Sciatic nerve - Holy buckets!!!
 

First time experience for me. Started with lower back pain then one day I pick up my 9 yr daughter in a game and all the wheels fall off. Going on 2 weeks now. I've been to my doc 3x (got ex-rays...no major damage) , a local acupuncture person 2x (I couldn't walk after the 2nd visit), and a highly recommended Chiropractor (1x). I left the chrio office today without pain and got 2 hrs of rest in the afternoon.

Tonight is a different matter. Complete (level 8) pain when I lay down starting in the right butt cheek down to my right ankle. I have been trying to get off the pain drugs (vicoden) and non prescriptive (vodka) but tonight at 4:00 am submitted to 3 500MG vicoden and 2 double vodka martinis. Here I am at 5:17 typing this post.

I'm at the verge of tears due to lack of sleep and constant pain. Advice?

Update. Forgot to mention that the Chiro person said no heat and lots of ice. That works during the day when pain is at level 3-4 but during night the pain goes to 8, ice makes it worse, and I get minimal relief in a hot bath. My entire right leg is numb, no motion in my big toe at all. Cannot walk on my right heal. Maybe I should consider buying a gun...

I always found hot showers worked for me. Of course the cause of my pinched sciatic might be different than yours. It relaxed my muscles which seemed to take pressure off.

Oh, and careful with the mixing of pain killers and alcohol.

I was prescribed the muscle relaxer Soma but that has done nothing to relieve the pain or source.

I get that if I lay in the wrong position. I have found that if I slowly and carefully stretch my lower back muscles by standing up and bending down to touch the floor a few times it goes away.

I could only put up with it for about a year, it all started with picking up one of my kids too. then my left leg started going dead, just kind of dragging it around, went in and had a lower disk blown out, pushing on a nerve, went under the knife and all has been well for over 15 years now.

my primary source of clients is back injury people. i never like to see anyone with that amount of back pain jump into chiro treatments without an MRI. x-rays are good for nothing. pain is shooting down your leg because a nerve is being compressed. i would demand an MRI and take it from there before you do more damage...with radicular pain, the doctor will not argue with you about an MRI

Similar experience once, Soma did nothing for me either, I asked for a different muscle relaxer, tried Skelaxin, Bingo - pain gone.

I went thru that about 10 years ago.

I kept thinking I could work thru it like every other injury but this is different. You have to get the bones aligned and also give the inflammation of the nerve time to subside. The more you stay off your feet the better. In the office I worked in a reclining office chair. I would ride a bike to the back of the building (it was about 50 yds there). If I walked, I would start out fine but be hobbling by the time I got there. I didn't do the drugs, just went a few times to a Chiropractor friend of mine, but he wasn't able to completely align it. I would try to do it myself after warming up the back muscles, I found a short bike ride would warm the body enough to have the muscles and joints more receptive to realignment.

My misalignment was way down near the end of the tailbone which was hard to get corrected. When it finally popped ( I did it myself) I knew immediately and it was such a relief!!! I could finally sleep again.

From the experience I have learned to align my low back myself by lying on the ground and crossing one leg over while pushing on the hip with my hand. I only do it when it feels 'out', and I can usually correct it myself now.

I hope that helps a little. I know it's not an easy time to go through.

The problem with staying off my feet is that's when it hurts the most. I absolutely cannot bear lying down. No position, no pillows, nothing feels good. Walking around house feels the best but does not provide any sleep. I feel like I'm on the toilet bowl spin down the drain...

Seriously lay off the booze and pain killers.

Your body can only process one narcotic at a time. It will default to alcohol processing first. So those time released pills will build up and get released into your system at a higher concentration than intended and that's what'll kill you or turn you into a vegetable.

Dude I tried! I HATE being on pain killers. They mess my mind and (in this case) don't relieve the pain. I tried to go cold turkey tonight but was nearly crying with pain. At 3:30 am the wife said "TAKE YOUR F**KING PILLS" This is not a kidney-stone level-event in the pain scale but I'm so tired and am grasping straws.

As I said, a reclining chair did it for me, rolled back about 45 deg. . YMMV

I think I also learned that sleeping on my side for long periods would make my back useless in the mornings, so I vary positions a lot when I sleep.

I feel your pain. I am no stranger to Vicodin either.

You need an MRI as mentioned above. You have to find out what is pressing on the nerve. I have 2 bulging discs causing my pain. My Chiro along with an exercise routine finally helped me.
I know the searing pain you are describing. 6-7 years of it.

This is what worked for me the last time it got real bad.

