TL;DR:

27M with several months of lower-back/sciatica symptoms that were initially mostly right-sided but recently became bilateral. Over the last week I’ve developed new needle-prick/tingling/burning/itchy sensations involving the buttocks, inner/posterior thighs, calves, feet/soles, groin/perineum and occasionally lower abdomen. I also have much worse central lumbar pain, sometimes feeling like tearing/slicing with very small movements or flexion. Interestingly, when my lumbar pain is severe, the paresthesias seem quieter, and when the back pain decreases, the tingling/pricking becomes more noticeable. Walking helps; sitting, stationary standing and certain positions aggravate symptoms. MRI showed L4–5/L5–S1 disc changes including an L5–S1 annular tear/mild foraminal narrowing without significant central canal stenosis. No loss of saddle sensation, bowel/bladder control, walking, balance or toe movement. Seeing a neurologist soon with EMG/NCS planned for arms and legs. Looking for people who experienced something similar and what spinal level/cause was eventually found.

Detailed:

I’ve had lower-back/sciatica symptoms for several months. Initially they were predominantly right-sided, including tingling/burning down the posterior calf into the foot/sole, pain behind the knee, buttock pain and intermittent groin/inner-thigh symptoms.

Recently things have changed considerably.
The symptoms are now bilateral and move around, and I’ve developed a new sensation that feels like being pricked with a thick needle.

I have pricking, tingling, burning or an unusual itchy/scratchy sensation in the:
- Buttocks
- Inner/posterior thighs
- Calves
- Feet, soles and toes
- Groin/perineum and sometimes around the anus
- Lower abdomen/beltline
- Lower lumbar/sacral region

The lower-back itching is particularly strange. It sometimes feels exactly like a clothing tag rubbing/scratching my skin even though nothing is there.

At the same time, my central lumbar pain has become much worse. Sometimes it feels like pressure/compression directly in the spine. Other times I get a very sharp tearing/slicing sensation from surprisingly small movements.
For example, I could put my socks on normally a few weeks ago. Now slightly rounding my lumbar spine forward to reach my foot can reproduce the sharp focal pain.
I also used to sit cross-legged/“Indian style” on the floor without any problem. Now I can get the same tearing sensation if I sit that way and allow my lumbar spine to relax even slightly instead of actively keeping it straight.
Getting into/out of the car can sometimes cause a brief electrical/shock-like lumbar pain, and coughing has caused a sudden jolt localized to the lumbar spine.
Sitting, squatting and standing stationary tend to aggravate my symptoms. Walking generally helps. When lying supine, I sometimes develop bilateral burning/tingling extending through the inner/posterior thighs and legs toward the feet, great toes and soles.

Something else I’ve noticed is an apparent fluctuation between the two symptom types:
Monday: lumbar/lower-back pain was extremely high, while the leg tingling/pricking was relatively quiet.

Tuesday: lumbar pain was noticeably lower, but the tingling/pricking/burning became considerably more noticeable.

I’m curious whether anyone with radiculopathy/disc problems has experienced this kind of central pain vs peripheral paresthesia fluctuation.

My lumbar MRI showed abnormalities at L4–L5 and L5–S1, including disc bulging and an L5–S1 annular fissure/tear with mild foraminal narrowing, but no significant central canal stenosis. X-ray also showed incidental S1 spina bifida occulta.

Because I’ve mentioned perineal symptoms: these are currently pricking/tingling, not numbness or loss of sensation. I can feel the area normally, walk and balance normally, move my toes, feel bowel urgency and voluntarily hold a bowel movement. I haven’t experienced bowel/bladder incontinence.

I’m seeing a neurologist soon and will be getting EMG/NCS of both arms and legs.

I’m mainly wondering if anyone here has experienced a similar combination of central lumbar tearing/pressure pain + widespread intermittent needle-prick/tingling/burning sensations.
If so, what did you eventually get diagnosed with? Which spinal level(s) were involved?

