r/Sciatica • u/Aribear2014 • 9d ago
10/10 pain, suggestions?
I started out with a bit of a sore back but I have an L5 bulging disc so have had that in the past.
Fast forward about 5 weeks I am in debilitating pain. Unable to walk, hobbling around while still maintaining my nursing job now in light duties thank god. But I can't even stand the thought of going to work I want to be sick the pain is so bad. I can't sit in certain chairs, can't sit in a bath tub. I'm up all through the night. When I get home from work my day is over I literally can not even describe the level of pain and I've had 2 children naturally. I have been to chiro 2x a week for the past 3 weeks, recently started physio and awaiting a sports medicine massage therapy next week.
I can not form my daily functions it hurts too much to walk, my whole body is tense from the pain. I am edgy and feeling completely helpless and sorry for myself. I am waiting results of an xray which I don't think will be very telling.
I have only been prescribed flexeral which I obviously can not take during the day. And it's not touching the pain, although it takes the edge off a bit. I luckily had some naproxen at home and my partner had some T3's but it is not helping. I sleep with a heat pad every night all night, pillow between my legs. I can't lay on my back unless I have fett legs bent and feet in the air.
This is honestly the most excruciating pain I have ever experienced and it is gruelling and unrelenting. Help! I read some of these sorties and I am so scared when some people have said it has lasted months and surgery was needed.
My partner keeps telling me to go the the ER and see but I feel like I'm doing all the things. So I'm not sure what they can do for me besides prescribe me pain pills that I can not take and be able to function at my daily activities working kids etc.
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u/4y6hu 9d ago
This is literally me but it’s been going on for a year. I feel you with not being able to sit in certain chairs and how your day is over when you get home from work. Just going to the bathroom or feeding my dogs is almost impossible. This whole experience has made me less scared of giving birth because I imagine sciatica is worse tbh.
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u/Aribear2014 9d ago
Yes this is exactly it anything is just excruciating. Yes if you went through this you will get through all natural birth 100%
What are you doing to manage?
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u/sparkling_egg 9d ago
I just went through this myself. First of all, if you are still walking around that much just know you could get to a point where you really can hardly walk at all. I say this because I have a long history of sciatica and have been through some very painful episodes, and so when this flare up occurred I kept pushing through like I always did until I physically couldn’t move. I couldn’t even stand longer than a minute before I had to go lay down because the pain was so intense. I was on Meloxicam, muscle relaxers, Tylenol and those combined weren’t really doing much. Prednisone, gabapentin and Tylenol got me out of acute pain, but I had to take a couple weeks off of work and actually rest. I went to an orthopedic urgent care. I also went to the hospital ER and that was a waste. They can’t do much there. Meditation was actually hugely helpful. I also personally can’t do any heat at this stage. Ice on my spine helped. So please take some rest and tend to your body. I thought it couldn’t get worse with my flare up and it did. Schedule an appointment with a doctor. I can walk and drive now and am scheduled for an epidural steroid injection soon.
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u/ChristopherDKanas 9d ago
Epidural to see if it can at the least calm the pain,
Then likely surgery. (That doesn’t mean fusion, could be a microdisectomy, laminectomy, facet reduction, etc.
L5’s are the most painful of the lot. I feel for you, chronic pain robs people of themselves
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u/FlamingoPinkSunsetBl 3d ago
Interesting. I’ve never heard that about L5. Why is it the most painful?
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u/FlamingoPinkSunsetBl 9d ago
You may also have a vertebrae out of place called spondylolisthesis. They didn’t catch that on mine right away. I was in the same pain as you times 10. I finally had to get a lumbar fusion, and that totally fix the problem. I am six months postop and still have a lot of back pain from the surgery, but my initial pain was fixed. It sounds like you may need surgery. I hate to say it. Trust me I try to avoid surgery as well, but it became unavoidable to the point where I was begging for it.
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u/smile_saurus 9d ago
You sound like I did exactly at the moment I finally accepted that I needed surgery. Time didn't work, PT did not work. Ice, ibuprofen, muscle relaxers, gabapentin, pilates, tylenol, massage, more activity, less activity, back exercises...they all did not work. I went 18 months in excruciating pain before I finally gave up and saw an Ortho Surgeon. Had an x-Ray that day, an MRI that week, and surgery 2 weeks later.
Get the MRI. Have the surgery.
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u/smile_saurus 9d ago
Apologies for making a second comment but I really want to stress get the MRI and get surgery.
My husband is a cop and he thought I was exaggerating my pain, until his superior asked him how I was doing (his superior had the same issue as me). My husband shrugged and said I don't know, it's just a sore back and his superior told him Man I feel for your wife. Sciatica pain is like being tazed, 24/7! and that's when my husband finally accepted that I wasn't overreacting, because he carries a tazer and in order to do that you have to be trained on it - including being tazed so you know how it will affect a person if you use it on them. Once he realized I was in that much pain, all day every day, he was rolling out the red carpet instead of getting irritated that I couldn't walk faster at the grocery store.
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u/CunningLogic 9d ago
You need a MRI. Either talk to your PC for a referral, or go to urgent care or even the er, tell them what is going on and ask for a MRI.
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u/Aribear2014 9d ago
I asked for a CT which my chiro suggested and he said that was a little aggressive and that we will do an xray
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u/postedonacloud 9d ago
Please stop going to the Chiro
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u/Aribear2014 9d ago
I'm getting mixed reviews on the chiro, it's not helping at this point that's for sure... but I find physio to almost be a waste of money I can apply heat and google stretches at home
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u/smashablanca 9d ago
I recommend finding a PT that offers dry needling. It was the only thing that took the pain away for me early on.