Constant supply of Vicodin - this is not the time to be a hero.
Chiro did his adjustments and put me on the 'rack'. It's a table you lay down on, straps hold down your waist and you hold onto bars over your head. Then a big roller presses upwards stretching your vertebra. The theory is to stretch the discs so they retract a little relieving pressure on the nerve.

Combine the above with weight loss, back stretching and strengthening.

Eventually I felt better.

were do you keep your wallet..
truckers get this allot..as they tend to carry a phone book in their back pockett.
long drives/ sitting + book = lack of circ. and in time = numb / pain

Rika

Oh yea, the kidney stones! makes the back pain feel like a tickle :eek:

you old farts are a hoot! :p

you got a pm

hey from somejuan who has literally CRAWLED out the door to my friend who helped me into car and into MAYO EMERGENCY.............. i can FEEL YER PAIN BIG TIME!

i have never in my life felt pain like what i experienced from my sciatic nerve.

heres a few tips from somejuan age 51.

1) soma aint worth POO! same damn thing and it was worthless.

2) drinking aint gonna help.

3) never ever rake anything.

4) never ever shovel anything

5) lifting? ya better be damn smart about it

6) remove wallet from rear pocket whenever driving

7) chiropracter. yep brilliant einstein mayo QUACKTER(doktor) when i asked should i see one, acted as if i had just run a bayonet up his gut when asked .

8) backcracker sessions took about 4-5 times going but first session did show wayyyyy more relief than the moron mayo docktor gave me. around 3rd session relief was in sight. lots of stretching helped alot.

9) sleep different than you have. reverse what yer doing. sleep with pillow on yer side btwn yer knees.

10) hope that helps. been in more crash and burns on dirty bikes/offroad race cars and trucks than i want to think about. im sure offroad racing didnt help juan bit pounding the hell outta my spine.

i honestly thought i was gonna FREEKING DIE when it hit me. how did i spawn this ???? shoveling 20 tons of granite by myself on my property!!!!

good luck.

Sorry to hear you are experiencing that pain.
I hope you feel better or at least get some relief soon.



KT

Acupuncture.

My ex-gf had the same issues, a month of acupuncture and she was good to go. Vicodin turned her into a raging ***** BTW, might want to warn the family of any mood swings you might have.

Man, hope your feeling better soon, David. Sounds like you should get back to the doctor and insist action be taken immediately.

First time my back went out I remember feeling that if the house caught fire at that moment they would only find my ashes where I was laying on that hard floor. My only relief was flat on my back on a hard surface and then it would take literally hours to get up. Obviously, not all back pains are appeased in the same manner.

Now when I feel the stabbing lower back twinge it's never as bad as years ago. Sometimes during an episode, my right leg won't follow simple orders and gets confused on a step or two. It either never goes completely out anymore, or I've just gotten used to it over the years.

Well I woke up so that's a start. Pain is still 7-8 range though walking around upright takes it to a 2-3. Now to further muddy the water I'm hung over from the 4:00 am "party" of pain drugs and booze. Thanks everyone for you support.

sounds like you need one of these.

http://www.back-exercises.com/image-...sion-table.jpg

The inversion rack might help too. ;)

Oh man...I've been there. Pain that literally drops you to the floor. I now do a set of stretching exercises for lower back pain called "the williams exercises"...it took weeks of doing them, but the sciatica pain finally eased. I'm pretty faithful about doing them now. Don't ever want to feel that pain again. Never tried an inversion rack, but it looks interesting. Anything to get pressure of that nerve seems to be the trick.

Interesting reading

Whatever happened to Williams' Flexion Exercises
http://www.chiroweb.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=35008

Williams' Flexion Exercises vs. McKenzie's Extension Protocol
http://www.chiroweb.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=35130

I can relate to your pain. I have so much medical hardware in me, that anytime I have to go to the Federal Building, airport, or anyplace that has the metal detector screening, I set off every bell and whistle in the place. I have to carry an ID card, that shows the type of device and where it is located in my body. If there is any way that you can attain prolonged relief without surgery, do it. Hope things work out for you. Tony.

I damaged mine several years ago and can relate to your pain. I went the same route you have gone, MD and then Chiro. The MD was good for pain pills and when it wouldn't go away they next suggested surgery (this was before MRI's were available). I'm not sure what he wanted to cut and I'm not sure he knew either.

I started to go to the Chiro and he would adjust me and then like you 2-3 hrs later the pain was back. A couple visits to him and he said it was slipping out of place after the adjustment and he gave me a brace which I wrapped around my lower back and a$$. This held it in place and allowed the body time to heal. It took nearly a month before I was better. Still bothers me every once in awhile. Go for the MRI and get used to late night TV. Sorry no instant fix.

+100 on the MRI!