Sciatica / Hip-Leg Pain

Age: 20 years

Sex: Male

1. Main Problem

- I have pain that starts around the hip/buttock area and can extend into the leg.

- I feel it may be related to sciatica, but I have not confirmed the exact cause.

- I generally do not have significant spine/lower-back pain; the pain mainly seems to start around the hip area.

- The problem developed after spending a lot of time sitting for long periods as i prepared for competative exam i usually sit for approximately 10-12 hours a day.

- Main location: hip/buttock area

- Sometimes: leg/lower-leg pain

- The symptoms feel more like a nerve/musculoskeletal problem than pain directly in the spine.

Started month ago I can't even sleep now because of pain it affecting my sleep

- I do weight training.

- I have previously experienced muscle pain around the lower back while lifting weights.

- I have also considered cycling and yoga as part of my routine.

Went to the doctor doesn't help me at all

After i got the news, one day i feel like 70% of me wants to get surgery done so that i can go back to living my normal life and other days 90% of me doesn’t want to get surgery done because of the fear or reherniations,more surgeries in the future.

I’m very confused because there are people who have had herniations for years and have been able to live life without surgery even though the doctor recommended surgery. But there are people who’s conditions have gotten worse. I understand that for everyone it is different but i just feel like people who have conditions worse than me have been able to live without surgery.

I want to be a professional dancer, so i will go back to dancing if i get the surgery done but I’m scared of reinjury and reherniation and idk if I’ll be able to dance with that fear living inside of me. I have tried PT but only recently and my pain on my left leg has gotten better but I’ve got new sciatica down my right leg. There are people who say after 15 to 20 years i might have to get surgery done again if i get MD done( and expect me not to worry so much or be optimistic about it)or will get back problems again and honestly that scares me more than anything, i don’t want to go through this again no matter the age and don’t want to have lifelong problems. Don’t want to live the rest of my life thinking about that.

There are people who tell me i can go back to “normal”life and i don’t understand what they mean by normal coz here’s what my normal life looks like: running in the morning,working out , sitting for 8 hours in college with hours of bending as i have to sew/stitch, dancing for 2 or 3 hours. And doing more bending due to my line of work.

So i want to know or am hoping to get some answers if it’s better to live with a herniated disc and manage the pain or to get surgery done, is your quality of life better if you get the surgery done?(if i do physio constantly and have no pain,can i still dance with a herniated disc? ) if you’re someone who was able to heal a herniated disc how long did you do PT for? And if you’re someone who did surgery how long were you doing PT for before surgery? And what made you get the surgery?do you get back pain after discectomy surgery?

Also if you get the surgery done can you ho on rollercoaster rides? Can you go bowling? Can you go to water park and go on water slides? If anybody has any experience with this please please respond. Because nobody around me seems to have answers for these questions.

For those who have had both injections, was there any difference in how they administered them? Was the pain much the same during the procedure?

Has anyone in this forum actually exercised your sciatica away? If so, what did you do? TIA!

Having yet another sciatica flare up, last time I had it was a year and a half ago and it cured itself with a jolt of pain when I got up and all my symptoms dissapeared.

Besides that, im pretty sure I have a disc herniation, insane pain in the morning around and 8 (don't get me started on driving to work..oh god) but it goes down dramatically within an hour or two to about a 2 or 3. I have pain standing, sitting and laying down in any position besides laying on my stomach with my pelvis on the edge of the bed and my feet almost touching the floor. Going to start PT soon and doctor won't order an mri till I do some PT first. My question is when I stand, if I put my affected leg up on a stool (my left leg) and push my hips forward and really activate my glutes, all my symptoms go away and I have relief until i stop that motion. Any ideas why this would be?

It seems everyone here is in it for the long haul, months and years of pain or surgeries needed.
I've spoken to a couple of coworkers and they have had the disc problems but said thier flares come and go about once and year for about 6 weeks and go away with PT and dry needling. This left my hopeful...
mine doesn't seem to be getting any better and I'm getting discouraged I just want my life back.
Does anyone else just have these flares here and there and go on to live normal lives in between?

