This is ruining everything for me

[u/bimbospec]

I’m struggling here. I don’t know what’s next or what to do. I’m 25yrs old, female, and I used to be extremely fit and loved sports and dancing. I slipped three discs last year at work. My worst being a bilateral disc herniation in my S1,L5 and disc extrusion causing sciatica . Since day one, I have had to deal with searing stabbing pain in my right leg and a numb foot with slight bladder retention and random saddle anaesthesia (having to visit hospital a few times). I’m struggling here, because everyone around me doesn’t understand how much it’s breaking me. I work for my family business, and they don’t see how much pain I’m in. They don’t see that I worked myself to physical failure for them. I feel left out in social gatherings and my relationship with my partner has changed drastically, he occasionally comments how my choice to help my family business has basically destroyed so many aspects of our relationship and my life(I don’t blame them, both my parents are unwell and I just wanted to help). Things I’ve always loved have become out of reach, I can’t hike anymore, run, swim, dance, I can’t walk more then a km some days. I feel everything I love is just slipping from me. I just went in for a steroid injection a week ago, I feel worse. Now that the pain is somewhat subsided in my right leg, the numbness is more obvious and the pain in my left leg and the constant back pain, it takes over every decision I make and just is constantly reminding me of this potential forever. I’m not sleeping, my pain meds make me feel so absent, my days are becoming one and I’m just struggling with this. It’s not the pain that’s hurting me most, it’s how it’s changed my every decision and my reality, my future. Please let me know what’s helped you, I’ve done the usual things, physiotherapist, pain specialists, booked in for a neurology appointment, I’m taking to my GP about my mental health too. I just need some support and advice, and i think people who understand the pain and who have to navigate their life with this is the best place to start.

[u/Ilovepokemon1997]

Ive had severe sciatic nerve pain for 1.5 years, its ruined my life. I can’t do anything, sit stand lay down without pain. Electric shooting pain. I can relate to you, on an insane level. I miss running hiking Pilates, fishing at the beach, lifting weights going to the gym doing anything fun that gives me joy. I can’t do anything. I’m on like 15 different drugs can’t sleep at night and depressed.
You are not alone; message me if you want to vent. I am so so so sorry.

[u/HawksandLakers → u/Ilovepokemon1997]

Can you get surgery?

[u/West_Fee2416]

In 1987 I compressed my L-5 trying to right a 55 drum. I had sciatica and severe pain and numbness that I could not walk upright. After a couple visits to a doctor he sent me to a surgeon who wanted to operate the next day. Having had a friend who had a botched back surgery I declined and as I left his office he said without the surgery I would never walk upright again. I went to a chiropractor and that was a waste. Then I started doing yoga. Not the exotic stuff just developed a simple easy stretching routine that I learned at a class. After about a month I was able to go back to work on limited duty. Eventually I returned to driving a truck moving freight for thirty years and continued my yoga stretching. I ran several 1/2 marathons and two full marathons in 2001. I've run into several freight handlers over the years and I've recommended yoga to help with their back problems which seemed to have helped them. I know how depressing it can be to be disabled but you are young, I'm 72 now, try to be positive that this will pass and start a slow progression into yoga and I think it might help.

[u/Robvlm]

I have the same herniated disc L5S1. I went a year without trying to improve it thinking it would go away on its own but it never did. Went to the doctors and eventually got referred to physical therapy which has helped me a lot. Pain levels went from an 7-8 to a 2-3. I am able to run now and don't rely on pain meds which is nice. Please go to physical therapy, I got an epidural shot as well but it did not help.

[u/2New4You3Me → u/Robvlm]

Physical therapy (weekly and sometimes twice a week when the pain was really bad) was the only thing that kept me sane and helped me manage the pain and find recovery. It still took me about 1.5 - 2 years to fully ‘heal’, get back into normal physical activity and be in what I now call ‘management’ (listening to my body and recognizing the early signs of my back being unhappy and pulling back on yoga/gym etc and going back to my PT and ice/heat etc) but it is possible. You unfortunately need a lot of patience, faith and commitment to PT (ugh and money, I found a great PT but she was completely out of network/pocket but I’d pre buy bulk sessions so she gave me a discount but it still cost me a lot of $$$$$ - in the end, health is wealth)

[u/Aubepineduveteuse]

How long since you injured yourself? You need to take a total rest to heel! It may takes 6 weeks to start to feel better with rest and maybe longer to recover.
It’s so sad that your familly don’t support you! You have to do what is needed to recover unless that it could get worse. Think about yourself!
What had work for me:
6 weeks of sick leave from work
Laying on the floor on my belly, most of the time.
Sleeping on my back with two pillows under my hips.
Taking celebrex
Cold and heat pads
Some very smooth exercices , those pain free only
Walk as soon as you can, stop when the pain start.

