DVT worry or sciatica?

[MumNeedsChocolate]

Firstly I know I need to seek medical advice not just take information online. So I do have a dr appt tomorrow morning.

I can’t go a&e tonight as I am on my own with two kiddies already in bed as my husbands away for work returning tomorrow. (Some friends have suggested a&e incase DVT) freaking me out.

I had my littlest 1 year ago and since this pregnancy I have had non stop calf pain. It’s dull everyday but I also have what seems to be sciatica pain when I don’t move much. I’m back at work and work at a desk.

my calf pain has been keepigg me up at night and sometimes makes it hard to walk. I’ve been brushing it off and cracking on as a busy mum (silly I know as I should be prioritising my health but I always focus on the little ones)

Ive recently read up about DVTs and freaking myself out. Gone down a rabbit hole. Friends haven’t helped.

i don’t have swelling or redness but I have read sometimes these symptoms don’t appear. I’m freaking out thinking what if it’s a DVT?

anyone ever had one and can reassure me that it probably isn’t and most likely linked to nerve/sciatica?

I do often get sciatica pain, pain in buttock and numbness down the same leg for eg. At the moment my foot’s like pins and needles but the dull calf pains still there too.

what to say to dr tomorrow I just want to be taken seriously.

Obviously can't say whether it is or isn't but I've got sciatica just as you say with numb patch sometimes on outer thigh and often seems to cause a dull ache/pain halfway down lower leg on outside of calf, sometimes down to my ankle. Had it for years but if it gets too iritating I take one dose of ibruphren for its anti inflammatory quality which seems to settle it for the day. You could try that until get to doctors, wont do any harm unless you can't take ibruphren for any reason.

Calf pain is awful with sciatica. Often the symptoms extend all the way down to your foot and it will feel numb along the outer side and bizarrely between the big toe and next one to it. The only way to describe it is it is like the toe post of cheap flip flops.
Sciatica is common after pregnancy because of the ligaments in your lower back relaxing and taking time to recover. However, you do need to confirm that it’s not due to other causes.
The way the GP will check for sciatica is to have you lying flat on your back and asking to raise your leg ( straightened) as high as you can. If you find it difficult and painful on the affected side it’s likely to be sciatica.
The other classic symptom is that sciatica pain is worse when you stand still, lie down or sit down for prolonged time. You tend t move around all the time to relieve it. Painkillers are useless but physio exercises do help longterm.
My sciatica was caused by fibroids pressing on the nerve, since going through menopause and taking a hormone blocker for breast cancer, the fibroids have shrunk and, although rather drastic, it has been fantastic for my sciatica. My GP DS give me antispasmodics to help with it the last time it was really bad and I have a supply to hit it quickly if I start to have symptoms. I had problems with muscle spasms around the nerve which had a spiralling effect. Stopping the muscle spasms calms it down quickly.

OK I have experience of blood clots and if this has been going on for a year, then either it would have got a lot worse by now and you'd have complications, or it would have resolved. So I don't think it's that and I don't think you need panic tonight. Go to your appointment in the morning and they can take it further as needed and put your mind at rest. Drink plenty of water, move around every so often and raise your legs to help blood flow.