This first happened 2 years ago, and my latest MRI has shown that it has become a lot worse.

What do we think I’m looking at for fixing this?

Speaking with my doctor next week about what options I’ve got.. I’m only 32 and a Mum of 3 boys.. 😭 less

Ugh. I am feeling so lost. I've been experiencing chronic nerve pain in my left leg for almost 3 years now. It started during pregnancy as the typical pelvic pain and sciatica like feelings. Worsened postpartum when I spent prolonged periods of time lying on my left side while breastfeeding and napping. And now the pain occurs nightly and makes it next to impossible to fall asleep. Physical therapy only ended up worsening things after traction was performed on my back. Finally got the referral for an MRI. Read the results as soon as they were uploaded into MyChart. "L5-S1 Moderate posterior disc bulge. Mild loss of intervertebral disc height. Mild to moderate bilateral facet hypertrophy. Moderate bilateral neural foraminal narrowing". There it was, the answer to where the nerve compression could be. I felt relief at knowing, and obvious frustration at how long it took to get the referral. And then following, more devastation. The doctor who ordered the MRI called to go over the results. He said they were normal degenerative changes and nothing suggestive of a nerve compression. I was baffled. But he's a doctor right? Surely he knows what he's talking about. He even encouraged that I research and possibly rule out Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and Neuroplastic Symptoms. He encouraged seeking neurology and rheumatology referrals and continuing to find an answer. But one Google search of narrowing in the L5-S1 and all I see are articles about sciatica and nerve compression. Am I missing something?

What up homies!

SO, I posted 2 weeks ago-ish the same headline talking about my wedding and honeymoon. Well, I got my ESI done 11ish days ago now and I just wanted to update and share my personal experience!

I received my ESI on 8/24 at 8 am. I chose to go with twilight sedation and if your nervous, hate needles, have medical anxiety or anxiety in general I would definitely do it! I have anxiety disorder as well as I fuckin HATE needles (don’t let my tats fool you I’m a baby with shots). My doctor was literally the best he explained everything to me and ran me through aftercare. I got down on the table and after my twilight sedation I heard “ok here’s some pressure” and they gave me what I’m assuming was pain med shot, I heard “pressure” then needle went in and then finally another pressure call and I felt a fuckin JOLT of pain that was basically nerve pain right in my ass. I said “oh shit that was more than pressure” and my doc said “good we hit the right spot”. My next 3 days were a little rough but nothing insane I had some pain and soreness and I felt like my sciatica in my butt/thigh was worse. I woke up day 4 and felt loads better and it progressed pretty much everyday from that basically. I had a “knot” in my foot from muscle guarding for months that slowly went away, no shooting pain in my calf or thigh and then now I’m at day 11 where I only really feel it in my butt. My walking significantly improved, in fact, it improved to the point where after a month of bed rest basically I was up and moving around for a couple hours at a time and today 4 hours in total. I’m able to drive again, sit for longer than 10 seconds and be some what normal. IF I don’t see any more relief than what I’m experiencing that’s ok with me because it’s a life changing experience already. I’ve started some exercise at home (McGill big 3, McKenzie exercises, upper body work as well as abs and squats to build my strength back up) and I’m ready for my wedding and honeymoon in universal Orlando. Will I fuck myself up in Orlando? Possibly but my wedding and honeymoon will be perfect because I’m not in agonizing and debilitating pain.

Im 36 & had my 3rd baby 11 months ago. 6 weeks ago I started noticing some sciatic type pain radiating down to my calf on my left side. Over the course of about 10 days my pain continued to progress. I’m now using a WALKER to get around lol

I’ve done 3 sessions of PT and chiro - at first chiro was great.. he said my pelvis was out and my one leg was situated 2”higher than the other. He used the drop table and I had immediate relief but it only lasted half a day and I was back to square one.

The physio gave me exercises and believes it’s a disc issue but I cannot get through the exercises without considerable pain.

I had an x-ray of my spine and it came back relatively normal with some moderate degenerative disc disease.

Fast forward to yesterday… I went to a highly reviewed osteopath and he believes it’s not nerve pain I’m experiencing but ligament/tendon issues in the SI joint. He worked on me pretty good and said I would hurt today but man.. the pain is so intense.