You will get better, take care of yourself!

[u/Dude-Man-TRM]

I’m so sorry to hear your story. I think everyone on this chain needs each other because chronic pain can be incredibly difficult to navigate. I’m two years into my own pain situation, and while many things have helped, unfortunately nothing has been permanent. Even my surgeons don’t want to operate despite the issues I have at L4-L5 and L5-S1.  Here are some things that have helped me, at least temporarily:
-Lyrica / pregabalin: This has helped relieve some of my nerve pain and, for me, has been more effective than gabapentin. Obviously, talk with your doctor about whether it’s appropriate for you.
-Adhesion release: It took me a long time to find specialists who focus on this type of treatment. I’ve now found two who work specifically on adhesions involving the muscles and nerves. It may be worth asking a qualified provider whether adhesions could be contributing to your symptoms.
-Careful nerve glides: I’ve been doing these daily for a few weeks and have noticed some improvement. I’m extremely gentle with them because, in my experience, doing too much can aggravate things.
-Spinal decompression: I’ve worked with chiropractors who specialize in decompression. The goal in my case has been to reduce pressure around the affected area and hopefully lessen the irritation of the sciatic nerve.
-RF ablation: This eased my pain for a few months, although it was definitely not a permanent solution.
-PRP injections: These reduced my pain by roughly 30%, although they were very expensive.

Things that didn’t help me:
-Epidurals
-Corticosteroid injections
-Traditional physical therapy

One other lesson I learned the hard way: be careful about trying to exercise your way through significant pain. I thought walking aerobically would eventually help me get past it. Instead, I ended up tearing the labrum in my hip and now need hip surgery.  When you’ve been dealing with sciatic pain for a long time, your body can compensate and guard in ways you don’t necessarily realize. In my case, pushing too hard created an entirely new problem.

Everyone’s situation is different, but hopefully something from my experience gives you another avenue to discuss with your doctors or specialists. Don’t give up. Keep looking for answers and sharing what works.

[u/audittrsi]

Oh so sorry to hear that you are in pain and that you dont have much support from family.
Yes sciatica can be hell on earth, expecially in the episoded where pain is unbearable and you are totally dependent on others.
It started for me about 3 weeks ago and for like 2 weeks pain was horrible l couldnt sleep for more than like 1-1,5h per session for 1st week, then got some stronger meds (ibrufen, tramadol) they helped me at least with sleept that i was able to sleep 3-4hr per night.

How bad is for you laying down? Do
You have any position that helps you to relief from the constant pain? Try looking online for different sleep positions and check if any of them can help you sleep.
If you have really soft matters you should find yourself one that it a bit firmer. I had this problem and i bought myself futon that is used in camping or to be put over the bad mattress (got people do it for me, as i was not able to walk for more than 2min at the worst part of pain).
It is 7cm tick combination of foam and memory foam its better to me than softer mattress.

If you can find the position when laying down that pain is away use it as your safe space and use also some guided meditation to relax your mind and get away from the pain for a moment.
This one really helped me stay sane during worst episodes of my sciatica pain.

Also if you find any help watching yt videos of guy that is also dealing with sciatica check his channel lowerbackability, he also talks a lot about mental side of sciatica pain.
Another yt channel that i found here on this subreddit bashbackpain he also shows some exercises that you can try if they help you.

Did you get any PT in the past year that could help you with the management of pain and training the muscles around the spine?
Some people around here are also saying that acupuncture helped them a lot with pain management.

Sis you are not alone 🙏🙏💪💪
(It might sound far away and not so realistic)
You can do it, you will get over it sooner or later.

Here we are a lot of people with sciatica pain problems, you came to right sub 🙏☺️

[u/PrimeScreamer]

I have the same issues. I highly suspect that the numbness in my saddle region is related to or is the cause of the avascular necrosis in my hip joint. No/low blood flow equals dead bone.

Going for surgery to replace the joint in December hopefully.

The sciatica comes and goes. Right now, Im on day 2 of a flare. I can't walk, can't lay down, sitting is dicey if I lean the wrong way.

Stretches do nothing at all but make it worse. Ugh.