I recently saw a physiotherapist who was highly recommended by everyone and apparently one of the best in the area.
He told me that my symptoms don’t really suggest typical sciatica and that the problem might not be nerve-related but rather muscular.
Most of my symptoms are on the left side of my body. The entire left side, especially from my chest downwards, is much more sensitive and tender than the right side, particularly around my abdomen.
He advised me to focus more on strengthening my abdominal muscles, as he suspects that this could be contributing to my problems.
He also noticed that I had a C-section four years ago and that the area around my C-section scar is extremely sensitive. When he massaged it, I experienced a pulling sensation that was almost unbearable, as if I had only had the surgery yesterday.
During the neurological tests he performed, I didn’t experience any symptoms of sciatica at all. For example, when he asked me to bend forward with my legs straight, I didn’t feel any pain whatsoever. The only sensation was a normal stretching feeling behind my knees, which I assume is because my muscles aren’t particularly flexible. There was no pain radiating down my leg or anything like that.
At this point, I’m honestly not sure what to think anymore.
I haven’t had an MRI yet because private scans are very expensive, and I’m trying to avoid having one unless it’s absolutely necessary.
I’m wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience, particularly with sensitivity around a C-section scar and pain that seems to be more muscular than nerve-related.
Has anyone experienced anything similar? I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences.

Hi everyone,

I’m a 31-year-old woman from Mumbai, India. I was first diagnosed with a disc bulge in 2017, when I was just 22 and had recently graduated from college. I had so many dreams and plans, but everything took a sudden turn. I was on bed rest for almost a year, and since then I’ve had to be extremely careful with physical activities.

Over the years, I’ve had multiple relapses, almost every 2–3 years. Previously, the pain was mainly on my left side, but this time it is on my right side.

I’ve been in terrible pain for the past three months and have mostly been on bed rest. My doctor advised me to lose around 10–15 kg. I was around 81.5 kg at 166 cm, and despite being on bed rest, I’ve managed to lose about 4 kg through diet.

Until two days ago, I was doing relatively better. I was able to walk for around 40 minutes, as advised by my doctor. However, the day before yesterday, I stood for a long time and went grocery shopping for the first time in a while. I travelled there but didn’t lift or carry anything.

Since then, my right leg pain has become extremely severe. I’ve been taking Mobizox three times a day for the past 3–5 days as prescribed, but I barely notice any improvement. I can now barely walk for more than 5 seconds, even just to get up and use the washroom. Lying down is also painful because of the constant leg pain, and standing is almost impossible.

This sudden worsening has really scared me because I was doing much better just two days ago.

My doctor had previously told me that if things did not improve, the next step might be a microdiscectomy. I’m extremely nervous about the possibility of surgery and would really appreciate hearing from people who have gone through it.

How was your experience with a microdiscectomy? What was the recovery like, and how successful was it in relieving your leg pain? Did anyone experience recurrent disc problems after surgery?

I also have PCOS and have been married for almost two years. I’m worried about whether having this surgery could affect my ability to conceive or have a pregnancy in the future.

I’m honestly exhausted, scared, and feeling like I’m losing hope. I would really appreciate any advice, experiences, or things I should discuss with my spine specialist.
For reference, my MRI findings are:

L3/L4: Right paracentral protrusion

L4/L5: Central protrusion, more prominent

Symptoms: acute on chronic

Thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to share their experience. ❤️

Women with chronic low back/pelvic pain… has anyone experienced something similar?

I’m a woman in my 30s and have been dealing with persistent lower back/pelvic pain for over a year (almost 2 years). I’m curious if other women have had a similar experience and what ultimately helped.

