Sciatica..... I had no idea it could be this painful.

[Dave7]

It’s God’s way of telling you to give-up Golf....

HaHa
I think the fact I now play off 29 and am lucky to get round in less than 100 is also God telling me to forget it.

 

[Dave7]

My sciatica started about 2.5 years ago in the left leg, then i started getting it in both legs. Numerous visits to doctors who just kept telling me it will sort itself out, and have had physio, Gabapentin and Amitriptyline. None of which worked at all.
Finally saw musculoskeletal specialist and got sent for MRI in 2018 where i was told it was ageing in the spine with Foraminal Stenosis. Saw a spinal surgeon who said he didn't think surgery was an answer due to low chance of success in curing it and high risk of either making it worse or risk of even worse complications.
Been on constant painkillers ever since, Co-codamol, Tramadol and anti inflammatories.
Now i'm getting severe lower back pain with it, made worse when i walk, cycle or doing any activities.
I was sent for another MRI scan only last week and am due to see specialist again on 27th of this month to hopefully find out WTF is going on.

OP, i hope you have more success in getting it fixed than i have and many people suffer nerve pain only for it to cure itself after a while. But sometimes you just cant beat the effects of ageing and a lifetime of manual work.

Good grief......you have been through it. That sounds terrible.
I damaged my back at work 50+ years ago. Lots of problems over the years including being paralysed for a short while......but mine has got better over later years.
My thoughts are with you Smudge.

 

[vickster]

No......bowel and bladder are in super form
Problem with water bottle............where do you put it. my leg is** on fire from the thigh to the ankle.
I will add a note to that. **About 30 minutes ago I felt a strange sensation. It was as though the pain fell/drifted out of the bottom of my leg. It still hurts at the thigh and lower leg when I stand but I am now sitting with only slight pain. I have not had pain killers since mid morning.
Could it clear "just like that"??? for 3 days I have been totally crippled and had very little sleep for 2 nights but it seems to be easing up. I really hope its not a false alarm.

Lower back or buttock, where the nerve is likely impacted

 

[Smudge]

Good grief......you have been through it. That sounds terrible.
I damaged my back at work 50+ years ago. Lots of problems over the years including being paralysed for a short while......but mine has got better over later years.
My thoughts are with you Smudge.

The worse thing about back pain or nerve pain, is having to suffer in silence about it. People who haven't suffered it, simply don't get how bad it can be. So its pointless even mentioning it to people.

 

[Rocky]

I'm sorry to hear this @Dave7 ..... I know exactly what you are going through. I had exactly the same thing happen to my back in October. I got a referral from my GP to see a spine surgeon, who ordered an MRI scan. It turns out I had herniated a disk between my L4 and L5 vertebrae and this was pressing on my sciatic nerve. It was explained that the inside of a disk is like crab meat and when injured my back, it oozed out and squashed the nerves in my spine. Apparently in some cases, the 'crab meat' dries out and stops pressing but other cases need (a keyhole) operation to clear it away. After about three months my symptoms have pretty much subsided - I've been swimming and walking (plus doing a little cycling on my Brompton - which is the most comfortable bike).

I'd make an appointment to see the GP asap. Perhaps get a referral to a back specialist. If the pain is as bad as I think it is - you should be treated as an emergency. You have my sympathies - it is a nasty condition.

 

[kingrollo]

Take as many painkillers as you safely can to get rid of the pain.
Just pay the cash for a physio or osteopath.

As things get easier - start stretching and core excercises.

Get to your gp - as if things don't improve you will need to push for an MRI

Probably not appropriate at the point - but I have found a tens well worth £30.

 

[Dave7]

Just an update on the sciatica.
The pain eventually went......took about 10 days though BUT it has left me with a partially numb leg. Can't walk far and have to 'throw' my left leg. I lose balance as I sometimes forget it is weak.
I have done regular stretches but to no avail so tomorrow I will try the physio again.
I know I'm a whimp but I (like most on here) have been active all my life and hate being incapacitated

 

[Mark pallister]