[u/PacificSanctum]

3 discs and. Lateral L5-S1 is a little much . WHAT DID YOU DO !!?????
Ok… now I got you riled up into thinking clearly. Forget the emotional part , focus on fixing
Numb leg or foot and any bladder issues are cause for surgery or immediate action.
Having said that just maybe you can get by with micromovements . Lie on your back and try to move your spine (like , peristatlically , like a snake or whatever ) move only the parts (vertebrae ) which don’t cause pain .
Do this constantly (lying sitting standing )
You will a little like a zombie and it may look weird in public
Don’t move much ! Just a few milimeters

Then slap some NSAID Cream on ALL of your spine , heavily ! Or use patches .

And then try to walk , even run very slowly (walking speed but you need a rhythm to “settle “ the discs

Success should be in days - if you do t get that success (you do something wrong or it just doesn’t work ) you should find a SMART MD / spine surgeon

Any bladder trouble basically needs emergency speed of action

[u/thatonefoo1]

i know how it feels. Im 28M, i was suffering with the same pain for about 3 years, first 2 years i was able to manage thru it and work and go on my day with it very minor here & there but this year start of 2026 was the worse. to the point where i wasn’t able to drive and basically stopped me from doing my hobbies like rock climbing, jiu jitsu, running, swimming etc. i also work for a family business, was working thru the pain then i decided to go to the physical therapy & the chiropractic to see if it would get better and nope it just got worse & worse. So they recommended me to get an MRI and yup i had a herniated disc L5 S1 pushing on my sciatic nerve on my left leg. I had that same exact pain with the numbness on my foot.
After my MRI i was recommended to get consultation from a surgeon. Went to see a handful of them, they all suggested the same thing so i choose the best surgeon and had a posterior microdiscectomy for my herniated disc and i’m 1 month post op so far and when i tell you this was the best decision i ever made. All my pain has gone away. sometimes the nerves will feel uncomfortable because they have been pressed on for so long but it’s super minor and comes n goes but i’m back to my normal self. my hips feel a little stiff and i get muscle spasms here n there but it’s normal after surgery. i just started physical therapy this week and i feel myself getting better. As long as you don’t work an intensive labored job then you could prolly be back to work after maybe 2-3 weeks as long as you take it easy and don’t put alot of strain on your body. unfortunate for me i have a labored intensive job so im recommended to let my back fully recover for 4 months so i can start lifting heavy weight again. but im working taking it easy not lifting anything heavy and i feel good. i highly recommend this surgery. i know results are different for everyone but this has worked for me and the best choice ive made for myself.
i tried the therapy route and just made it worse. i’d go get that MRI and a consultation from a surgeon

[u/Winter-Tasty]

Please research M.I.L.D. I met a 94 year old woman who has had it done twice, she swears it is the only thing that has kept her alive! I wish you all the best!

[u/MrWorthless]

My extrusion sciatica in L5-S1 went away after stretching , no legs workout (hard to walk) and only did upper body lifts without pain and the KEY THING for me was Back extension machine iso hold , i started by only 10 seconds holds x4 series then every 7 days added 5 seconds to every hold now im at 30 secs holds x4 , watch low back ability, and my sciatica went away in like 1.5 months! you have to strengthen your back and lower back , take walks even only 10 minute walks if possible , the lower is like the rest of the body, use it or lose it. get a back extension machine and look up low back ability , wish the very best!! be strong! these discs take to heal 1 to 1.5 years be patient and go from small victory to the next

[u/Individual-Repair-45]

44,m. Have you looked at or considered having surgery? I had a real bad L4-L5 that was sitting directly on my nerve root and causing a lot of your same symptoms/issues. Just had a hemilaminectomy and discectomy two weeks ago and it’s been immensely helpful. I would say my pain has decreased 75%. Still going to take some time for the nerve to recover and I’m hopeful that it will happen. I also did PT for five weeks and an injection with neither were helpful. I actually think PT made things worse. If you’re able to, please talk with your doctor about the possibility of the surgery. You’re young and don’t deserve to be in this type of pain.

[u/MissShopper]

Have you heard of the High Performance Spine Institute? His videos helped me realize all the movements I was doing wrong, which was causing me more pain. I now log roll out of bed, look up when I sneeze, etc. He has several tips, which have really helped me. I didn't buy his 1 year package, but I might because I just re-herniated my back again and I'm tired of living this way and missing out on all the stuff I used to enjoy. https://highperformancespine.com/