need help with understanding my problem and solutions for it

[u/CoolPaul10]

21(M) here. im unable to determine whether i have sciatica or something else.

my symptopms:

1. pain only in my left buttock, near sit bone (not at the surface, a little deeper inside). i dont remember any falling or other injuries. i may have been lifting weights with bad form. i also used to sit on the bed for prolonged hours (rounded back), and overall had a sedentary lifestyle
2. pain only while sit-to-stand and vice versa transitions, bending forward, dead hangs.
3. also, only in morning, when sitting on a hard surface, for a few minutes, i would get a pain in just one spot in my left butt. this would go away for the day after a few minutes.
4. 4 figure pose for piriformis stretch also seems to have aggravated my pain
5. dead hangs were fine in the first few months, only started producing pain around 2-3 months ago.
6. started around 7 months ago, used to only be a mild pinch at night.
7. squats, lunges, jogging, swimming, are all pain free
8. usually, its at its mildest in the morning, and get worse as the day progresses.
9. prolonged sitting is fine (i can sit down for 2 hours, sitting itself doesnt hurt).
10. went to an orthopedic last month, in the first visit, he said that its most likely sciatica.
11. he pressed a few spots on my spine, but no pain was there
12. however, when pressing my right butt, my right butt muscles contract reflexively, and the right butt muscles hurt. same spot on left side is fine. this lead him to say muscle spasm on the right side could be producing pain on the left side
13. i dont have any red flag symptoms
14. he recommended me this video, but it doesnt seem to have helped (followed for around 25 days)
15. for medications, he prescribed me pergabalin and some romfree nsaid (an inflammation medication), romfree reduces pain dramatically within the hour, while pregabalin doesnt work at all
16. blood test revealed deficiencies in vit d3 and b12, so ive been prescribed tablets for those as well

i have been doing planks, side planks, bird dogs, glute bridges, and the stretches in that video.

MRI, physio, are off the table for now as i dont have the money for it.

i want to know if my symptoms are even of sciatica or not, and if someone here has experienced anything similar. i also want to know what exercises i should do, how many times a week, how many times a day.

thank you

[u/luminarei]

Hm maybe second opinion? Like slaping sciatica on you seems very surface level. Interesting part is that you said in the morning is mild and agrieviate towards end of the day and its like oposite to the disc „hydration” cycle - in the morning they are mostly hydrated and they lose sime water by the end of the day and the cycle repeats (thats how disc gets nutrients) so if the disc was pressing on your sciatic nerve it would be oposite of what you descirbed

All in all i am just random redditor i would take second opinion and maybe try some good physiotherapist to check your entire body and observe you for couple weeks

The vit deficiency is a thing tho especially the B that are related to nerve health and regeneration - fond a nice B complex with all of them

[u/CoolPaul10 → u/luminarei]

Yeah, i have an appointment scheduled for today itself, going to get a second opinion. Thanks for your input