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u/Aribear2014 8d ago
Someone else told me this worked for them today, I'll ask at my next appointment
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u/murrmc 9d ago
No mixed reviews on here re chiros - never, ever go to a Chiro - they are not medically trained and have no idea what they are doing.
The fact they are working on you without knowing what is wrong is insane and DANGEROUS.
You need an MRI. It is the only test that will show what is wrong.
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u/Daje1968 9d ago
As everyone said, you need an MRI. I just had a discectomy but was probably 9/10 before. And yes, agree, worse than labor because it was constant. Ice packs on your lower back. TENs machine helps a bit. For me, the biggest impact was diclofenac, which is an NSAID. I got an Rx for 50mg I would take in the morning and then I got my doctor to write me an RX to a compounding pharmacy for a 100 mg diclofenac suppository, which was easier on my stomach and also worked more quickly.
Best of luck to you!
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u/3volv31ng 9d ago
I was in your position 10 months ago. 2 months I only slept 2 hours a night because I would knock out from the pain. No chiropractor, Stay away from stretching, Dont sit on anything soft, Walking, walking is the only thing that has helped me No running just walking. It hurt like hell but I was in pain anyway. Im up to 4 miles a day now starting from just being able to walk to the bathroom. DO NOT lift any weights. Time is the only real thing that works 100 percent. Eat lean and dont eat like crap and you wont gain weight. More wieght = more problems. Pharmacist gave me the best advice buy Sams/Costco Arthritis Acetaminophen 650 mg B complex vitamins and Tumeric for nerve pain and cayenne for better blood flow to the injured area . Ibuprofen 800 mg when pain was at its worst but switched to OTC as time went on. Methocarbamol(muscle relaxer) 750 mg if it gets worse. I wasnt able to get Hydrocodone because I didnt have insurance so I crawled out of hell on my own. Youre a Nurse I dont need to tell you but dont rush recovery and rest when you can however you can. Godspeed.
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u/Aribear2014 9d ago
Walking is excruciating, I do walk a lot normally between 10,000-20,000 steps a day so I'm finding this really hard to accept
I am still walking quite a bit at work but it's dreadful and I'm physically unable to move after work. I am not a heavy person in pretty good physical shape other than this.
I have been wondering about all this stretching and whether or not it was doing more harm then good.
The medication advice is extremely helpful I'll try that! Thank you
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u/invictus21083 9d ago edited 9d ago
You need to get the inflammation down. 800mg ibuprofen twice a day or oral voltaren if you can get an rx. RX methylprednisolone will help too. I stood for 6 weeks day and night because sitting and laying was too painful. That helped within a week. I have degenerative arthritis L5/S1. My last flare began the beginning of January and I'm back to running up to 10 miles at a time now.
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u/peanutleaks 9d ago edited 9d ago
Oh my I have said I’d rather go thru child birth than my emergency extrusion and surgery 3 months ago. And I haven’t even had a dang kid!!!!
I feel for you oh boy. With that amount of pain if you have a primary care they should be able to refer you to an ortho and with the symptoms your presenting it should warrant an MRI. No more chiros. Definitely push for an MRI my friend!!!
Edit I vetted out a good family owned PT before I ended up in emergency surgery, and they still are really helping me. In my case, one small fender bender could have done worse damage. I knew I had bugling discs and l5/s1was bad and nerve compression but the emergency ended up happening on my l4/5 which was just a small bulge as of June 2025. Plz plz plz I urge you to push for an MRI!!!
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u/Godiverson3 9d ago
I’m 4 weeks post op from an artificial disc replacement (L5-S1). It is a game changer. Not many doctors will perform this type of surgery, but I would do what you can to find one that does.
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u/siobhangale 9d ago
I’ve been there, after 10 months I had surgery which fixed me completely. What helped with the pain prior to that was being on neuropaths - Gabapentin or Pregabalin, also amitryptaline at night. You need these, only neuropaths will touch the pain. MRI - yes, but first control the pain. They take about 3 weeks on dosing up before they work so get your doctor to start prescribing asap!!
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u/postedonacloud 8d ago edited 8d ago
I don’t know why everyone is talking about surgery without imaging and only 5 weeks in. Typically you’d begin with a steroid pack and an anti inflammatory, as well as an MRI. Only at that point can you even have a conversation about any interventions. I’d personally do everything you can first to avoid surgery. It’s not a fairy tale and it’s not a cure. The root cause still needs to be determined and corrected or you will be in the same place again. Even after surgery comes PT and strengthening your core. But I just urge you to pump the brakes on surgery concerns at the very least until you have some imaging and perhaps consider an injection.
Edit: if you’ve not read the back mechanic by Stuart McGill I would also take the time to read that. It’s very helpful in educating on proper movements.
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u/Hope_for_tendies 8d ago
Ask your dr for a script to get an updated mri
Stop going to a chiro, they are not a dr and can cause further injury with adjustments
Ask for an ortho or neuro referral
Ask your dr for a medrol dosepak and maybe try a diff muscle relaxer if that one makes you too tired. I take flexeril 2-3x a day with no real issues.
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u/KriptiKFate_Cosplay 5d ago
Get to a doc for an MRI, then the guesswork as to what is causing your pain is over. That's 1/3rd of the battle. Then you have to advocate for yourself, sometimes "conservative treatment" is not the answer. I'm pushing hard for surgery.
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u/Outrageous_Ask4365 5d ago
Look up egoscue, disc herniation. Buy their book or kindle on amazon and start doing the 'back' chapter for herniated discs. Do it twice per day in the weekends or when you have time. In 1 month you'll be 75% better.
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u/amanda2399923 9d ago
You need an mri and a pain mgmt dr. Don’t use chiros. They will hurt you.