Anyone here ever have Sciatica?

[HawkeyeNFO]

My right leg has been bugging me since about the last week of January. I was lifting weights, doing a leg press machine, and about 2 or 3 days later I noticed what I thought was a hamstring pull. I figured it would go away in a month or so. After 6 weeks, it had little to no improvement, and seemed to be literally a pain in the butt, so I went to the doc, who asked some questions and checked my muscle strength in various positions. He told me it was a "slam dunk" case of a pulled hamstring. He prescribed me a NSAID and said to come back if it didn't heal up in 2 weeks.

Then yesterday it all of a sudden got real bad, about the worst physical pain I have had since I was little kid. To the point where I couldn't really walk! So I went to the hospital and a different doc said it was sciatica. He took some x-rays, said nothing looked broken, and gave me some narcotics via IV. He also gave me some an Rx for percocet and a steroid regimen. Today I noticed that my calf and hamstring are continuously having spasms unless I am stretching them. I'll likely need an MRI for better diagnosis.

Anyone else have a similar experience? Do I need to see an orthopedist or a neurologist? Any recommendations are appreciated too!

 

[LauAnn]

I've had it but not nearly as bad as you. I self-treated with ibuprofen and stretches I found on the internet. It lasted three months before cleaing up. Since then, I've had it twice more, same leg, but very mild occurrence with it only lasting a few days. I attributed the last two occurrence with sitting weird on a chair I wasn't use to.

I hope you get over your bout with it soon.

 

[Nodak]

I've also had it but not nearly as bad. Local physical therapist gave me series of exercises to do that took care of it fairly quickly.

 

[obgyn65]

I am sorry you have been experiencing this. I know it can be very painful.

 

[bbbamI]

I had pain in my back years ago and eventually experienced sciatica pain in my hip and occasional numbness in my leg. They tried muscle relaxers, pain medication, Prednisone (med) and did x-rays. Nothing helped...x-rays didn't show anything. Finally they did an MRI on me and found I had a herniated disk.

I went to a pain specialist and received a series of shots to my spine. Fortunately that worked for me.

These days if I start feeling a little pain in my back or hip area...I stop doing what I am doing.

 

[W2R]

That sounds like the worst case of sciatica ever! My sincere sympathy.

I get a little touch of sciatica now and then. For example I overdid on some of my lifting in January, and had hip pain, then lumbar pain, all of which seemed to come together and resolve into a little mild sciatica as it got better. (I backed off on my hip abductor/adductor and back extension weights until that happened, and I am just now starting to build those weights back up). I have never had severe pain and agony as bad as what you are describing, and I hope I never do.

 

[NW Landlady]

I had a pain in my hip & leg that persisted for years & I had to always take sit down rests several times when standing or walking most places. After years of seeing multiple drs, taking ibuprophen & stronger prescription meds, physical therapy for months & a small fortune invested in chiropractic visits, I went to an orthopedic dr who took xrays & sent me to a neurologist. Long story short, my back/spine had slipped off the hip bone almost entirely & was tearing up the spinal nerve...

I had to have back surgery and a spinal fusion, which has improved the problem considerably, but not entirely. I still have to do a lot of hamstring stretches, pilates, sketcher shape up work outs to keep the pain to a minimum. But the pain before surgery was seriously more intense than post surgery.

If I were you, I would not mess around with this & take it to a specialist & get the MRI or whatever is needed. Back injury frequently manifests as pain in the legs/hips & I am amazed that so many drs missed my problem. Many peeps have had their lives improved through corrective surgery.

 

[mn54]

DW was having sciatica related pain for a few months, had an MRI done and she had a herniated disc. Tried a few of the steroid injections. Didn't help. Had back surgery to remove the herniation. No more pain.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I had really bad back pain several years ago and physical therapy (although I was quite skeptical about it) took care of it, specifically "nerve flossing" exercises. I do these whenever I have trouble:

The idea behind nerve flossing is that when the sciatic nerve becomes trapped, it grates along the muscles and bones causing scar tissue to build up along the nerve fiber, says the Mavenlive website. This creates a lot of discomfort when you move, as the scarred nerve doesn't glide smoothly, and flossing is required to break down the scar tissue -- just as flossing your teeth chips away at plaque buildup -- to improve mobility.

Read more: Sciatic Nerve Flossing Exercise | LIVESTRONG.COM

Good luck!

 

[eytonxav]

I had it pretty bad in my right leg several years ago and it went on for over a year until I read a paperback called "Oh My Aching Back". This book recommended around 10 exercises that cured me in about a week's time. That was after numerous trips to Dr got me no where.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Dealt with it last year over about 9 months. Right leg up through the right hip. Pain was originally pretty bad. Went to an orthopedist who diagnosed it as sciatica. I couldnt believe it. That's what old people get right? Wrong. Or maybe I'm officially old now.

He prescribed physical therapy. I went for about 2 months and then continued exercises at home for another 6 months. I still do some of the exercises from time to time. Sure was glad to get past that problem.

 

[Major Tom]

Popped a disc at the base of my spine carrying a large and heavy disco speaker when I was 19. I have periodic re-occurrences every now and again if I do too much heavy lifting or don't get enough sleep (or sometimes if I sleep in an odd position).

It's not too bad. I've learned to live with it.

 

[67walkon]

I've been struggling with it for a long time. In December, 2009, I had a bad accident and was in a wheelchair for 8 weeks. Apparently, I got something out of whack during the recovery and now have tingling in the lower part of the opposite leg and that achy pain in my opposite rear end. The injured side is great. PT didn't help. I'm trying chiro now and if that doesn't work, the only remaining options are just dealing with it or seeing a spine surgeon. I do not want any surgery!

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Had an MRI today, it shows nerve impingement. Also a bulging disc and some blood pooling in the spinal canal. No way to prove it, but I still think it's the result of a workout I had where I started using the leg press. It put a lot of pressure on my back. Now to get it fixed...

 

[Nords]

Now to get it fixed...

A [-]hammer[/-] surgeon might only see one solution to this [-]nail[/-] problem, but it's possible that all you need is physical therapy and work on resuming the normal posture/walking you had before the injury. "Bulging" disks can be persuaded to resume their normal alignment.

Are you facing any time pressure from disqual or LIMDU issues?

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Are you facing any time pressure from disqual or LIMDU issues?

I'm med down for flying, and will be until I'm off the narcotics. Looks like I won't be taking the PRT (push-ups, sit-ups, 1.5mile run) this Spring either. When Iget back, I probably be put in the "healing chair," aka I will be the squadron CDO for several days.

 

[67walkon]

Hawkeye, what is the "fix"? PT helped but didn't fix it for me. I'm trying intensive chiropractic now; they claim they will fix it. We'll see.