vanity: sciatic nerve pain: how did you deal with it?

self | 11/28/2006 | RaceBannon

[RaceBannon]

I may have a blown disk, my L5, sciatic nerve pain is phenominal.

[finnman69]

Excercise, the only way to make it go away. You need to strenghten your lower back. Try a stair master.

If it so bad you can barely walk try cycling.

I had two bad episodes this year, so bad I had to stay at home for days. I could not sit in a chair. Very hard to find a comfortable position. Make sure you have an ergonomic chair.

[finnman69]

also, don't know how you did it, but obviously lifting things the wrong way will cause the problem.

I pinched my nerve lifting heavy objects with my back, not my knees. I even are agravated it opening a stiff window.

I was in pure agony for a week, took tons of nuprin which abrely helped, hot pads helped a little. I had annoying uncomfortable numbness from my ass down my leg for weeks.

It went away all by it self after excercising a bit more.

[finnman69]

and lots of stretching

[My Favorite Headache]

I go through bad sciatic fits...real bad. I use acupuncture from one of the best in the state..a Chinese M.D. who also was a heart doctor as well. Reflexology and a deep tissue massage therapist.

The combonation decreased my pain by 70%.

[Cold Heat]

Taking oxycodone nightly, tonight, twice within 3 hours

Welcome to the chronic pain club....(sheepish sarcasm)

I use Oxy and maximum doses of Ibuprofen. It will get to your stomach eventually, but it helps and works better.

There is nothing you can do about the breakthrough pain spikes. Nothing helps with that except higher and higher doses of Oxy which will cause you huge problems when you try to reduce the dose. It is best not to go there if you can help it...Drug dependency initiates quickly....within weeks and it can turn into addiction.

Ask for OxyContin if the pain is around the clock. I will give you about ten hours or so. But you still need the ibuprofen. The Oxy will make it work better. I take four to five 200MG at a time, every 4 hours.

[I. Ben Hurt]

You aren't going to know how to treat your pain until you get an MRI and find out what is wrong. After I had pain like you described for about ten months, I finally had back surgery three weeks ago. I now have two titanium pins in my back but the very next day after surgery the sciatic nerve pain and pain down my leg was gone and is still gone. I have to wear a back brace for three months with no lifting or bending just lots of walking. I am already tired of the brace but I'm so grateful to be rid of that awful pain and to not be living on pain pills.

Good luck to you.

[Mamzelle]

Find a pain management clinic with a good rep--this will be hard to do, you'll have to talk to a lot of docs and nurses and any connections you might have. I know of some people who have had good results with a series of epidurals for other neck/spine/back pain. Ask about it. Muscle relaxers are not as addictive as the narcs--ask about them, too. Take a close look at any clinics with a lot of foreign-sounding names and accents.

[RaceBannon]

I take 4 tylenols with each pain pill

You should go back and read this thread, it is funny in a way

One thing I learned, evry person with a bad back always think they are the best expert

I didnt like some advice I got once, but followed it anyways, and my back went out MAJOR doing the stretch the idiot advised.

Nowadays, I always preface my advice with the comment: YOUR BACK PROBLEM IS YOUR PROBLEM, AND NO TWO PROBLEMS ARE ALIKE!!

I just wish this was NOT a workman's comp issue, I would be insisting on an MRI immediately, but since it is workman's comp, and there is a resident doctor and therapy department on the company site, I have no say!!

( until I call a lawyer and ask if I do... he he he)

[Cold Heat]

Yeah, workman's comp issues and backs can be time consuming and you might need to squeak a bit to get attention. But i would suggest you give them some time to go through all the motions. I was once a business owner, so I saw the process in action, and they will likely x-ray first and resist MRI unless some doctor says they MUST have one and this is what takes time.

I never had any luck with Tylenol at any dose. It seems to work with some and not on others...If it works for you then great, but I just buy that cheap noname stuff by the hundreds at walmart. I don't take it at night because of the stomach pains I have developed over the years. I've been eating the stuff for 6 years. I know what is causing the stomach pain so I change to that 12 hour stuff at night. Tylenol is simply worthless to me, but you should try the Ibuprofen once to see if it is better. You can take more than 4000 MG per day (need to check the med website), but I don't take that much. They also make a 1000MG pill.

Yes, everyone has a answer for back pain. Mine is in my hips which is the same nerve pathways. The pain is inexplicable. I need several surgeries, and I'm simply unwilling to go through all that....Just can't do it...Ive lost 4 inches in height, and there is no telling what bones will crap out next.

Good luck!

[Mamzelle]

How come you can't buy your own MRI?

[RaceBannon]

for a grand?

Yeah, I got that in my back pocket right now...

[cyborg]

Try yoga.