Sciatica/Nerve Pain

[tobi21]

So I've suffered with pain in my lower back/legs for a long time, years. Recently it has accelerated to the point I am struggling to be mobile. I've been prescribed naproxen which did nothing, and after speaking to a lovely OOH GP today I've now been prescribed Amitriptyline, waiting to see if that helps.
I'm wondering if anyone here who has experienced sciatica/nerve pain can give me some advice on how long they waited for a full diagnosis, and any tips on how to manage?

Hiya - I suffered from sciatica for a long time.

Started pursuing treatment last autumn and finally had surgery this spring (private) - it could have been done earlier but I wanted a second opinion and changed surgeons and hospitals which extended the wait.

Amytriptaline worked better than Naproxen for me. I still take it most nights to manage the residual sciatica that I have.

There are different things that could be going on in your lower back; and the only way to identify it is a MRI, so this should be your first priority. Push hard for an early scan - but obviously the NHS is under massive pressure, so if there's any way you can go private, that would probably be a quicker route.

@Luckingfovely thank you for your reply, this is really helpful. I'm finding the amitriptyline is helping more than the naproxen, and as far as I'm aware my GP have now made a referral for me to have an MRI, hoping I'm not waiting too long

@tobi21 what was the outcome