Quote:
Originally Posted by Leesa
I can reiterate, that ice is the chosen treatment for sciatica. I was told by my neurosurgeon to use it for 20 minutes every 2 hours, and it DOES help.
I've had severe sciatica for 26 years due to a couple of botched surgeries. My doctor put me on the Fentanyl patch along with Methadone, and that has WORKED to ease the pain of sciatica. It's been a miracle for me. Nothing before this has worked at ALL -- and believe me, I've tried it all thru the years!
This is supposed to be the treatment for "hard to treat patients." 
Perhaps if you asked your doc to try it, he would. I can only hope. I've tried the Tens Unit, I've had the Spinal Cord Stimulator implanted, and nothing worked. So like I said, this has been a miracle.
I wish you the very best. God bless. Hugs, Lee |
Thanks Lee and everyone for the input...
I've been told that this is sciatica, and I can tell that it is related to a nerve because of the
type of pain it is -shooting, burning, 'zapping' kinda pains on top of hard ache, with numbness and tingling in my foot, and reduced skin sensation below the knee. Sometimes I'll be able to
deal with the ache, with relaxation techniques, etc, and then it will hit me like I'm being poked in the butt cheek, or anywhere on my leg with a cattle prod- a hot poking jolt of lightning kind of pain that well, (pardon me if you haven't heard the saying) but it makes me feel like I'm going to p.ss down my leg!
And on rare occasions, I have lost some degree of bladder control.
Again, with this being related to work comp, its difficult to get through red tape to do anything. This has been going on for more than 2 years now. My lawyer sends me to a dr, who says one thing, then the ins co. sends me 3-6 months later to their dr who says the opposite. So then we go to court in another 3-6 months, and the court tells the ins co that they have to pay for x, y or z, and then it takes another 3 months to get somewhere to get x, y or z.
I don't know what to do, but I thought I could get some input here because I am tired of waiting on them to figure it out, and tired of being an invalid.
If I lay on my back and lift my leg, it hurts clear down my leg before I get my foot 4 inches from the floor, and I can feel it painfully 'pop' or 'snap' in my back on the up and down motion. Sometimes I feel like if I could just stretch my back out enough then it would 'pop' back as it should be, but of course that doesn't happen. The other day I had a friend pull on my leg until my back popped, and it felt great on my back but then my whole leg went numb. So I'm terrified to try too much.
It just seems like there's got to be SOMETHING that I can do other than sit and hurt!
What I've tried, and the results:
Neurontin -started at 300mg 3x/day up-ed to 1200mg 3x/day- PMS type mood swings varying from moderate to severe, dependent upon dosage, severe lethargy/sleepiness, also related to dosage.
Lyrica- 100mg 2x day - Severe mood swings and suicidal thoughts, partner says I wasn't myself at all, as if I'd been on a 3 day bender (and I don't drink) but I remember nothing I said or did for the 5 days I took the Lyrica.
I will never take Lyrica again, and am reluctant to do Neurontin again after the sever Lyrica reaction since they are similar in nature and I did have some bad effects with it before.
Similarly, some have mentioned Cymbalta, but I don't want to take anything that affects brain chemistry in those ways - I had bad reactions to tricyclic antidepressants many years ago.
Advil, Aleve, prescription strength Naproxen, Celebrex, Mobic - no relief at all and a lot of stomach problems
Hydrocodone/APAP - started at 5/500 3-4x/day, now at 7.5/500 3-4x/day
it works to bring pain to tolerable level but does not get rid of it enough for me to do much moving around.
Ultram - 100mg 3-4x/day (I'm *supposed* to take no more than 6 50mg tabs a day, but find myself trying to take it instead of the Hydrocodone so I don't run out of hydrocodone before the doc will refill.)
The P.A. who has been prescribing/refilling my hydrocodone did offer oxycodone at one point, but I am terrified of becoming addicted. Isn't that a common addiction? I've never been addicted to anything before, unless you count cigarettes ( I quit smoking 18 months ago) but I can fully understand how one can so enjoy the relief from pain that they become addicted to the source of relief! I may be 'addicted' to my heating pads! (see below)
ICE- doesn't work for me at all, in fact, cold, as it is here in KS, makes it worse.
I have been b#tched at for sitting on my heating pads because it does eventually burn my skin, but the heat is literally the best help there is-
If I go to the store, even medicated, for an hour, I ache so bad I am in tears by the time I get home, and cannot wait to get back on the heat to relieve some of the pain.
That's why I wondered if ultrasound therapy might help. A friend gave me an Amazon gift certificate for Christmas, and I've seen some relatively inexpensive TENS units and Ultrasound therapy machines there, but I just don't know if they'd work or specifically how to use them.
If anyone knows how to use these things, please let me know, and if anyone knows any specific stretches or exercises or anything at all that can help, I'm all ears!
THANKS TO ALL !