Sciatica
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| Sat, 07-12-2008 - 2:31pm |
I'd put this down in the Health Issues section, but I fear it would take a while for someone to respond -
Have you or anyone close had a bout of this? I have joined the club and am miserable. The spinal MD told me last year that the deteriorating disks in my spine could cause "specific problems" from time to time, but didn't elaborate. Guess she figured no sense in warning me about things that might not happen. I've had this for a few weeks and it was really aggravated by all the car/bus/theater sitting last week. The symptoms are classic, pain shoots down my buttock to the ankle and the foot tingles. Not getting much done these days. I can take my standing Darvocet RX but I know it just masks the pain and I could get active and do more damage. Web info suggests 800mg of ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation. Has this worked for others? I'm worried that my spinal nerve may be involved, because one night my poor old bladder just let go when I stepped out of bed.

Sciatica.
The spine MD told me that the good news was as time goes by I should have less pain. The reason is that eventually the disk material deteriorates to point where it can't press on anymore nerves! Now that's worth waiting for.
I suspect my summer bike riding may have brought this on, but who knows. Like you said, it could be anything. I took the heavy dose of ibuprofen and it seems to be helping. We have a DN who is a head nurse at big hospital who told me long ago that difference between OTC and hospital strength meds is theirs is 2x the OTC. They can monitor it's affects closely and the patients feel and behave way better. She says the sad part is that they go home, are told to take a dose 1/2 of what they've been on and then feel miserable. Fortunately, ibuprofen doesn't bother my stomach the way Aleve does. I also stopped taking Aleve because of it's bad habit of raising blood pressure. I have a the pillows arranged on the sofa so I can recline and keep some under the knees, so will resort to watching movies on our new HD TV. I must admit I could get used to being lazy in the summer - LOL
Jacquie
Jacquie, as far as I'm concerned I also agree that with time it gets less and less.
Oh Cal, I hope you cater to yourself and if bothered with the pain give in to it and let it heal itself again.
I have this problem and about three years ago went to a pain management specialist and he
Jeanette,
Thanks for the info - hadn't heard of that procedure. How long did you suffer from sciatica before the MD would do this?
Jacquie
I had suffered several years but it doesn't go by time it is a simple procedure and what I like is you control the amount of pulse it takes to contol the pain. It is something to think about and ask your md. I believe you can look it up on the internet and it will explain much better than I can. But I do know it helps use to hurt so bad I couldn't stand. Hope it's possible for you. I'll try to answer any questions I can for you.
jeanette
Jacquie,
I had a bout of sciatica a while back and I ended up going to PT for nearly 4 weeks. My PT figured out my