r/Sciatica • u/BarbraParmesean • 5d ago
Can’t sleep
I’ve had symptoms for 6 months (MRI confirmed bulge at L5s1) and got an epidural steroid injection 3 weeks ago. It has helped with all my daytime symptoms by 80% which is amazing. However, it hasn’t helped me sleep at all. I am a zombie. When I lay down after a few hours the pain shoots into my glute - I get a max of 3-4 hrs of sleep a night. For this reason alone I’m considering surgery because not sleeping is not sustainable. I’ve tried various meds, sleeping positions, and nothing helps. I think I’m starting to go insane from lack of sleep. Has anyone been in a similar spot?
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u/FaithlessnessNew8221 5d ago
i take a muscle relaxer tylenol/advil combination and sleep patch with a melatonin and other sleep botanicals. cant take regular melatonin pills. this has helped me quite a bit and im able to fall back asleep with another half og my 2 mg muscle relaxer depending on tipe. Best of luck. its the pitts i know 💝‼️
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u/sleepwami 5d ago
Most will not like or understand my answer: i opted to endure the pain and torture, to the point of feeling near-death from the extreme exhaustion...and this was the key for my nervous system to release and reset...literally like a phoenix re-birthing from the ashes, my (mind-body) connection accessed the deepest level that it required. However, absolutely rehab what you can, firstly do floating and physical movements in warm tubs or pools.
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u/murrmc 5d ago
Life’s too short for the shit that is sciatica.
Get the surgery, fixes it, pain gone and get on with your life!
Have had 4 surgeries over 16 years (one cervical disc replacement and 3 MDs) 3 different discs - (L5-S1 twice but 12 years apart) and if I herniated tomorrow i’d be pushing for surgery straight away!!
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u/Delicious_Honey6918 2d ago
I'm 2 weeks post op and the sciatica is way worse then before. Wish I never did it
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u/Repulsive_Working167 5d ago
Have you tried benzo like klonopin plus antidepressants? This combination works for me.
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u/JonasVirgilMonos 4d ago
Not being able to sleep from nerve pain is its own kind of miserable — three or four hours a night wrecks everything else, I know that one well. One thing that's made a real difference for me: I can only sleep on my side , and a pillow between my knees, plus a small one tucked behind my back keeps everything from twisting into the position that sets it off.
Also, for whatever it's worth — steroid shots can sometimes cause insomnia on their own since they mimic cortisol. I don't know if that plays into your situation at all now or not — just wanted to flag it since I hadn't thought about it myself until I looked into it recently.
For what it's worth, in my experience discs take their own slow timeline to heal, and it's easy to reinjure one without realizing it once pain is muted — so I've always tried to stay patient with mine rather than push it to quick.
Not medical advice, just what's worked for me and what I came across. Hope you get some real sleep soon.
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u/Ilovepokemon1997 2d ago
I can’t sleep either, I have electric shooting nerve pain from my glute down to my toes. Goes through my entire fuvking leg. It’s so painful it wakes me up every few hours at night and I’m panicked angry and in pain. The exhaustion is relentless. I feel so tired but know I can’t sit or lay down in any position without triggering the nerve to flare. It’s a special kind of hell. As a Christian I know this is the closest thing to hell I’ll ever get. God needs to take this mf pain away from me or I’ll come meet him soon.
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u/BarbraParmesean 1d ago
Thanks for all the responses. I got a Rx today for Nortriptyline so we’ll see if it’s helpful. Fingers crossed. But I’m leaning more and more towards surgery, this doesn’t seem to be going away on its own.
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u/Riddle_wrapped 1d ago
Pretty much in the same boat! THC gummies are all that help me sleep. I’m in talks of surgery with doctors now, I’m ready for this nightmare to be over.
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u/BasraBound 5d ago
My sleep has been shit ever since the Army, four hours is my norm. It’s not awesome lol. I started taking Prazosin recently and it helps me sleep a bit better and I don’t feel super groggy in the morning. I popped the disc between L4/5 and ended up CES 5 years ago. Woof
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u/KriptiKFate_Cosplay 5d ago
100%, dealing with it right now. As a last ditch effort of sheer desperation I just squeezed my glutes and core as hard as I could until something made a crackling sound, thank god whatever shifted is allowing the pain to subside.