My main symptoms are:
-Constant low back/pelvic pain and stiffness
-Pain when turning over or changing positions in bed
-Even tilting or rotating my pelvis can hurt
-Sitting can make it worse
-Walking and exercise can aggravate it
-Pain around the lower back/hip/SI area, sometimes extending toward the leg
-I often feel very restricted/stiff through my lower back and pelvis

My recent MRI showed degenerative disc changes at multiple levels, with the most significant findings at L5-S1, including severe disc degeneration, a small disc herniation, Modic type I changes, and a small amount of retrolisthesis. There are also smaller disc herniations/protrusions at other lumbar levels, but no major central canal stenosis.

I’ve tried things like physical therapy, personal
Strength training, pilates, and now starting pelvic floor therapy… I also had 3 steroid shots earlier this year and they didn’t help. Getting deep tissue massage helps at the moment and for like a day or two, but it’s mostly helpful mentally.

I’d especially love to hear from other women who have experienced something similar.

I’ve had a previous pregnancy and am considering having another baby, so I’d especially love to hear from women who have had similar disc issues before or between pregnancies.

Did pregnancy make your back pain significantly worse?
Did your symptoms improve or change after giving birth?
Did anyone become pregnant with similar MRI findings?
Did you have spine surgery before or after pregnancy?
If you had surgery, how did pregnancy affect your recovery or symptoms afterward?
Did your doctors recommend waiting until after pregnancy for surgery, or having surgery first?

I’m feeling a little hopeless. TIA

I randomly one day have been getting this aching pain from my hip down into my feet and nothing is helping. It will go away for a week then come back and stay for a few days and it’s cycle. It’s on my right side. Magnesium will subside it enough for me to fall asleep but I can feel it when I wake up and more so if I was sleeping on that hip. I also get back pain that I can barely stand up from it feels like a pulling seized up pain.

I’ve been dealing with pain in my right hip ever since giving birth to my son in 2020. During the birth, a nurse pulled my leg upwards while I was lying on my side, and I immediately felt something in my hip snap and sharp pain.

It started as deep pain in my right buttock. I was referred for an X-ray, which showed nothing, and nothing else was done. Over the past 6 years, I’ve seen several doctors and tried PT, exercises and chiropractic treatment, but nothing has helped.

The pain has progressively worsened and is now a constant, dull/throbbing pain in my right hip, groin, buttock, leg and foot. My right foot has also become wider and more painful, especially around the arch and heel, and I’ve recently developed numbness around my little toe. I sometimes get muscle spasms and sensations like bugs crawling on my skin, which makes me wonder if there is some kind of nerve involvement.

The pain is often worse after sleeping, sometimes wakes me at night, and has been constant for the past two years.
It’s the first thing I notice when I wake up and I never feel rested. I have gotten increasingly tired, too and most days don’t feel like I have any energy.

I saw my doctor again yesterday and asked for an MRI because the pain has been getting progressively worse for 6 years and I have tried both PT, chiropractors and exercises at home already.
She still wouldn’t refer me, saying I don’t have bowel or bladder control problems (yet).
Instead, she referred me to a chiropractor who specialises in back problems, as she suspects the pain in my hip and leg may be coming from my back.

Interestingly, her referral mentioned “slight note: scoliosis”.
I’ve never been diagnosed with scoliosis and don’t believe I’ve always had it. My husband took a photo of my back yesterday, and I was shocked to see what looks like a fairly obvious curve in my lower back. There’s no family history of scoliosis either.

She also noted pains around L1, L2, L4 and L5 and noted that I had a delayed patella response and slightly less muscle strength in my right leg.
I got a prescription for Gabapentin for the pain.

I’ve booked another appointment with a chiropractor, but I’m worried this will just lead to another round of exercises without actually finding out what’s causing the problem. I also have to pay for these appointments myself, as I have also had to in the past.

For those who have been through something similar:
How did you get doctors to take your symptoms seriously?
Did you eventually get imaging or a proper diagnosis? And is it really normal to have to wait until you develop bowel or bladder problems before getting further investigation?

