Chronic leg pain when sitting and lying down. Please help!

8

8 weeks pregnant with #1

New member
Hello,

For several months now I've had leg pain only on my right leg while sitting and lying down. The pain is mostly in the back of my thigh and also my calf. I've had two different ultrasounds on my leg to check for blood clots but everything checked out fine. My arthritis doctor suggested I have an epidural (steroids) to see if this would stop the pain. He said my L-5 disc on down is herniated but not real bad and he thinks maybe this could be (not certain) causing the leg pain. I've had three shots so far with very limited relief for just a day or two. The doctor wants to try one, possibly two, more shots to see if it works.

I noticed yesterday after a half hour walk I went to lay down for a nap and the pain in my leg was excruciating. The pain was so bad I had to get up and walk to get it to stop. I don't have any pain while walking, only while sitting or lying down. I cannot sit on a hard chair for more than a few minutes at a time. I mostly have to sit on the couch with the recliner up but even that gets uncomfortable after about a half hour or so.

One of the other symptoms I have with this, but not consistently, is an intense heart beat (no pain) and the feeling as if blood is not flowing to my head. Sometimes I can feel my head beat, but again, no pain. I wonder if the problem could be vascular? I looked up claudication as my pain symptoms appear to fit this, however, the pain only comes when I sit or lay down, not while I'm walking. If it was claudication the pain would happen while walking and be relieved while resting according to what I have read.

My primary care doctor and arthritis doctor are both puzzled by this and have no idea what to suggest next. The pain continues to get worse and I am barely able to stand it at times. I've taken pain pills but they do not help at all. I am at the end of my rope and need some suggestions or advice about what I should do. I pray there is someone (or several people) here who can give me some ideas about what they might think is going on with me. Maybe if I can get some suggestions here I can share them with my doctors and see if this will help them figure out what to do next.

I really need some help on this as the pain for the past few days has become unbearable. Does anyone have any suggestions for me to consider?

Thank you.

gwb
 
This may seem like a simple thing to try, but it is inexpensive and natural. It may be you are lacking in magnesium. I am a diabetic and take supplements, in my daily vitamim regimen,In my daily routine I take180 mg. of magnesium, if my legs get twitchy in the night or hurt some what I get up and take another 60 mg. t has sometimes seemed like a miracle at times, how it calms my legs.It wouldn,t hurt for you to do a little research on magnesium, sorry I couldn't be more help.
Sharon
 
The leg pain sounds exactly like what I had when I had a (severe) herniated disc at L4/L5. I had 3 rounds of shots and they helped for a while, but after a few weeks the pain was back.
I'm not sure about the other symptoms you are experiencing, but I can tell you that during the whole time my back/leg pain was severe, my blood pressure was elevated. My blood pressure is almost always 120/80, but it got quite a bit higher when I was having the constant severe leg pain...maybe that is part of your problem?
Hope this helps. Let us know what you find out.
 
mo0622,

Thank you for your response to my questions. That's good to know the shots helped you but it's discouraging to think that you only got relief for a few weeks. What have you done since then to relieve the pain? Do you continue to go back and get more shots or what? I plan to get another shot this Friday. I'm hopeful it will help and give me some long term relief. Hope you are doing better now.
 
Reading your post made me feel better - it's nice to know you aren't the only one.
I have been having the same problem for close to a year and have stumped several doctors. I know they must think it's all in my head.

I didn't notice in your post what type of pain it is and if it is in the flesh or the bone.
Mine is more of a dull achy pain (not a stabbing pain), and at times it's hard to tell - but pretty sure that it's the fleshy part of my leg.

I had been in a car wreck about 10 years ago - my right leg was bruised up pretty good, took many months for the pain and bruising to go away. I was beginning to wonder if that had something to do with the problems now.

Have you found out what your problem is yet? Have you found anything to help with the pain (besides medication)?
 
After the shots I did 4 weeks of physical therapy, but that didn't help -- in fact I really think it made things worse. I ended up having surgery to remove the part of the disc that was herniated. That pretty much solved all of my problems. As soon as I woke up from surgery, I felt much better, even with the surgical pain.
Everyone is different, though. My mom had a herniated disc several years ago after a fall in the shower (I think hers was L5/S1) and was having a lot of the leg pain symptoms, but she had 3 rounds of shots and 6 weeks of physical therapy and has been fine ever since.
I definitely remember the not being able to stand up and the pain pills not helping. I'm sorry you're having to go through this. What kind of tests have you had?
 
Glad to hear you had successful surgery to take care of your back and leg pain. So many people who have back surgery, often times, end up worse off than before. You are fortunate that you got better.

I had an MRI test that revealed my herniated disc. Because the pain has gotten worse the doctor sent me to get a full bone scan last Friday to see if there is something more going on. I'll be getting the results of this test tomorrow. Friday I go back for another shot and soon I will start some kind of therapy. Hopefully the next shot I get will be the one that helps me. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks for sharing your (and your mom's) experience with me. It gives me hope that things could get better.
 
Hey guys earlier last week i started have the same experiences as described here. Leg pain from hip to mid calf when I lie down and sometimes when i sit down. Ive actually been on magnesium for sometime now due to migraines. And tomorrow im going to be seeing my PHCP for my high BP. I was just curious, since my symptoms came out of the blue (meaning i didnt fall or have any trauma) if there are any medications that might cause this. Recently I was diagnosed with Migraines in Oct and since then Ive been put on a regement of medications and have gone through several procedures looking for possible causes. I thought since it seems your doctors are having hard time finding an explanation for this and there seems to be a good number of us we might be able to come up with a commonality. So for the hell of it I thought Id list my medication and procedures and see if there was anything in common.

