Hi! I'm a 25 year old, obese girl. Just a brief history: April 2019, severe left leg sciatica for a year and surgery due to large bulging disc and stenosis in L4/L5. June 2020, severe lower back pain: diagnosis was lumbar strain. 9 Nov 2020, severe sciatica on left leg again. Prescribed with arcoxia and it works. 7 Dec 2020, MRI of lower back with results: slight protrusion in L4/L5.
Doctor says my latest MRI should not cause a large amount of pain. So I'm still on arcoxia till end of Jan to see how it goes. He mentioned if it doesn't get better he suggests to remove the disc and replace it with screws.
Today, the arcoxia suddenly stops working as much as before. It's extremely painful and today, I have a "lumbar strain" again I think. It's painful standing straight. I'm tired of having these repeated left leg/lower back pain.
Did anyone go through anything similar? Any tips to handle this? All the stretches doesn't seem to help, my only comfortable position is lying on my right side. Is it my muscles? Any stretches that personally works? I keep thinking too much, there is a dent in my left shin, could that be the cause? Is it my hip? Please, would appreciate any tips to handle this pain. Thank you in advance 🙏
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Moorose
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There is another joint that could be causing this problem or at least contributing to it, and that is the sacroiliac joint (SIJ). The clue that jumped out at me was that you have pain in your left leg, and you can only lay on your right side. Often the only comfortable position someone can get into with SIJ dysfunction is on the opposite side to the one that is not right.
At the turn of the 20th century doctors thought that 'low back pain' was caused by problem in the SIJ, then in the 1930s someone came along that suggested that it could be a disc problem in the spine. That carried on for a while and people sort of forgot about the SIJ and its contribution.
Then when they started using MRIs on people they realised that not everyone had problems in the spine or with discs. But rather than thinking things through logically and looking again at the contributions of the SIJ, they just assumed that there was 'no cause' for the pain.
I have just come out of a bad flareup of my SIJ, and in talking to others about it, it seems SIJ problems are one of the most painful situations they have ever had.
As for what to do, as the specialist physio that did a telephone assessment with me says, you have to let it burn itself out. For me I could only tolerate a week of tramadol, and the naproxen gave me headaches too, but I managed three weeks with ibuprofen and PPIs before my stomach complained. (GP told me to take ibuprofen for three weeks, normally people shouldn't take it for that long). The only other thing that has helped is heat. I had three hot water bottles on the go, one for my back, one on my hip, and one on the top of my leg. And once the extreme pain was subsiding, keeping active. I am finding now 10 weeks in that if I sit for too long (it is only in the last three weeks that I have even been able to sit down) that it makes the pain in my pelvic and upper leg really bad. I have to walk a bit every 30 minutes to keep things from going stiff and painful again.
I hope that might help a bit, to give you another idea about what it could be.
Hi cyberbarn! I am really so thankful for this!! I went to read up more on the SI Joint issue and yes, it seems to fit the case, because there is this nagging ache around the top of my buttock area, but I didn't think much of it. I also watched Bob and Brad's YouTube videos on this and it seems that I am positive for the "Test for SI Joint Pain" I will bring this up to the orthopaedic in a month's time and look out for physical therapy for this. As for sitting, yes I usually lie on my side or stand, or walk. I just cannot seem to sit for more than 10 mins too, and I'm working in the office. Really appreciate this, and hopefully the pain will subside. Thank you and stay safe! 😀
Hi and I am sorry you are suffering so much with this and I understand how debilitating this can be.
My story is that I too have suffered with severe sciatica and lower back pain for years. I was diagnosed with a couple of issues in my lower back - spinal stenosis, sequestered disc fragment (L4/L5) and spondylolisthesis. I eventually had a bilateral decompression and spinal fusion in Oct 2017.
After the surgery I was still in a lot of pain and I (and my surgeon) were disappointed as I focused on the surgery and it giving me a much more active and "normal" life! I was pretty gutted tbh and was told I appeared to have nerve damage and now chronic pain but thankfully due to having a good relationship with my surgeon and he felt his op looked like it had "helped" my lumbar spine, he wanted to check every possible cause for this pain and didn't want to miss any other cause for the continuing pain.
So...after more xrays, scans and CT guided injections I have now been told that my SI joints have also contributed/caused my pain. It was complicated as I did have issues with lumbar spine too but I too am suffering as much if not more so now. I have been referred to my surgeon's colleague to consider SI fusion, which I am not sure about but I will see him and discuss options as I am very immobile and in so much pain too.