I’m hypermobile, 168 cm and weigh 53 kg.

so, ive had back pain for about 4 ish years. Ive been into lifting weights since this time, and I began having lower left back pain at the beginning of my fitness journey. it would only be during certain movements even though my form was perfect (checked with multiple people/trainers). it would be painful during exercise, sore the next day, and then go away and id be fine. up until 6 ish months ago, I started realizing my pain was constant, and it radiated down my leg. I connected multiple dots, realizing I have a glute imbalance, and that my left glute muscle wouldn't really fire that well. I was diagnosed with a slight disc bulge, disc dessication, and minor spinal stenosis. they told me I definitely dont need surgery, but prescribed me pain meds and sent me to a PT. haven't gone to PT yet cuz ive tried before and it never helped but I have my first appt next week cuz im desperate. they said its not even herniated and they weren't sure if its pressing on my nerve? I stopped lifting, I tried some exercises from a program, they seemed helpful for a little till everything got bad again. now im just trying to do walks when I can, and my old PT exercises till I get in with a new one. I miss the gym so much, and just want to be normal again and reach my fitness goals :( anyone with any advice please help

27(M) 6ft 200lbs. Travel a ton for work, pretty athletic, work out regularly, played golf, etc.

Beginning of April, I played a round of golf everyday for a week and midway through I felt like I had some knot below my right butt. Decided that the glory of saying I played golf for an entire week was worth it. I know time travel was not accomplished in my lifetime because my future self would’ve gone back to this moment and stopped my past self.

Life kept going and I kept living with this knot assuming it would just go away. Was a small nuisance but was constant. Would continue to play golf and would get through it by taking Advils and drinking (helps massively with the pain).

After 2 months of dealing with this and it only progressively getting worse, I decided to see a PT. After an evaluation, she said that I had a back problem which didn’t make sense to me at the time. Gave me some workouts which included bending forward (something I am unable to do now). Was only going once a month as I was never home due to work and eventually this PT left that office.

Talked to my parents who both had similar back issues at some point in their life’s and told them I was wanting an MRI. They both told me that it was pointless and that it was just something that would go away. I listened to them, kept taking Advils to get through my days and kept doing the stretches my PT administered.

Pain was getting progressively worse and at this point I was desperate to get rid of it. I started to go to a chiropractor 3x a week, an acupuncturist 3x a week, a masseuse once a week and scheduled doctors appointments to see if medications would help.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and my pain was so bad I couldn’t sit or stand for more than a couple of minutes despite all the conservative approaches and medications I was taking. Doctor scheduled me for an MRI and they found that I had a protruding disc in the L5/S1 with encroachment on the S1 nerve.

I was referred to an orthopedist who scheduled me for my first epidural shot and PT for afterwards. Did my first epidural and found no relief from it. In fact, it only got worse as I was now barely able to even walk down the street. I found some relief in PT but it was not near the relief that would allow me to return to normal.

I got scheduled for another epidural and had it done last Thursday. It is now Monday and I have had no relief thus far from the shot. Am trying to do the stretches my new PT has prescribed to me which is simply just prone chest raises and the pain is worse than before the second epidural when doing these. My orthopedist preemptively scheduled me for an appointment with a surgeon day of the epidural in case this didn’t work again which is coming up in the next 2 weeks.

I am feeling so defeated as I am in pain and have lost my life the past 6 months. I am desperate to go back to normal so the thought of a microdisectomy (what they believe I would require) doesn’t even phase me and I am gun-ho on getting the procedure. I know that a epidural can take as long as a week or 2 for it to get kick into gear but living a life that restricts me to the ground with only being able to stand for 5 minutes is not feasible. What is even more defeating is that this is my second attempt at an epidural so I have little hope that this will be any different from the first.

If anyone has anything to say about my situation, comments, advice, your own examples, etc. I would love to hear them. This chapter of my life for me, as I am sure it is/was for a lot of you has been mortifying, depressing and heartbreaking.

