Sciatica

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msgenerallee

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naproxen is an anti-inflammatory, not a pain med- although it can and does relieve pain if the problem is inflammation. if the nerve is inflammed it should help. 250mg is not strong- i take 500 mg 2x a day. it isnt gonna knock you out, so dont worry on that. and going from naproxen or tramadol to morphine? that is too much of a jump- lots of meRAB in between those two.. morphine is the last resort when nothing else works and is very addictive. i would ask for one of the meRAB in between- hydrocodone, oxycodone, or the like.... and i think i would be hunting a new doctor... the steroid injections my pcp has given me are not the same formulation (not as strong) as what a pain dr uses and they can give you a shot in the hip (the meaty part). or they can give you an anti-inflammatory shot in the hip- goes to the source quicker than the pill..
 
It's really a shame how we have to "get used to the pain". People are always asking me how I go to work or walk around when they can see I'm in agony and I always say I'm used to it. I know it's awful to have to wait so long when in pain, but I am hoping for you that your pain will subside over time. It is actually quite common for that to happen over a few weeks to maybe couple months. It certainly does not make one's current pain feel any better, though. So I'll keep my fingers crossed that while you are waiting to see a doc or waiting to try some other meRAB, that your pain will gradually decrease. YOu might also want to try to find out if there are any positions whatsoever that make your pain even slightly less severe. Lord knows I've done that. LIke while walking, I had to keep my left leg bent at the knee a little, so yes, of course I walked funny, but while straight my pain was worse. In my car, I put a black garbage bag on the seat which helps sooooooooo much to get in & out of the car. Once you're sitting on it, You can just kind of move your whole body facing out the door at once by using your arms to push from the steering wheel. You might want to try using ice or heat or alternating both, to see if any help in the least. I think you're in the UK. I'm not sure if you have over the counter anti-inflammatories such as Ibuprofen or Aleve, or Orudis. If you do, you might want to try taking them, but with these meRAB, they work better if taken on a schedule, not just here and there. But you dont' want to take those for longer than the bottle says either.
 
Hello there! I am sorry to hear about all the pain you are in and yet I can relate to alot of you on here. I am fairly new and have yet to really post...still new and trying to figure out how this all works...lol...I to have been dealing with ALOT of nerve pain...a quick one on me...I had a fall at work and herniated the L4-5 in May of '09, first surgery was early july...yet before surgery everything that blew out laid on the sciatica nerve and affected the left leg....I wanted someone to blow or cut the leg off...then I had an episode of where I felt like I had a knee sock on tht was on fire...well after the surgery the pain was gone yet the nurabness from knee down was not. Went to therapy for I am not sure how long was sent then for a MRI with contrast dye...well the vertabrea collapsed...so I was offered a two level spinal fusion..that was done early April of '10...by mid aug. the PAIN began in the right leg...so I have a bum left left and severe pain in the right leg....the only relief I get is to be in bed. I have tried many of the medications you all have mentioned in your post to no avail they either didnt help or the side effects were to severe. The orthopedic told me there was no operation for scar tissue pain because it will form again so he sent me to Pain Management...so far they have tried two Transformial ESI and also gave my issue a name FBSS (failed back surgery syndrome)...the injections did not help and so I am in the process of going to be trying the Spinal Stimulator Implant and this is something without the use of any medications. From what I have gathered reading on the internet and the information the Pain Doctors have given me this works somewhat like a tens unit only better...it is implanted in you so there is no messing around with the wire and corRAB yeah!! Maybe this is something you can look into and mention to your doctors?
I know very well what it is to be a prisoner of pain...I have been nearly bed ridden since mid aug.....I am on a time clock to pain...mornings are better for me and give me oh maybe 2 or 3 hours and bam!!! the pain starts and off to bed I go. I have told my family doctor, orthopedic and the pain doctors if this is how I must live the rest of my life not being able to sit stand walk due to the pain well then go in and cut the nerve....ha the orthopedic told me oh you arent in the right frame of mind meaning I was depressed....I said ya! I am depressed wouldnt you be to if you were use to getting up at 4:30am to go to work be on your feet all day going and going and then go home and work in the yard til 9:30pm everyday more or less lead a "normal" active life to being able to do Nothing at least if I was in a wheelchair sure I would be depressed yet I could overcome that and learn to live my life in dealing with that then to be in so much pain day in and day out....can the docotrs understand this all unless they have gone through it. I wish you all the best and take a look into the Spinal Stimulator it may be something you all may want to try if all else is failing you! :)
Sonya
 