X-rays don't show enough detail, especially when it comes to disc vs spinal cord

I tried to wait it out in hopes it would get better by itself, chiro and PT but none of it worked and all I accomplished was being miserable for months and creating more damage to the soft tissue that surrounds the spinal cord.

I went through surgery
Discotomy to snip the herniated discs L4-L5 & S1 (very low area on spine) and relieve the pressure on the spinal cord and remove a ton of debris the bulging discs created. :rolleyes:

Like others here, I found in the early stages I could only get sleep in the reclined position.

Lots of good suggestions here

I hope you get some rest.

This is the piece of equipment at the gym which actually made a difference in my pain level.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1233696369.jpg

It is by Precor and it is a stretching machine.

You sit on the pivoting chair and use various hand and feet positions to stretch the back. Whenever I start to feel a little pain in my lower back, I stop by the gym for a couple of minutes and get a good stretch in. During my normal workouts, I use this piece several times. Really does the trick for me.

Those are the ones...anybody who'd like an illustrated sheet of these, PM your snail mail...I'll make photocopies, send 'em out.

Edit...it was an MD who gave me the sheet illustating these exercises decades ago, when I first developed lower back pain. So, it's not just a chiropatric thing. I'm a believer, they've helped me for years. Like an idiot, I'd slacked off on doing them every morning...that's when the sciatica hit me. The only needed equipment is a floor.. Probably more than you need to know, but I do them nude...no clothing to bind up the range of movement.

I have gone through the same stuff for many years. The Vicoden do nothing for me and I am afraid to have teh chiopractor work on me when I am really stoved up. About a month ago I slipped on the ice and could not stand up the next morning. The Sciatic pain was terrible and the muscles were spasming uncontrollably.

My wife forced me to go to her massage therapist which i always considered to be a waste of time and money. At the beginning of the session, the therapist could barely touch my lower back and groin area. By the end, I felt about 90% better. I could walk and sit comfortably. I continued stretching for a few days and everything healed up nicely. AI will never make fun of my wife again!

The key for me is to get those muscles to relax so that your body can straighten itself out.

Hope you feel better soon!

David, you mentioned you've been to your doctor three times... and he took an X-Ray and looked at it.

And yet, you're still in pain.

Call your doctor and ask for a referral to a specialist. Others have mentioned that an MRI is probably needed.

Do it.

It sounds like this is really getting to you.

If your doctor won't send you to a specialist, change doctors... I recommend an internist... look under "Internal Medicine" in the yellow pages. Like I told Milt, those guys really know their stuff, and can get to the bottom of something like this in a hurry.

Which is what you need.

All I can say is I know all about it. My wife has had 2 back surgeries, something to avoid, IMO. I can't add anything that hasn't been said.

When you get well, you should keep up with the exercises to ward off more occurrences. And warm up with stretches before anything like golf or yard work. To hell with anyone who thinks that's silly.

David, seriously...PM your snail mail addy. I'd be more than happy to mail photocopy material on the williams exercises mentioned above. They are more stretching than real exercise... the only equipment needed is a floor, tho I do use a small pillow.

williams exercises

http://www.ehow.com/video_4398862_williams-flex-exercise-good-posture.html

warning. your risking serious injury if you do any type of exercises or chiro adjustments without seeing how that disc is impinging the nerve...get an MRI and take it from there, seriously

Thanks again everyone for the great feedback. I went back to the doctor today and he gave me another cortisone shot in the most inflamed region. It has eased the pain slightly. He is also thinking that after limping around for 2 weeks I have bursitis. He poked and prodded my right hip and I was getting nauseous from the pain. If I'm still a wreck by Thursday then he said he would order an MRI.

My take on this is that something is pressing my sciatic nerve. The onset was sudden but I wasn't doing anything at the time that would whack me so hard. By far the hardest part of this is the pain while off the feet. No sleep and wandering the house like a gimpy vampire is not my bag.

I'll update later tomorrow. Thanks again for the stories and support.

Didn't we go down this road before?;) I've been exactly through what you are going through. You most likely have a herniated disk that is putting pressure on the nerve branch closest to it. Most likely L5 and the Sciatic nerve. The pain generally starts out at the hip and then works its way lower with more severity. Generally you have a burning sensation that will continue down the outer portion of the leg until it reaches the heel. "Heel slap" is a common when the severity of the herniation causes you to walk with a discernible floppy foot. You need to reduce the herniation. NSAID's are good. Steroids are better. If you can get the inflammation to resolve enough, you may avoid further surgery. Mine happened 15 years ago and never returned. If not, some surgery to remove the area encroaching the nerve trunk may be needed. My old college roomate and now Orthopedic Surgeon has answered the dozens of questions I have had about this if you wondering where it comes from.