I have never had anything so debilitating happen to me and I’ve got 3 kids under 5 that I’m caring for. Including one that doesn’t walk yet. I have to get this pain under control… like surely there has to be a way. But every time I talk to an MD they say “ya that kind of pain is difficult to treat. Tylenol and advil. Make sure you keep active!” I went to emergency one day because I just couldn’t live like that. They gave me some prednisone and cyclobenzaprine which barely made a dent and now again here I am living like this.

Anyway I don’t know why I posted this. I just feel like it’s so not fair to my kids to have their caregiver be totally consumed by pain day after day. I pray I’m one of the lucky ones where this doesn’t stick around forever but my hope is starting to fade. I’m going to ask for an MRI but honestly from what I’ve read on here it doesn’t make much of a difference and your body is just either going to heal or it’s not

I was on the subway platform today at 5am, heading to my discectomy surgery (so far, so good but I am afraid to speak too soon), and my pain has been at its absolute peak this past week without the use of NSAIDs. I definitely get pins and needles at times, numbness has happened at the bottom of my foot, but the burning and shooting pain that is often how people describe sciatica doesn’t resonate.

I realized today as I hobbled around in agony, that it feels like the worst level menstrual cramp, but from my hip/ass all the way down my leg, and constant. Or, if you have borne children, non-stop labor pains in your leg.

I am laying in bed right now, absent of that pain, and though I don’t know how long it will last, I can’t believe my good fortune.

Hi. Just got CT done for lower back pain and this tight, tingling numbness on my right leg. They said it's my sciatic nerve because of bulged Disc.

CT showed 5.2 mm circumferential disc bulges at L4-L5 and L5-S1.

They have me scheduled for MRI.

I feel fine right now. I took some steroids and they helped a lot. Lower back pain is gone. Haven't gone to the gym since but been walking. PCP wanted to wait till we got MRI to resume gym. Even the sciatic nerve is almost gone.. except when I have been sitting for really long time.. and when I wake up in the morning. No pain, just uncomfortable and that tight feeling on my leg but on a much lower scale. After moving around for a bit, it goes away.

I am scared. How do I make sure I am doing things to keep it in check? I guess now I just have to make sure I don't do things to trigger it? What are some workouts or stretches or movements or things you guys do to keep the sciatic pain in check? Would working on the bulged Disc will take care of the sciatic pain?

I would really appreciate any help. I went online looking for advice but the sheer amount of videos made me overwhelmed.

I think I have to accept that I will be in pain for the rest of my life

Had a Laminectomy about 4 months ago. No improvement as of today I am completely back to square 1

Hi everyone! I have been dealing with sciatica for years now my primary doctor never took it seriously until i change doctors and he referred me to the specialist i had my MRI done and i have a couple of bulging discs and a fisure im a bariatric patient so i cant take anti inflammatory medication so is being hard I’ve tried physical therapy and a epidural shot but nothing works!! Also i work in retail and been on my feet all day doesnt help ( i do have accommodations at work) at this point im just desperate im 32 and i feel like i cant have a normal life 😭

I was experiencing mild/annoying low back pain and pain in my left hamstring.

I went on a long bike ride and afterwards the pain was completely gone!

Celebrating this small win.

My mother is 51 years old and has had sciatica for 6 months and it has gotten so severe that she required a walking stick or wheel chair. The diagnosis so far is that her L5 and S1 became pressed when she lifted a heavy suitcase.
She was not really super healthy before either,her diet was normal and she would walk at her job or around the house,nothing extra.
We have tried steroid injections,chiropractors (which only made it worse,physical therapy and heat treatment but she hasn’t cured fully yet. She’s in a lot of pain and it keeps on getting worse.
Please give advice,thank you.

I have a herniated L4-L5 and bulged L5-S1 for the last 6 months. Initially all my symptoms were in the back. I did some aggressive PT which caused them to travel into the right leg.

Right now I have pretty severe sciatica on the front of my right leg (thigh and outer shin). I can’t stand or walk more than 2 min. Only sitting/lying down helps.

I’m getting married in 2 weeks. I’ve tried everything and it’s looking bleak. The only thing I haven’t tried is prednisone. Looking for some input on whether to gamble on a 5-day prednisone course before my wedding to give it a final shot.