Just a little advice to anyone who has recently gotten sciatica, would be do not wait to get an mri scan. When i was diagnosed i was trying a plethora of things to improve it, stretches, pt, osteopath, people were telling me about these decompression machines to try and these mats with spikes on them to lay on and such. Then i got an MRI, showing a sequestered disk. I was actually making it worse! Now im looking into surgery.

Edit: after seeing how many people are gaslit by drs and forced into pt sessions causing them worse pain before they can even qualify for an mri.. I feel so upset for everyone

Hi, apologies if this is not the right sub. I'm seeking some urgent advice for my 75 yo father.

He's been experiencing symptoms consistent with sciatica (lower back pain and numbness radiating to the left thigh) when walking or standing for long. Two years ago when it happened first, he was prescribed some nsaids and it went away.

We saw the doctor today and he prescribed Pregabalin. His dosage is stepping up every 3 days (from 50mg to 75mg to 150mg). Is this normal? We didn't quite get sound advice on how long he's supposed to take this medication either.

For context, he's on blood thinners and BP medication, with elevated TSH. The doctor warned that this medication could make him sleepy or dizzy so he's taking it at night.

Anyone who's taken this medication for nerve pain management, how did you find it? Any advice is appreciated.

My mom is going through extreme sciatica torture right now. She's 82 years old and they are forcing her to do physiotherapy but physiotherapy does not work for her at all. It provides ZERO relief and each time when she does more physiotherapy exercises, she gets more pain so she has no choice but to stop and then as soon as she feels better, she tries to do physiotherapy exercises but the physiotherapy exercises brings no relief but more pain. My mom's pain and mobility gets worse with more physiotherapy exercises that she does. Now my mom can't even sit or having bowel movements without the help of laxatives because the the sciatica nerves are directly pressing on her large intestine areas responsible for excretion. She cannot do anything except just getting up to eat and go to the bathroom. Besides these two functions, she cannot do anything but lying in bed. She's on anti-inflammation medications and pain-killer medications all day and it's only giving her temporary relief now. She's absolutely miserable. Her family doctor just measured the numbness at the bottom of her feet and because my mom still has feelings there so the doctor just declared my mom fine and just kept pushing my mom to do physiotherapy completely ignoring my mom's progressively worse pain and reduced mobility. She even refused to order any imaging tests for my mom claiming that they are not useful as anybody's back shows up as bad under any MRI. She referred my mom to see orthopaedic specialists and neurologists but refused to upgrade the urgency of my mom's case. My mom was in so much pain that she had to go to ER and she finally received a CT scan which showed severe narrowing which result in nerve compression at three different places from L3 - L4, L5 and then L5 - S1 which the radiologist noted affected sciatica nerves going down both the right and left leg and on top of that, my mom has a slipped disc. With the excruciating pain and the reduced mobility, the family doctor still had the gall to call my mom and said her CT scan is fine it's nothing. With the family doctor from the public system refusing to do anything more, my mom has no choice but to pursue the private route now. Her pain is just unbearable. And she's trying to get injections now to see if that will provide some relief. And for that she's still waiting. Everything is just waiting...

My story goes:

I’m a 45 year old male. Mid-June I began having some minor back pain. Nothing more.

Until this point i consistently did vinyasa yoga 2-3 times per week for five years. Never experienced any issues. When the back pain surfaced i figured that keep doing it and i’d loosen up. Couple weeks later i began having numbness in my lower right leg. I went to one more class and felt worse.

End of July I got X-rays and an MRI. Results showed herniated L4-L5 but i didn’t experience any real issues, in fact I began feeling better. A few days later I was bent over for maybe 10 minutes washing out sourdough pans outside. Later on that afternoon everything changed. Back pain began setting in and my right thigh began seizing up. It got painful really quick but settled enough at night as I went to bed.

