Sciatica hell. What might help?

[tattoonewbie]

I saw the e chiropractor last week and he diagnosed trapped nerve in three places Pain is in my bum, spreads down my leg and currently my outer lower leg is throbbing and my foot is fizzing.
I cannot get comfy. Back at chiro on Thursday but it's worsening. I've got GP tomorrow and will ask for some pain relief as it's awful. I've done my exercises tonight and it feels even worse.
It's so horrible. Just relentless.
Has anyone any top tips ? Please. I'm so miserable and can't see me being able to drive tomorrow to work. I can WFH but even the thought of sitting is making me want to cry. Sorry to sound pathetic.

I went to the chemist for a prescription. Walked in reasonably well. 45 minutes wait in one of their chairs I was crippled. Came straight home.

@justasking111 Standing at the pharmacy finished me. I was only waiting ten minutes but jeez. The pain when weight bearing was horrid.
I'm now on double the Gabapentin and muscle relaxants plus naproxen. I feel a bit weird

I'm not surprised. I'm given 3 gabapentin a day so 300 mgs. I usually take two. Tend to take 4 co codamol a day. Never been offered muscle relaxant or naproxen. They're very stingy/careful with drugs at our surgery

. I've had two run ins where repeats have been declined with not a word of explanation given. So then run the gamut of the receptionist who says phone at 8am tomorrow to speak to GP. 🙄🌞

I saw such a lovely doctor. He was so calming and I felt heard. He said we have to get the pain under control and I WILL get better
Tonight I feel very low. I worked about 6 hours at my desk and was on all my meds plus muscle relaxers and was "ok". I then stood up and walked to kitchen and it was lightning strikes of pain down my leg which has been the same since then to now. I can't believe the only time I am vaguely ok is when I'm a bit detached on pain relief and stationary.
The earlier messages about other more sinister things are lurking in my head.
I'm seriously toying with being off work for a bit just to try and rest and recuperate but I don't feel horrific when working. But my evenings are spent in pain

@tattoonewbie I’m going back to work on Monday. The first time I will have been in for 3 weeks.
today I have managed on just ibuprofen and paracetamol.
the exercises I got off the physio have helped so much.
you have all of my sympathy. In the thick of it , it was truly awful and very depressing.
im worried about going back but I have to try and get back to normal.
i think you should take some time off and rest. The disturbed sleep will not be helping.

@sciaticafanatica excuse drug addled brain but were you able to do the exercises right away ? Did you post the pics further down thread ? I'll check. I'm so pleased and grateful for this being such a big thread. The solidarity has really helped me. I've tried my wall Cobra tonight and the arch is fine but straightening is agony. All the fireworks going off in my leg. I had to tens to relax before bed last night and putting off going now as I'm comfy sitting straight up in a desk chair with feet up and parallel to my hips. If I stay still !

No I’ve not posted the exercises.
it was absolute agony doing them at the physio but I found they helped pretty much immediately.
im not saying I’m pain free. I’m saying it’s getting easier.
ive been doing them at the exercises twice a day for a couple of days and doing the daily walk ( this has been harder)
I’ve also continued to sleep with the between leg cushion.

@sciaticafanatica are you able to share ? I'm so so fed up.

@tattoonewbiei will message you a copy of the ones the physio sent me in the morning.

Once you can bear to do exercise, walking and swimming are absolute game changers for treating and preventing sciatica. Lying down and sitting are the worst. I don’t blame you not being able to drive!

Also, ice pack on lower back, NOT where it actually hurts, as sciatica is usually referred pain.

Sciatica can present differently for people depending on what is causing it - disc, piriformis, spinal stenosis and where and how much the nerve is compressed etc.
For a lot of people sitting and lying is painful and walking/standing gives relief. For others it is the opposite. Different exercises, movements will work for the different causes.

Where and when are you feeling pain? Is it in your back, calf, foot? Is it worse in the morning, all day, evening? Are you pain free lying down, sitting, standing, walking? Does bending forward or bending backwards cause more pain?

