totally pain free for 2 days. I don't know what to think anymore. Thankfully Hull Royal Infirmary phoned to postpone my op til mid jan anyway so it gives me a little more time to think about this and see if my symptoms return. I know the disc hasn't magically fixed itself since the MRI and I'm well aware that only 4 weeks ago i was in agony every moment of the day but even if it has just reduced in swelling and moved off the nerve enough then obviously I don't want to be going for an operation. The problem is I have no more appointments with anyone until the date of the surgery and I really want to talk this through with a professional. I know I'm still not right, my back is stiff and i can't stand up straight for long at all, I can't bend without pain down my leg and I need my crutches to walk any distance but I feel good now. I am so confused.

Tricksy how are you doing after surgery?

Red feel so bad for you bless you, hope your doing ok tricksy,so pleased for you princessanna that is such good news really hope you have turned a corner and keep improving you will be running marathons in no time 😉 I hate aerobic exercise but have always been slim and very active walking swimming kids stuff really but am thinking when I’m all sorted fingers crossed must look into yoga or Pilates think I need to do more had mri got 2 slipped discs 4&5 and something about 3&4 were mentioned but he said not to worry about that at this stage starting physio jan offered injections not sure will see how physio goes 😏

Sorry 2&3 he said surgery way down the line and totally last resort

Ahh user I was wondering how your MRI had gone. I have one massively herniated disc at L5/s1 and a bulging disc at L4/L5 but apparently that one isn't putting and pressure on nerve at all. I am hoping physio works for you and sometimes just time heals a lot... as I have found out!

I have to say I know the disc hasn't healed, if I do too much I have pain all down back of thigh and in ankle (like this evening I've been wrapping presents and putting up banners and balloons for DS2's birthday tomorrow!) It's not healed but it isn't causing pins and needles in foot at all anymore, no pain in calf and honestly I am often completely pain free in the day now. Even a few weeks ago I couldn't even remember what it felt like to not have constant pain. Again I'm not sure how much of it is time and healing, or how mich of it is medication. I wish I knew what was going on.

I still can't imagine managing pilates or yoga, I'm still having to move very carefully and not over stretch or move too fast. I know everyone says it works wonders but I think for people with disc problems we need to be very careful and very sure we aren't still in the acute stages where anything causes pain!

How does the MRI detect nerves being compressed? Is it via contrast dye.?
GP refused to do the MRI referral or consultant specialist in 2016 but later agreed to a normal X-ray. Slipped discs, one disappeared and deteriorating facets.
Since konking out after taking 2 Nurofen Plus on an empty stomach and gashing my scalp in several places - couldn't eat anything due to the pain- my sciatica has got worse over the last 17 days.
I have also lost my buttock and thigh muscles .
I was offered only PHYSIO but declined as still no MRI which should show more details than a normal x-ray ie nerves.
I was thinking of paying privately for one.