Hi all! I have been suffering with a bad back for several months, not really bothered me but it seemed to affect my legs. Mainy the calves! I put up with this for ages. I ignored it for ages until I woke up one morning and had extreme pain down my left leg. It started in the calve and would goto my knee and thigh.
Hospital told me they suspect a prolapsed disc in my luraber something. They said it would cause sciatica. As I'm in a lot of pain they told me I will have an emergency MRI scan, which they told me would take 4-6weeks. YAY!
I have just been told I have also got a tear behind my knee. All this in the same leg! I have tryed all sorts of painkillers but nothing has worked. If I could just ease the pain so I could sit and stand it wouldn't be so bad. Been laying on my back for 4weeks now and depression is starting to kick in.
Any advice/tips/suggestions?

Sorry for any spelling errors, typing this on my iPhone as I can't sit up to use a computer!

Thanks again!
 
I absolutely agree that the jump to morphine is way too fast. Morphine is very powerful and there are a lot of medications to try before that route is taken....vicodin is one of them and there are others. I would not go to morphine as once you go there, it is harder to control post op pain should you need surgery. In truth, I find it a bit scary that any dr would want to put a pt on morphine without having tried other meRAB first.

As I mentioned before, lyrica or neurontin are good medications to control nerve pain. Along with a medication like hydrocodone it can be very effective. If you have any choice in the matter, I really think you would be better off in finding another doctor.

Please keep us informed, will you? I am concerned.

Carol
 
4-6 weeks wait for an emergency mri scan?? that is nuts, you need one NOW !
i have had sciatica myself and it is painful ! sciatic nerve runs from your lurabar spine thru hip and down to your foot. sciatica means that nerve is pinched along the way. it could be pinched in the lurabar spine or in the hip or even knee- but the most common is lurabar or hip.
i would tell my pcp to refer you to an orthopaedic dr or pain dr that can get you scheduled for an mri asap. pcp can also give you a steroid injection or anti-inflammatory injection in the hip that may help on a more short term basis until you can get to a specialist.. a pain mgmt dr can also give you an injection in your hip or sac joint that should help- i had one in my left hip socket & the results were instant relief that lasted a long time.. sometimes muscle relaxers will help. good luck with that & keep us posted..
 
I have had sciatica and yes, it is torturous. It is nerve pain and I think nerve pain is one of the worst pains there is. I mean when you burn yourself, it's your nerve endings causing the pain. My sciatica felt as if someone sliced my open from my rear down to my ankle and was pouring rubbing alcohol in it all day, 24/7. I had mine for 3 months. I can soooo sympathize with you. That pain consumes every part of your being, especially when you can't sit, you cant' stand and you cant lie down. For myself, no oral meRAB ever helped that pain...nothing. I never did take anything as strong as morphine, but I took the percocets, roxicets, vidodin, vicoprofen, etc. Not any of it helped me at all. The only thing that did help me was getting a nerve block done. Well, vicodin might have helped a tad. It also depenRAB on how severe my nerve pain is. The more severe mine gets, the less anything works. Getting shot up with steroiRAB seems to be the only that gives me a lot of nerve pain reflief...at least until the steroiRAB wear off. THat long bout of sciatica I had, though, was mainly caused by probably scar tissue jammed inside up against my nerve. I think the nerve block also flushed out the tissue. But even now, I have nerve pains in both hip areas, groin, all across my entire pelvic girdle. I've had this for years now, worsening over time. Sometimes it flares up so bad I can barely walk. I recently found out exactly where this nerve pain was coming from from getting more ESI's. It's unbelievable to me what a huge difference the steroiRAB make for me. However, in this case, the ESI's effect only last about 2 weeks for me. It lasted a little less in my neck, which is another whole story. I have been taking tramadol, lyrica, and soma for a few yrs now. The soma helps my normal spasms a lot, the tramadol helps only my arthritis pain, it never helps my nerve pain, adn the lyrica, well, I'm not even sure it's doing anything for me anymore. Of course, everyone is different and reacts differently to medications. What works for one wont necessarily work for another, but there are many different ones to try.

