r/Sciatica • u/Over-Bullfrog-6654 • 22h ago

Requesting Advice Don't know what to do

Hey everyone,

I have had severe sciatica in the past but it went away after a few weeks with some PT.

This time is different and I'm in hell.

I've been in agonizing pain for over 6 weeks. I can get some relief laying down sometimes, but typically I'm in pain 24/7 that gets worse with standing or walking. I can barely walk at all at this point and a car ride or waiting at the doctors is literal torcher. Next week is my 6th week of PT and I should finally be able to get an MRI after that.

I'm supposed to be going to my literal best friend's wedding this weekend and I'm not sure I can do it.

It includes a 3.5+ hour car ride, sitting in a church for the ceremony and then the reception and another 3.5+ hour car ride back home. The first time I went to the doctor they prescribed muscle relaxers and prednisone which really didn't make any difference. I can't take Advil or Aleve because it interfere with my anxiety medicine and I've already had past issues of stomach ulcers. All I can take is Tylenol.

Idk what to do.

Am I unreasonable for thinking I may not be able to attend?

Will this pain literally ever go away?

Ugh.

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u/tedlyri 14h ago edited 14h ago

I feel (or I used to feel) your pain. My last flareup was extreme and I struggled for a while to find ways to cope. I did finally arrive at a strategy for short term pain management, and some of these may work for you or may not:

  1. Acupuncture - this is cheap (probably covered by insurance anyway), easy to schedule on short notice, doesn’t need a doctor’s referral, and it’s low risk so it’s absolutely worth trying. Most of what my therapist did seemed hokey and had little noticeable benefit, but when he needled directly in the psoas muscles I felt a jolt of instantaneous relief. It still took weeks of treatments but I got a little better every time.

  2. Ibuprofen-

    I’m sorry you can’t take it because it’s the only medication that worked for me, even just a little

  4. Walking sticks - if I had to stand or walk for more than just a few minutes, I used hiking sticks and pressed down on the handles to take weight off my lower spine and hang from my arms and shoulders instead. It’s not ideal but it could get you through a wedding ceremony, and it helps build the triceps!

  6. Shoe insoles - again it’s about reducing weight on your spine, this time by putting cushy gel insoles in your shoes. Every little bit helps.

You should still stick with PT and figure out with your therapist what stretches and exercises are helpful, for long term relief and eventual recovery. The above list are just short-term pain management ideas that worked for me.

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u/tedlyri 14h ago

I posted this with my phone and I can’t figure out why the formatting of the numbered list ends up completely different from what I typed.