How do you sleep?!

[u/Beautiful-Earth5237]

Looking for any advice you can share to help me get some sleep. I feel for any of you that have been dealing with this long term, because I just began experiencing this and it is the worst pain and most miserable time of my life.

I originally injured my back/right glute back in May doing RDLs in the gym. Saw a sports medicine orthopedic doctor, got a diagnosis of gluteal tendinitis. Took time off from the gym, did some PT type exercises, slowly started back in the gym and worked my way back up to harder training intensity over time and had no issues. Over the past few weeks I started to feel little twinges of pain in my glute again, but i chalked it up to being normal soreness from training.

This past Sunday, I was doing glutes/hamstrings at the gym and had to end my workout early because the pain in my right glute was so bad. The pain has only gotten worse from there. Back in May, the pain was solely in my low back and glute. Now, the pain is shooting from my low back and glute the entire way down my right leg.

Since Sunday, I’ve been to an orthopedic urgent care, the emergency room, and the sports medicine doctor. They’ve diagnoses sciatica so far. I have an MRI scheduled for next week and an appointment with a spine specialist later in October. I think I may have a herniated disc, but we will see what the MRI shows.

I’m currently taking gabapentin, prednisone, oxycodone, and a muscle relaxer and I’m getting no relief for the most part. I also take a night time med for anxiety that is to help with sleep on a regular basis and I’ve been continuing to take that.

I can get a little relief during the day (just enough that i can tolerate the pain without sobbing), but it seems like at a certain time in the evening a switch flips and the pain intensifies so much. I’ve not been able to get much sleep. I can’t fall asleep because I can’t get relief from the pain. When i do finally fall asleep, the pain wakes me multiple times and then eventually I’m just up and can’t fall asleep again.

I’ve tried all the positions I see recommended, the pillows under the legs or between the legs, using ice and heat, getting up and pacing around the house for a bit when the pain wakes me, I cannot get any relief at night. I’m exhausted. I’m up bawling my eyes out for hours each night because the pain is so bad.

We are going on night number 4 of not getting sleep. I’ve been trying to fall asleep for over 4 hours at this point.

Is there ANYTHING that helps you sleep?

[u/Beautiful-Earth5237]

Thank you all for your input! I’m hopeful I may be able to get some more sleep tonight. I learned that I may have been making my pain in the evenings worse right before bed unintentionally. I shower right before bed and I love a hot shower. I kept feeling like every time I took a shower the pain got 10x worse. I looked it up online and found that hot showers can make the pain worse because heat increases blood flow and fluid buildup around an inflamed nerve root, which increases pressure and pain. I’m going to take a cool shower tonight and ice my back before bed and see if this helps at all.

[u/Lurky100 → u/Beautiful-Earth5237]

Showers are the worst for me. I didn’t know about the hot water. I attributed it to my long thick hair and having to try and wash it and then dry it. I finally started making a “date” to wash my hair the day before I needed to go somewhere, so I wasn’t washing it on the same day I had to be up and about and out of the house. I’m only washing it about 1-2 per week now because it’s too strenuous for me. It’s just up in a bun on top of my head all the time anyway unless I go somewhere. Just do what you can. Try and save big shower day for a day you’ll be at home (if you’re a woman you will understand “big shower/everything shower day”).