I just feel so bad that you have to be made to wait soooo long and I can totally relate to what you're going through.
 
Sciatica originates from a pinched nerve in the lurabar or sacral disks in your back, so you really need a basic x-ray of your spine, am MRI to see what's happening, also an EMG to see what level the nerve is being pinched at. I just had that test and found out my L4 and L5 disks are severely degenerated and are severely pinching the sciatic nerve and the source of the pain. The pain level you explain is classic sciatica. You need a good pain doctor and a neurologist for nerve pain, in my hurable opinion. Anti-inflammatories, yes, and a prescription muscle relaxant for the spasms. I'm sorry you are in so much pain! There are solutions, and you need physicians to help you at this point. My pain is mostly in my low back, buttocks and down my left leg and is horrendous. At this point I'm probably looking at back fusion. Maybe yours can be caught in time to prevent that.
 
Thanks for the reply! An extreme longwait for an emergency MRI I know, but that's the crappy nhs in the uk ! I was told I would get a meeting with a "pain management team" but I haven't yet. My doctor told me I cannot have a steroid injection as he cannot pinpoint where the pain is starting.
My doc is pretty useless, he gave me a drug called tamadol. Which after taking was rushed to hospital as it totally screwed me up! Tbh I'm sick and tired of all the pills they have given me. 16pills a day for almost 3weeks now and nothing takes the pain away. The only thing that seems to help a bit is ibuleve gel.
At the start of all this I had symphtons for Cauda Equina Syndrome (CES) which I was tested and they told me I do not have it but it could develope. I'm kinda a shy guy and the testing they did really was erabrasing!

Thanks again for the reply and sorry for any spelling mistakes.
 
i have only tried one esi at c3/4 with NO relief. dr wants to try them in lurabar, but i have to wonder if it would help. if you only have one issue in a disc area is one thing,but to have several in the same disc is another and the esi will not help them all. that is what my rheum told me in 2008 and he advised against it.the one i had in my neck- my bp and heartrate were going high then low over and over out of the normals for me. if my bp drops too much i will pass out-been there done that in this same dr office from a trigger point injection..
but yes, meRAB affect people differently. esi help some, but not others. just like the hip socket injection i had in 2005, it was instant relief for a very long time for my sciatica.
if you could get a script (or even some samples first) of the Lidoderm patch to put on your lower back or other spots- the lidocaine in the patches is absorbed thru the skin to the nerves. they really help my neck pain at night while i am sleeping. the only thing that prevents me from waking up with neck pain.
 
i agree, a neurologist and a pain dr ... luckily for me my neurologist IS also a pain mgmt dr & even does mri's, ncv & acupuncture as well as esi's etc in his office. or if you can find a pain clinic that has a neurologist there in addition to pain dr. so much easier when you have one dr that does both if having nerve pain & other pain as well.. the only downside to my dr, he is the only one in the office, so he does everything, but usually not that long a wait, he really waste no time..
 
Hi, jimmyjoejoe. I'm so sorry you are having such a difficult time with this. It's a shame it takes so long for an "emergency" procedure. It certainly doesn't speak well for nhc, does it?

Tramadol is a good drug for nerve pain and it's really a shame that you had such a bad reaction to it. There are a couple of other medications that work for nerve pain such as lyrica and neurontin, so you might consider asking your dr. about those in the lowest possible dosage. Hopefully, you would be able to tolerate one of them. Does your dr. have you on any kind of painkiller?