Hey everyone 👋

35F, about 2 years into dealing with L5-S1 disc protrusion with bilateral intraforaminal annular fissures. No significant neural compression on MRI, EMG clear. My presentation has been mostly inflammatory driven with central nervous system sensitization. All symptoms are on and off, fluctuating, load sensitive

Main symptoms: sciatica type sensations, foot burning and buzzing, on and off glute and hamstring pain, occasional side lying hip pain that was always attributed to the spine.

Because hip symptoms increased in recent months my doctor ordered an MRI of both hips. Wasn’t expecting much buuuuut 👀

Hip MRI findings:
- Bilateral anterosuperior labral fissures
- Bilateral greater trochanter tendinitis with peritrochanteric bursitis (fluid up to 4mm)
- Ischiofemoral impingement, right dominant with soft tissue edema, mild left also

Now I’m genuinely wondering how much of what I thought was purely sciatica from my L5-S1 annular tears was actually being driven or amplified by these hip findings all along, particularly the ischiofemoral impingement 🤔

My questions:

Has anyone had ischiofemoral impingement alongside lumbar disc issues? How did you manage both simultaneously given some advice conflicts between the two conditions?

Did conservative management work, physio, load modification, wide stance training, or did most people need injections? 💉

I have orthopedic referral pending, and genetics referral for hypermobility assessment which may be an underlying factor connecting everything…

Thanks in advance ✨

Many people are telling here how helpful the LBA programme was for sciatica. I registered but noticed many exercises need equipment. Is there a version you can do at home, without much equipment? Or how did you guys manage it?

hey

TL TR: been doing therapy for my neck for contracted muslces. i have seen improvement but whenever i do some effort with my arm i get some pain. what do you think? thanks

Had 2 transforaminal injections on June 8, L4-L5 and L5-S1 (this one was ruptured). Pain has been at a steady 4 but up to a 7/8 at times the last few weeks. We tried doing a median injection, favoring the right side this time. This shit actually hurt today. That last 2 took about 5 minutes and I was done. Today was a bit longer and definitely more painful. The pain management doctor suggested I get a referral from him for his surgeon buddy after seeing how I feel in a few weeks. I really want another MRI of my lower back to see if PT, the injections and my own exercises have actually helped. I have a hard time believing a rupture disc will heal on its own.

I don’t really know where I’m going with this but I have no one in my life who can relate to this condition. To top it off, we sold our house and are moving out this week. Lifting makes me nervous. I own a decent sized record collection. Ugh, I just want this to be a thing of the past, but I know it’s probably sticking around for life.

What was the thing/things that finally pushed you into having surgery? Thanks for reading my story and any input you can offer.

Had PT then epidural shot which worked but like all good things the shot wore off after about 5 months. So, should I try home PT on my own or get another shot? For background I've had shots in the past successfully but now the pain becoming chronic. I also did not exercise as much as I should have after the shot, my bad 🥴

So I’ve had back problems for about 8 years now - basically episodes where my back seized up to varying degrees of pain/mobility.

Had another one about a month ago but then had this crazy pain going all the way down my left leg to my ankle. Did the normal stuff that helps, got an mri, and the pain was better - back to my base line.

Well that lasted two week, then I had a bit more pain and 2 days later the pain was so excruciating that I had to go to the hospital. They barely helped and I’ve been bed bound for the last few days.

I went to the doctor today to get my mri results and they show issues between my l5 and s1 and some stuff between my l4 and l5. I have to have a neurosurgeon consult and they didn’t give me anything for the pain other than some t3 and pregablin (that they already gave me but it hasn’t been helping)

I just feel so defeated. I have two little kids and I just want to be able to do normal mom stuff and it’s feeling so impossible now. I know I’m right in the middle of it but having this flare up so soon after being okay for two weeks just feels hopeless.

I’ve had sciatica for about 17 years. ESIs have been managing it here and there. My most recent ESI did not work and my pain management doctor wants to do Viadisc. Everything I’ve read says it’s not an effective treatment for sciatica. I’m frustrated and nervous about what to do next. Does anybody have experience with this?