Severe back spasms

[Georgina125]

Hi there. I am 26 weeks pregnant currently and feeling incredibly sorry for myself. All was going well until I turned over in bed 3 weeks ago (how dare I!) and was suddenly in agony. Pain through my pelvis, hip and lower back, mostly in the left side. I tried to let it settle but was out for an unrelated appointment a couple of days later and the pain got so bad that I threw up everywhere. I went to maternity assessment and they checked on baby and all was well. They said it seemed like a mixture of sciatica and pelvic girdle issues and referred me to physio (still waiting on that!).

I paid for a private physio appointment and she confirmed sciatica and a small amount of pelvic girdle issues. She gave me a massage (which really helped) and some exercises to do. I had some improvement for a few days but then suffered another couple of back spasms. The physio did another massage and I seemed to be improving really well. Then I caught a bad cold and started having the spasms every day. Yesterday I had a back spasm right before my physio appointment and the massage she gave me didn't help at all. I've now had back spasms every time my dihydrocodeine/paracetamol wears off. I can't sleep for more than 4 hours at a time and feel too nauseous with pain to eat.

The GP and midwife have said that there's nothing more which can be done, except to add ibuprofen gel to the dihydrocodeine and paracetamol regimen. I feel like I'm climbing the walls everytime the medication wears off and can't stand the idea of being pretty much I'm agony for three months. I'm also terrified of the effect of the medication, lack of proper eating and stress hormones will have on my unborn baby (I lost two newborns previously from unrelated causes).

I'm holding onto the hope that the back spasms are the result of inflammation from the cold which is now almost gone and that the cycle of spasms will break.

How have others dealt with horrible back and pelvic girdle pain?

Have you iced the area? Alternate ice and heat every 15 mins for a while. Tie something around you along your lower bum/hips, if that helps in the immediate term maybe get a support belt. Knees together getting into and out of bed and the car, don’t push trolleys or buggies or hoover. Massage again when this spasm as calmed down a bit. Some daily yoga stretches when it has calmed would help. I personally found squats, lunges, etc most helpful but was already doing them as part of CrossFit workouts from about 16 weeks.

Have you been advised to either ice or heat it to help with the inflammation?

How are you doing with sleep? I found that building a pillow fort around myself helped to keep me in a good position at night and eased back pain. I'd have one between my knees, one under my bump and one behind my back and I'd lay on my left hand side.

Have you been given any exercises to do, like slow gentle stretching or low impact swimming just to keep the muscles mobile, build some strength and prevent everything stiffening up?

@FatAgainItsLettuceTime and @Garman I was advised to use heat and have baths. I've had lots of baths but they aren't helping anymore. Right now I have a heat patch on, which is helping a bit. I read about using ice and have tried that. It did help for a bit but then seemed to be hurting. Maybe I need to wrap the ice pack in extra stuff.

I have been given exercises to do but thus far, they haven't helped. I do them when I'm having a bit less pain but today I've been afraid to move. It even hurts to pee! And I've bought a swim suit but haven't yet felt able to get in the car to drive to the swimming pool.

I had renal colic during pregnancy ( so experienced spasms and excruciating pain in lower back) due to uterus pressing and blocking urethra. I had an ultrasound to see what was going on.