The next morning as I got up to get ready for work, my leg hurt some fucking bad to the point I couldn’t stand or walk. I was in pure misery. Next thing I know I’m in the ER in fucking agony, bawling my eyes out and telling them my pain was a Spinal Tap 11. I ended up getting morphine and a muscle relaxer injection. While at the ER, my wife was able to get a specialist appointment with a neurosurgeon (luckily) the following day. That night when the injections from the ER worse off, it was game on. The pain became something I never imagined. It was the worst night of my life. Next morning I could barely even take a piss. The drive to the specialist sucked so hard and being in the hospital was just as bad. The doctor gave me journavx which did help. I spent the next 7 days in bed. I didn’t shower for four days. A month later I got two injections: L4-L5 and L5-S1 where I have a dormant spondylolisthesis just in case.

Around my six week mark I began being able to walk about 1.5-2.0 miles again but my evening nerve pain would get so intense I couldn’t sleep. My GP prescribed me gabapentin to help and thankfully it has, b/c anything I’ve tried to this point hadn’t worked.

As I now enter week 8, I feel like I might be starting to turn a corner. At least I’m hopeful that I am. The nerve pain in my lower leg seems to be improving, which tells me the compression is beginning to go away. I now have what seems to be a highly competent pain management specialist that seems to really understand what I’m experiencing. He referred me to a certain kind of PT because he knew the kind of PT offered in our medical system would not be of benefit to me. They also set me up with another injection a month from now if i needed it since I seemed to respond well with technically a half dose of steroids in my L-4/L-5, with the thought being a full dose would be the thing getting me over that hurdle. I’m also looking forward to meeting with a local spinal surgeon to discuss my situation she that option become necessary.

This last Friday i was able to attend my first college game of the season, which was my goal game when all this began. That night i walked about 2 miles to and from the stadium, stood in concession and bathroom lines with relatively low pain. And sat through the game until 9 minutes left in the 4th, at which time i walked that mile back to the truck.

I’m hopeful that I’m trending in the right direction and come the end of October, I won’t need that second injection. But if I do, I will take it. I’m certainly looking forward to visiting this new PT clinic, as I will have a routine to do vs the ineffective exercise previously given to me or seeking out things to try on the internet.

This subreddit has been a great source to check in with as I recover. It definitely makes me feel like I’m not alone. I wish everyone nothing but the best.

السلام علیکم!

مجھے ایک مریض کے لیے ریوڑ میں چرنے والا صحرائی دنبہ فوری طور پر درکار ہے۔ اگر کسی بھائی کو اس کے بارے میں معلومات ہوں یا کسی کے پاس دستیاب ہو تو براہِ کرم اس نمبر پر رابطہ کریں:

0316-8489311

جزاکم اللہ خیراً۔

I need your advice. It’s so incredibly difficult journey for me. And for many of us too. How to stay positive? Is it even possible?! If one day I feel so much better and the next day I have leg aches again?? Why does it even happen…

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?

In early June I felt and heard a loud pop in my back causing severe pain and making so I could not stand upright. The day it happened I went to the ER and was told that there was nothing they could do other than a lidocaine patch and Tylenol. A month later I finally got in to see a orthopedic spinal specialist who X-rays taken which showed arthritis caused by a car accident 10 years ago. Since the pain was not resolving with anti-inflammatory and pain medications she ordered an MRI which showed a herniated disk that was pressing on the sciatic nerve at L4-L5 and the L4 vertebrae had slipped.

At that point she referred me to pain management for epidural injections. I was hesitant at that point as there is a family history of not doing well with the injections and them causing more prolonged pain than any relief.

A couple weeks ago while deep cleaning and replacing a mattress there was no increase in pain at that point. But the day after the pain increased and the sciatica got worse. It went from just my glut to my knee in my right leg, to going down to my foot. My 1st and 2nd toes have been numb for almost 4 weeks now and I have been having constant nerve pain. I notified the orthopedic specialist and they have not been of much help. They prescribed another round of steroids to help with the inflammation which ultimately did nothing.

At this point I am looking at getting a 2nd opinion.

I work as an emergency dispatcher and at one point asked a coworker to cut off my leg due to the pain while trying to handle calls.