If sciatica were a person I would murder him

[challny]

My ongoing tale of sciatica madness. I actually thought I might be seeing light at the end of the tunnel today ... but no. It's not so bad during the day, but once I lay down it's pure misery. No chance for sleep as my hip/leg/ankle are on fire. This unrelenting pain begins to take not only a physical but a psychological toll on you. I know nobody has ever died from sciatica; they just wish they did. This has been going on for more than two weeks. My COPD seems like a case of the sniffles in comparison. I've been to the doctor (nurse practitioner) and will see the real doctor Thursday. I've been gulping handfuls of gabapentin along with four of five aspirin. You know what makes me angry? There are drugs out there that could eliminate this pain in the blink of an eye. But they won't give them to you anymore. Of course, what I really want is to get to the root of the problem. Hopefully that process begins Thursday. I have suffered bouts of sciatica for years, but nothing like this. The days are long when you can't close your eyes at night.

[HungryHufflepuff]

Hopefully your appointment Thursday will be good, and things start to improve for you. It sounds horrendous 😔

I know it doesn’t do anything to help relieve your pain but, sending you lots of good wishes 👍

[sassy59]

Fingers crossed for Thursday and you being lots better soon. I know there’s no overnight cure but you need some relief right now.

Try and sleep when you can. Xxxx

[challny in reply to sassy59]

Hi, all. Back up at 3:30 a.m. So I got a couple of hours sleep. I'm sure docs can do something for me. This is an extremely common ailment and they must see it all the time.

[sassy59 in reply to challny]

Thinking of you xxxx 🤞🏼

[Camellia123]

Sciatica is caused by a tight piriformis muscle. This muscle extends from the middle of the sacrum (triangular bone at the base of the spine in the pelvic region). It gets tight and constricts the sciatic nerve. If you stand on both feet as you would normally stand, your foot will be turned outwards (laterally) on the effected side. It is a short muscle. It laterally rotates the leg. Stand on both feet equally and turn you body towards that effected foot - stand there for a while. This will stretch the muscle. As this will have been going on for some time it will take a little time to stretch it out, however, you can do it any time, anywhere. as soon as it hurts-repeat the procedure

[challny in reply to Camellia123]

That really hurts