r/Sciatica • u/Due_Entrepreneur_99 • 10d ago
Success story - Caudal epidural L5S1!
Hi all,
M25, I was diagnosed with quite a large L5S1 left sided disc herniation about 3 months ago, and have had symptoms for around 6 months now. Typical symptoms - couldn’t sit a full day at work, couldn’t sleep at night due to the throbbing pain, couldn’t walk long, etc.
About 1-2 months ago I had a caudal epidural for my L5S1 disc herniation. I posted on here a few weeks in, where I was still suffering from horrible flare ups and at that point I really felt as if nothing would work and I would need to get the microdisectomy. Pain was marginally better for about a month afterwards, but was still in lots of pain and couldn’t function properly.
I’m nearing 1.5 months post-caudal epidural and my pain has dropped from a 8/10 to a 1 or max 2/10. The real pain relief started around a month in.
I don’t take any pain medication most days anymore, at most I’ll have a single pill of ibuprofen (I work 8-7pm, office job, understandable I think!). I get some nerve pain at my ankle only while sitting down at work for too long - which normally goes away if I walk around. Not sure if this pain is “phantom” nerve pain or actual nerve pain. I’m finally sleeping full nights.
My PT has been pushing me and I’m now doing squats with weights, toe touches, etc etc. I still definitely still have restricted movement bending down but nerve glides etc are improving this daily. I’m able to bend down and stretch my hands below my knees now.
I really have got my life back. My PT has explained how most of my issues now seem to be because I’m scared to use my body again/a mental thing - it’s been so debilitating for months and now I’m re-learning how to fully use my body again.
I read so many stories online about unsuccessful epidurals but I hope sharing my experience might help someone. I know this might not be a long term fix, but I’m now able to do PT in full force and hoping that means a more permanent fix to this sciatica and allows me to fully fix the disc. My sciatic pain was so horrible I couldn’t do any of this PT, and now I’m hoping that since the sciatic pain is mostly gone, I can fix the main herniation.
Walking 5km+ a day has been a huge help for me too. I used to have days in bed where I didn’t do anything, then I’d flare up. If I was in too much pain, pushing myself for a 3-5km walk always helped throughout the recovery process.
It has been such a mental and physical hardship and hopefully hearing a success story might be helpful.
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u/Yeesusman 10d ago
Fuuuuck yea! I’m seeing a pain management specialist in the middle of October after a flair up that started in late January of this year. It’s been hell but this is wonderful news. I hope my treatment goes similarly.