The only other time I had it I did some stretches as shown on google. 24 hours later it was gone.
Not this time. Done all the stretches but that just aggrevates it.
I have been fighting a bad back since October and last Wednesday I thought I had cracked it and managed 9 holes of golf.
During the night I woke with sciatic pains which gained in strength. Yesterday I couldn't sit. Went to bed and found I couldn't lie down without bad pain......I hardly slept.
The pain starts top of my left thigh, goes down the back of my thigh then jumps to the front of the calf and then to the ankle area. It alternates between constant to throbbing.
The only relief I get is standing with my weight on the right leg.
Tried to get in a physio today but no joy.
Ibuprofen and Paracetamol have little effect. My next dose will be paracetamol plus Codiene.
Any suggestions.....this is really hurting and I cant get relief

Usually when I get sciatica it means my backs on the mend ,agree it’s incredibly painful
regular cycling at high cadence and plenty of stretches seems to have cured mine

 

[Drago]

I had sciatica strike in my 30's. I bent over to empty the dishwasher, WHAM! Felt like mid been stabbed in the buttock, never known pain like it before or since. Took me about half hour to manoeuvre myself to a chair.

It kept troubling me and in the end the doctor at work referred me to a physio. He told my that people rarely had exactly symmetrical pelvis' (pelvii?) and as a result the sciatic nerve was sometimes in fractionally the ever so slightly wrong position, hence the problem.

Sure enough, he could detect a slight difference in my pelvis and over the course of several sessions he was able to manipulate the sciatic nerve to a fractionally different position. The sessions hurt like holy hell, but he was able to fix me. Other than occasional slight twinges he cured me completely.

So my advice is to find a good physio. And good luck.

 

[gavroche]

I had it a few years ago. The pain is unbelievable and constant. I couldn't even sit in the car when my wife drove me to the doctor's surgery. This is an experience I don't wish to repeat.

 

[Smudge]

The nerve pain in my leg, buttock and lower back pain is getting worse. I was sent for another spine MRI scan a few weeks back with a follow up appointment with the specialist. They still cant see anything specific on the scan, apart from ageing wear & tear and foraminal stenosis.
Started a drug i haven't yet tried a week ago, Duloxetine, but it was making me spaced out as bad as Amitriptyline did, no sleep or appetite as well. Couldn't cope with those side effects, so dose was halved. But while side effects are less, it doesn't seem to be doing feck all for the pain. But gonna stick with it out of hope that it might start working.
Luckily, its mainly walking and standing it affects and not so much cycling.

 

[Jimidh]

I had a this a few years back and it’s awful.

I found using a Tens machine gave me more relief than traditional analgesics. Worth giving it a try.

 

[Mark pallister]

The nerve pain in my leg, buttock and lower back pain is getting worse. I was sent for another spine MRI scan a few weeks back with a follow up appointment with the specialist. They still cant see anything specific on the scan, apart from ageing wear & tear and foraminal stenosis.
Started a drug i haven't yet tried a week ago, Duloxetine, but it was making me spaced out as bad as Amitriptyline did, no sleep or appetite as well. Couldn't cope with those side effects, so dose was halved. But while side effects are less, it doesn't seem to be doing feck all for the pain. But gonna stick with it out of hope that it might start working.
Luckily, its mainly walking and standing it affects and not so much cycling.

Good luck 👍🏻

 

[dodgy]

Wondering if cyclists are more susceptible to sciatica than the general population?

Anyway, I woke up one morning in May 2019 with crippling back pain and a few days later, sciatica (usual left thigh pain). No gradual introduction to the pain, literally the day before I was fine and ever since the next morning I've been suffering with it.

Lately it's started to improve, I've been very careful on hydration. Since I made a conscious effort to be fully hydrated (according to frequently published medical guidance) my condition has improved.

I've had an MRI, physio (I didn't respond to physio) and also the usual naproxen and diazepan for pain management. But it was increasing my water intake that seems to have helped the most. Of course, that could just be a coincidence, my back might have started to improve anyway. I'll never know.

My sciatica was usually made worse by cycling, which was a big psychological blow to me, cycling has been a lifelong passion for me and something I intended to spend even more time to doing in retirement.

Lastly, stretching and yoga seems to help, check out Adrien on Youtube, maybe you have somewhere in the house with an internet connection where you can follow along with her virtual classes? https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene

 

[kynikos]

I used to get sciatica form time to time and nothing I tried shifted it other than the passage of time. Until, that is, I tried acupuncture. First session gave an instant improvement and since the second I've not had it again in 15 years. Worth a try if other remedies are not working.