Sciatica experiences

[SabrinaTheMiddleAgedBitch]

At least I think sciatica. Had one day of pain down my leg then mainly numbness/pins and needles with very sore, bruised feeling buttock. Visited gp due to weakness and numbness in legs who didn't seem especially interested just said it was probably a trapped nerve that would resolve with time. Was put on amitriptyline.

Three weeks on things are improving massively but the pins and needles are still lingering. Is it normal with a trapped nerve for these things to hang around for a long time?

I would say that's definitely sciatica I have it aswell . I'm on codiene but it takes the edge off also bought a tens machine .

Did they not tell you to do the exercises for acute mechanical back injuries? You can download off web. Far more effective than anything else.

Yup. I have degenerative disc disease in my l4 disc and every know and again it flares up. See a physio if you can. It really helps.

See a physio you’ll need to work on core stability.

I have bad nerve damage in my leg from this, could barely walk when it first happened two years ago.

As well as seeing a physio and doing the exercises mentioned, it wouldn't hurt to take magnesium. You can bath in Epsom Salts too, for absorption through the skin. You'd need to Google the reasons it helps nerve function, as I haven't needed it for that - just to help sleep.

Thanks all. Doctors told me the square root of shite all, I don't even know exactly what's causing the trapped nerve (disc, muscles etc)

How long should I reasonably expect it to feel normal before I go back to GP? Google says 4-6 weeks but I'm almost 4 weeks in now

My first bout of Sciatica lasted 5.5 months, i had real trouble sitting but moving around helped, i walked so much i lost several pounds and my house has never looked so clean.
I have had a couple of episodes since but they have lasted between 4-6 weeks.
If i hadn't been able to sleep i don't know how i would have coped.

You have my sympathy, it is truely awful.

Oh crikey, don't know if I could handle 5.5 months!

I'm just feeling really frustrated. Gp was so dismissive. I was diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder a few years ago and I could walk in with arm hanging off and they would try to connect it to anxiety. I just feel so in the dark about whether I should be resting, moving, etc

I developed sciatica a couple of years ago - agony on long car journeys or any time I had to sit for extended periods (especially in seats that sloped backwards). It lasted for months, and comes and goes now. The thing that really helped me was yoga, particularly building my core strength. I haven't done any for a couple of months and I'm already feeling a bit of twinging in that leg. I need to get back into the habit.

Yoga just makes you feel great anyway (and I'm shite at it by the way, it still works even if you're a beginner). I use the Down Dog app and do it at home.

There are loads of exercises on line. You sort of get used to it being the normal! I take ibuprofen to head it off at the pass when it starts to tingle.

Avoid twisting and loads- steering a big trolley sets mine off every time. I only use little ones now!

Thanks all, I noticed shopping trolleys have a bad effect on me as well. How odd!

I’ve downloaded the yoga app, never done yoga in my life so goodness knows what I will be like but I’ll give it a go

You could try tai chi. Much less likely to twist awkwardly with Tai Chi!

Gentle exercise with simple stretches is the best thing. There are plenty of suitable exercises on line for sciatica. Piriformis syndrome has the same symptoms (is a similar thing) and there are exercies for that online. If you can get a physio appointment they can be very helpful.
Acupuncture can also help.

@SabrinaTheMiddleAgedBitch sorry to hear you are suffering. I do understand and I also understand how frustrating it is when you read between the lines and know your GP is putting it down to anxiety. I have had nerve pain in my hip and leg for 3 months now and I don't feel my GP believes me or certainly not how debilitating it is. The worst thing for me is than is interrupts sleep which is horrible.

@NK346f2849X127d8bca260 Do you know what made yours go away after 5.5 months?

No i just got up that morning and realised the horrible pinching had gone, my GP said that in some case it can take six months.

You have my sympathy. I'm 5 months into a flare up, not too much pain but no improvement on numbness. Herniated disc. Physio has helped reduce pain and improve movement. GP told me it takes a long time for nerves to repair

I swear sitting down on zoom calls all day is to blame!!

Thanks. To wake up one day and find it has disappeared would feel like a miracle at the moment

I dread the day it gets so bad again, fortunately i was able to sleep fairly well, had to take Naproxen and Co Codomol though.
I have had several bouts since but short lived but i still can't sit down for long, driving for more than an hour causes discomfort too.

My last bad bout went away after a spinal block for a gynae op.
I was dreading the recovery, as I hadn't been able to sit or lie in comfort for months, but it just vanished. Wonderful.

@Stormdennis It's incredibly frustrating. I feel like once you are diagnosed with anxiety (especially as a woman) it becomes the cause of everything. I'm pretty convinced I had covid back in the start when tests weren't being done but of course that was put down to anxiety.

I know anxiety can cause very physical symptoms but I know the difference between that and a back injury. It makes me really cross.

I'm also autistic so where the pins and needles are more of a annoyance for most people it's actually one of the more distressing aspects of this at the moment because it's complete sensory overload. Again, doctor didn't really care

Sorry you are all going through this and thank you for all the advice x

It can go on for ages. I'd second the advice to see a physio. Also, as soon as the pools reopen, swimming did wonders for me. Pilates can be helpful but I'd advise either finding a teacher (I'm guessing there are people who'd do one to one online if you wanted and have the money) or finding a session specifically for people with bad backs as there's some Pilates moves that might not be helpful. (In normal times, I do a class with a teacher who gives adapted options for people with back issues to do.)

Can I ask another question re. everyones experience of sciatica please. Was it typical for you all e.g lower back pain and/or glute and down the back of the leg? I am seeing a neurologist next week after suffering for 3 months. Everything has been eliminated other than nerve pain. The problem is that it's not typical sciatica as I have throbbing and burning in my groin, side of my hip, in my glute and tightness around my thigh … basically everywhere! Just keep to hear what your sciatica symptoms were? Thanks.

@Stormdennis Sorry you are having such a tough time. Mine has always been glute pain, never in my back although I think myself very lucky that my pain has been very minimal (DH herniated a disc last year so I’ve seen how bad it can be)

Its always been numbness/pins and needles varying from completely unable to feel my leg to slight tingling. Last two days my leg has felt more normal but my foot was like a block of ice. This morning, back to the pins and needles again

I hope you get some answers soon. I'm losing the will to live after a month of this!

I had pain in my knee, moving down to my foot, to the point I could no longer weight bear on the leg. The whole leg hurt by then, a lot of it aching but also burning, and the sole of my foot felt bruised.

Don't know if that helps! I did seem to have a particularly acute case (wound up in hospital for pain management at one point!) It can and does get better though. I'm nearly three years on and so much better that generally I'm not in pain at all, though struggling a bit with lack of access to gym and swimming now. (And that's with having had a baby in the last year - I was a bit worried that pregnancy might mess it all up again.)