During the acute phase avoid any exercises which involve bending, lifting or twisting. Avoid sitting as much as you can ( especially with bad posture) , if sitting get up and walk around frequently. Walking is great, if it is pain free. If you can walk for 5 minutes pain free, do that. Try the same tomorrow. If that is pain free try 6 minutes the next day. With sciatica do not walk through the pain. The nerve is very sensitive and is very easily irritated.

This is an analogy my consultant gave me. Imagine you have a cut and you keep picking at it, it won't get better. You need to give it a chance to heal.

For the vast vast majority this will get better with time.

When my dh had an acute attack, he couldn’t walk-crawling around. His MRI showed herniated disc with moderate to severe stenosis. The pain relief was key-basically to make it possible to move about. The private physio told him to lie on his back on the floor with legs on sofa, knees bent at 90 degrees-this gave relief from the awful pain so he had a bit of respite. Now he does McKenzie excercises-just the extension ones-flexi on is a no no. He was getting better slowly but a sports physio told him he should be doing them 8/9 times a day, not just once or twice. He got a dramatic improvement. He also got an inversion table which has helped a lot too as it creates space I. His spine. Read Treat Your Own Back by Rob McKenzie.

New meds taken today. Rising dose. I woke at 4am with dog. Then at 20. Then slept on and off until 4. Sleeping on my side with cushion and the tens machine on gets me to sleep
I have a desk job so sit down all day and work a special wobble cushion and come kneeling meetings I just about cope on co codamol. But when I finish work and try to walk to kitchen it's agony and everything seizes up and from then until bed it is shooting knife like pains and a fizzing foot
I've just done the Cassandra 5 min yoga and that felt nice so I think I need to move as much as possible but evening and morning are so difficult. I guess once I'm working with comfy position I'm
Making it worse as o don't move.

Just checking back in - no pun intended.
Still struggling and I hate that this is my new normal. I'm so sick of it. Exercises seem to not help and I'm on ever growing numbers of tablets.
It's nasty.

Sorry to hear it's still awful. I was hoping you were feeling better. Can you get an MRI? How long have you been on meds for? Ice your lower back constantly.

Exercises will cause pain. My physio warned me of this. I had a nasty virus two weeks ago so slacked off on movement. Paying for it now.

Suggest that you set an alarm and get up walk around, do some easy exercises to loosen up again. Try five minutes every hour.

If you get pain when standing for a while or walking, but get relief from sitting down this could be stenosis, I think an MRI would really help (have to push for one) as at least you will know what is causing the sciatica and can get advice tailored to you. It's miserable and I feel for you, but don't give up hope xx

I am seeing a consultant soon privately but have been waiting even privately since start of March. I got some relief sleeping on sofa this morning flat on back after the muscle relaxants but I mentally exhausted too
I went to friends last night and they were just so nice to me and kind that I nearly cried. Checked on my seating and my chair and were just lovely. But I was awake again 4am. In pain. Fed up and just not wanting another day of doing nothing useful and feeling sore.
I'm roasting a chicken for tea with chips as an easy meal and having a glass of wine but will be in bed by 9 again I think

Unless you've had this pain it's hard to imagine how bad it is x roll on your consultation and hope you sleep better tonight, maybe have an ice pack ready (or anything you have in your freezer) to help with inflammation x

I had sciatica when I was pregnant with my third child.
I started doing some gentle yoga and the teacher advised to sleep with a cushion between my knees and with my legs together, previously I’d slept on my side with my top leg bent over on to the bed (if that makes sense).

Within three weeks it was gone, yours sounds a bit worse than mine but definitely give it a try.

@Maggieb90 eek I'm scared now about stenosis. I'm so fed up and worried. This has just come on pretty quickly after a bit of a niggle and now I'm like an old woman.

I had pain when walking and standing and no pain sitting and lying. I had a herniated disc, not stenosis. It can present like this quite often.

This is the Dr Google problem. You're 2 clicks from something horrible at all times

Sorry didn't mean to worry you, I have stenosis - doesnt mean you have - and have had pain free days, it's all about finding what works for you and what is the actual cause. As pp said the knee cushion helps a lot when sleeping, I bought one from Amazon, its great but you can use a pillow or cushion too.
https://amzn.eu/d/6AJgppX
And these ice packs
https://amzn.eu/d/b95auSO