Hello Jodie, and welcome to NeuroTalk. As Abbie mentioned in her reply, your symptoms sound very much like sciatica.

My hubby gets similar symptoms and a visit to the neurosurgeon was just as disappointing to him as your doctor appointment sounds like for you. The surgeon told him his vertebrae had crumbled far too much to be able to operate on. There wasn't even enough stable bone to allow for pins and plates to be inserted to stabilise the afffected areas. He also has several bulging discs pressing on nerves (most of the lumbar discs).

What's given my husband any relief at all is gentle exercise, TENs mahine, massage, certain pain killers and magnets.

What seems to be the most effective when the pain is severe, is for him to lie flat on the floor with his buttocks up close against a chair, and his legs up and bent so the back of them rest against the front of the chair, and from the knees down are actually on the seat of the chair.

This position puts the body into a "Z" shape, and relieves all pressure off the sciatic nerve..... Instant pain relief! As soon as you stand up again the pressure on the sciatic nerve returns, but it sure is nice to have that period of pain relief.

If it is sciatica this will give you temporary relief, so give it a try and let us know if it works for you or not.