Sciatic nerve pain, Doctor said to take me early maternity leave or be signed off from work.

[Sarahlouise933]

I’m 28 weeks pregnant and over the last few days I’ve been getting pains in my lower back on the right hand side to the point where it can be painful to walk and even stops me from walking at times. I saw a doctor and he said it’s sciatic nerve pain and it should clear after pregnancy and it’ll probably get worse.

The thing is, I’m finding it so painful to walk at times and he said I’ll either need to be signed off of work or take early maternity leave and just to rest.

I can’t really do either of those things, I need the money :(

I work as a receptionist administrator but within a doctors surgery but sometimes it’s so painful just to even sit in the chair.

Has anyone else been in this situation? I have no idea what to do. It’s getting me so down, and just struggling to walk and get about just makes me want to cry all the time.

Do you have annual leave you could use so you’re on full pay for a few weeks? From memory if you’re signed off sick within the last 4 weeks your maternity automatically kicks in anyway.

What’s your sick pay like? Have you spoken to work about making adjustments for you to make it as comfortable as possible?

Find a decent chiropractor with experience dealing with pregnant women. Sciatica is usually a more sudden intense pain. This sounds like spd. Either way, a chiropractor will help. Based on what you say here neither your doctor nor your work will be supportive of a chiropractor but please please try it.

Based on

I think I left at about 33/34 weeks both times by taking a huge lump of annual leave and starting mat leave early than I ideally would.

Hi, this is basically me now, though I’m 32 weeks. I’m not sure if it’s sciatic nerve pain, PGP or both, but it’s bloody agony. I’ve just been out to shops and now can’t walk. I have another 2.5 weeks left at work but am thinking of going to GP and being signed off. Because it’s pregnancy related, it should not count as official sick leave. Couldn’t you do the same then surely you wouldn’t lose any money? I’m hoping to be signed off til my annual leave kicks in, as I have 2 weeks of annual leave before my maternity leave starts on 17th Feb

My first though was take your AL, then go on Mat leave

Thats exactly what im doing.

I had this last time round. To stick it out till my planned leaving date I used a combination of walking poles, chiropractor, taxis and a tens machine. I'm afraid nothing really fixed things, but I made it through and the issue resolved straight after the birth.

I don't think it was a particularly sensible approach though, and this time I am planning to finish a few weeks earlier, as I am expecting the same to happen again.

Try some pregnancy yoga and look up the stretches on the nhs website for back pain (obviously the lying down ones would be unsuitable). You could also refer yourself for physio and they should do it quick access due to you being pregnant. I find mine manageable with the proper stretching and movements x

I would go for an assessment privately with a women's health physiotherapist. There is lots they can do to help in terms of manual therapy, exercises and advice on safe transfers (in/out bed etc).

Yes, I second an appointment with a good physio. Very effective for me.

I had SPD and then sciatica. NHS offered me physio which helped a bit. Since I've had my DD I never got it treated and suffered on and off for years. Recent I've been to a Chiropractor and Osteopath alternately and they have really helped.