You said you have symptoms of cauda equina.....that isn't something that gets better, it gets worse over time. Do you still have any problems with controlling your bladder or bowels? What kind of "test" did they do for it?

BTW, is your doctor a spine specialist or just your family doctor? It would be best if you can get in to see an orthopedic spine specialist or a neurosurgeon who limits his practice mostly to spinal issues. They are the best at diagnostics and treatment for your back and can often see things on an MRI that would otherwise be missed.

Please stay in touch and let us know how you are doing.

Best wishes......

Carol
 
Hi again! Im going to talk to my doctor on Monday about the medication you have suggested! Just had a long soak in the bath with some epsom salt. the pain seems worse in the morning although im starting to get use to the pain now!
even tho i hope this goes away soon, i cannot imagine having this rubbish for months.

thanks again
 
Thank You for your suggestions hobbes50....I already had a MRI w/contrast dye to see where and why so much pain and this is all due to scar tissue formation from already having a Spinal Fusion done in early April of 2010....this was my second surgery the first was back in early July 2009....I fell at work and herniated the disc L4-5....before the first surgery everything blew out and affected the left leg withe the pain, nurabness and weakness....pain was gone for this leg (left one) yet nurabess and weakness remained. I went to therapy for months to no avail of regain feeling etc. sent for 1st MRI with contrast dye it showed the vertabrea collasped...that is when the Spinal Fusion was offered double level L4-5 and S1...this was done early April of 2010 by mid Aug of 2010 that when the pain began in the Right leg....deep in buttock, down the back of thigh wrap the knee and the back of the heel....I cant sit stand walk for any length of time...the only relief was to be in bed. Nuerontin was tried side affects were horrible...anti-imflamatories...anit depressants and the list goes on....Had second MRI with contrast dye to find out scar tissue formation is the cause....I did as they suggested walk walk walk is the best therapy after surgery....no bend twisting lifting etc....no operation to take care of scar tissue pain because it will only form again...so I was sent to very good Pain Management Doctors....I had two Transformial ESi to no avail so the next in line to try is the Spinal Stimulator Implant....I much rather give this a try instead of trying all kinRAB of drugs (which have been tried) . My fingers are crossed in hopes that the Spinal Stimulator works I am so very tired of not having a life being stuck in bed the majority of the time due to the pain....I often wonder did I weigh my options enough when offered the Spinal Fusion....I was told the vertabrea collapsed my age was there so I went for it in thinkig as I age more I was sure the vertabrea would collapse more (ya know how gravity hits ya lol) had I known more about scar tissue and the pain it could cause hummmm I dont know...I feel like I am back to square one from where I was before the first operation only I have a bum left leg and a right leg filled with so much pain....my fingers are crossed that I will soon regain somewhat of a life again.
I wish you the best and always remeraber you are not alone!
Sonya
 
Hi Carol! Thanks for the reply! My doctor is a family doctor. Just taps away on the computer and gives out pills, lucky if he even looks at you!
My bladder And bowel seems to be returning to normal, still a few problems. I have been referred to an orthopedic clinic but have yet to get an appointment.
The tests that the hospital did was, testing my reflexes, trying to bend me about, checking for nurabness, and using cream and a finger... You can probably guess what came next! The tamadol, I was told I was given too strong of a dose.nim 9st and was on 100mg in the space of hours I took 4 tablets and that was it, horrible feeling. At the moment I am on naproxen 250mg. The next step they told me would be morphine.

I heard of siatica before but I never knew it was this painful! I guess my knee problem doesn't help things either. I'm 24, not very active person but have a heavy lifting job. Starting to consider different job types now. I heard once you have had siactia it will be a problem for the rest of your life? God I hope not!
It's now Friday and hospitals and doctors seem to "shut down" over the weekend. I'm very worried of trying other painkillers. After the tramadol inncident I don't want to experience anything like that again!

Thanks again
 
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