Topamax
Tizanidine
Floricet
Valium
Tramadol
Promethazine
Sumatriptan

Procedures:
Neck MRI with contrast
Full body Bone Scan

Maybe nothing will come of it, but what can it hurt. I know my legs is killing me and im looking for any answers at this point.
 
Rita like you I was also an avid cyclist for 9 years but took a little break and this started for me about a year after i stopped training. You can see from my previous posting that I now have a confirmed diagnosis which is a herniated disc. It's so clear on the MRI that it's scary. You can see the herniation distinctly pressing on the nerve bundle just where it branches out going to my right leg. The disc is also pressing on the left side a little but I have no symptoms on the left. Anyway I also have problems driving when I have to extend my legs. 30 minutes is about my max. I am not saying you have a herniated disc but here is a common test they do for it. Lie flat on the floor on your back and have someone slowly raise your straightened leg towards the ceiling. If you get a shooting pain down either leg you may have a bulging or herniated disc and should get an MRI.
 
Yeah, I got the results and nothing remarkable showed up on it. The shots aren't working for me so I decided to see another orthopedic doctor and get a second opinion. After he twisted my leg around and poked me here and there he concluded that the problem is in the hamstring muscle. At least part of the problem is that and there is a possibility that on the lower part of my leg (my calf) something else is involved. I will be seeing a vascular doctor soon and will get therapy for the hamstring muscle to see if that improves the pain I'm experiencing. Still no solution to the pain but hopefully we are getting closer to solving it. Thanks for asking. :)
 
gwb- how are things going for you? I ran across your post while searching for some ideas on my problem, which lately has been exactly like yours. I get leg pain when lying down on either my right side or back in bed. I am able to sleep on the left side. I also feel an increased heart beat lately like you mentioned. My blood pressure has always been low but recently its been much "stronger" and my BP is higher than normal without explanation. Ive had MRIs, shots, various meds, been dealing with this for 1.5 years now.

It started as low back pain for me which made its way down into the leg, shooting pains, pain in foot even. Also have pain in hips and right buttocks. The problems with leg pain while sleeping are new, I used to be able to sleep through the night.
 
Its 2:41am and I'm online researching this because i cannot sleep due to the pain in my right leg. Your symptoms sound exactly like mine. Its been going on for about a month now. sometimes I feel some pain in my left leg also, but usually just in my right. I'm seeing a regular doctor tomorrow and I'll take this info I learned from you to discuss. Next week I have an appointment with a chiropractor. I originally thought it was vascular, since that seems to be the route of the pain, but am thinking might also be my sciatic nerve. My blood pressure is also elevated. Keep posting your results please.
 
Well here is an update on my situation. I had an MRI which showed that l5/s1 is now herniated and pressing on the s1 nerve on the right side which is causing my symptoms. I have horrible nights because about 4 or 5 hours into lying down my leg throbs badly in the calf area. When I do get up in the mornings infer stabbing pains in butt and hip and going down the right leg. I take a vicodin and a motrin at the same time and in about an hour I feel better for about 4 or 5 hours.

I got my 4th injection on Monday which was a caudal. It's been 7 days but the first few days I felt a little better. Since about the 4th day I'm gradually worsening again. In the past I've had an epidural spine injection and a sacroiliac injection. The worst was the sacroiliac as far as discomfort getting the shot. I woul love to just have a week of no pain it's been tough lately. I'm going to start a 8 week chronic pain class. I continue to do piriformis, hamstring stretching daily. I may start yoga again. Basically just trying to avoid what is starting to look inevitable- surgery.
 
I have had 3 back surgeries and a spinal fusion at the L4 L5. Lately been having a lot of pain in my legs when I lie down at night. Only way I found I can sleep is on my stomach with a SMALL pillow positioned under my hips. Physical therapist told me about this years ago and it does work. Takes the pressure off if the pain is caused by the back.
 
Hey GWB have you ever foud a solution to your leg pain?

I have bee havig the same issue for over 4 years, have seen several doctors, orthos, chiro's neurologist and other specialist.


I have had back shots and it only helps for a few days.

I have had bone scans, MRIs, Bone aspirations, everything and they can't find out what is wrong.

Please if anyone else has had this problem and foud a solution let me know.
 
I am having pain in my legs at night when I lay down to sleep. It is most often in just my right leg. It also bothers me while sitting in a car for over 30 minutes and can get very bothersome after about an hour in the car. I keep switching positions trying to get relief.
This pain does not occur while in a standing position. In fact I am an avid walker and cyclist and the pain does not interfere with those activities at all.
Many of these post talk about spinal problems but I have none. I do however get awakened by a very intense heartbeat but I do not have high blood pressure either.
I came to this site hoping for some answers but it sounds like everyone is just guessing.
Someone out there must know something since so many of us are plagued by this. HELP!
 
I have had a deep pain in my right thigh for around 10 years.
It comes on around one hour after I go to bed and I have to get up
and shake the leg for around the count of 100 and back to bed for a couple of hours
until it wakes me again with the pain and I do the same thing get up and shake.
I do this three times every night and was told it could be fibromyalgia.
I am certainly fed up with it as I would love to sleep right through the night.
I also have Arrythmia so my heart beats out of sync. and on tablets for this but
they sometimes do not do the job and I have to take a bit extra and lay down.
It's a real pain in the....lol
All the best
Locket
 
Back
Top