I am not sure if the lumbar issue has eased off a bit now as although my pain is really bad and limiting it does seem to be lower in my back and I suspect my pain now is probably my SI problem now. I am sorry to have brayed on a bit but thought my story kind of resonates with your experience.
I struggle to control my pain and have completed a Pain Management Programme early this year which has helped me but it is very much a work in progress. I have gut issues so I am limited to what I can take but to try to ease the pain I take paracetamol (max dose), put on Ralvo pain patches(lidocaine") and duloxetine both prescribed by Cons. I have tramadol on standby for uncontrollable pain which I don't like taking unless essential. I try to control pain in other PMP approaches ie pacing, mindfulness, relaxation etc.
I also use hot water bottles and I have also tried and use "special" pillows - the shaped one for between your knees is good for relieving pressure while lying on your side in bed. The other one is a pillow for supporting your leg/s while in bed lying on back or just using a few extra pillows under your knee/lower leg.
I am sure you have probably tried all or most of these but if not, maybe worth a try.
Hi LesE62! Yes, I have been reading up on SI Joint pain and it seems to fit my description! It's funny how I have been googling for a long time but never knew this "SI Joint" existed. Anyway, I am really sorry for what you've been through, it must have not been easy. I am extremely reluctant to go for the spinal fusion surgery because I just don't like the idea of screws in my body, and I'm really too scared to do it. Even a microdiscectomy was scary for me, the amount of paranoia for infection was really bad for me post-surgery, I could not sleep/eat/bathe without thinking of a scar infection 😂 thankfully I don't have gut issues as well, and the worst on arcoxia is just mild diarrhea. Really sorry for what you have gone through and thank you for sharing this with me! It gives me hope to actually battle this pain. May all go well for you, and stay safe! 😄
Hi LesE62, Just to follow up on my previous reply. I have been offered an epidural injection as a last resort before surgery, has anyone else had this procedure? I already have received all the other injections available but no joy. I am on 300mg twice daily of pregablin methocarbamol,plus tramadol, celecoxib and paracetamol. I would love to hear from you. Stay safe.
Hi Aoibheann,I can totally understand where you are just now.
Going back a while now before my spinal surgery, I got a couple of injections done at L4/L5 - mainly for diagnostic purposes although I was told it may also help the pain for a while. I believe these were anaesthetic/steroid injections and not epidural?!
The injections gave me a short relief and tbh I had actually "forgotten" what is was like to be virtually pain-free! Great at the time but didn't last long and all the harder to bear when the pain did return.
Hi, thanks for taking the time to reply. Can I ask how did your spinal surgery go and would you recommend it for myself. Have a happy New year and stay safe.
Hi again Aoibheann,I am sorry but I can't advise you on whether you should have surgery or not.
You really have to discuss it thoroughly with your surgeon and decide what is best for you. My spinal issues may be similar to yours but everyone is different and you must make an informed decision yourself after speaking to your doctor.
Although I can't recommend the surgery or not, what I can say is that it is quite a big surgery and it really does take a long time to get over it.
I still have chronic back and nerve damage - the nerve damage may be due to struggling on at work so long before the surgery but may also be due to my surgery.
I had to wait around 2 years to get my op.
I have been told now that I also have sacroiliac problems which may have complicated matters and this may be part of the reason that I have not had the positive outcome that I had hoped for.
I truly hope you get the help and advice from your doctors and as I have said, I am sorry but I cannot give you advice on whether you should get surgery or not. I am sure though that once you have spoken to you surgeon, you will both make the correct decision for you.
Take care and I hope you have a good New Year too.
Thank you so much for replying. I've been waiting less than a year now, but personally at 70 I think I am too old to put myself through such invasive surgery. I have had lots of surgery in the past, and none too favourable. I think I should just plough on as I am! My husband is very good to me and our children have all flown the nest! Also I live in a bungalow which is very fortunate. You take care now and all the very best for the future.
I've been waiting for a year now to see a consultant about my SI probs....thats just to discuss it too and with the current situation, I may well be 70 by the time the appointment comes through lol...I'm 58 atm!! Having been through surgery too, I'm thinking twice about facing a spinal fusion op for SI issues too.
I'm sure I'll have lots of time to ponder so will wait until I have to think about before stressing out about it.
Hi JoJoJerseyGirl, thanks for reading my post! Actually I used the advice from the other replies and started doing physical therapy on my own for SI Joint issues and somehow, the pain from my left calf is slowly disappearing. Thanks for the recommendation though!
Update: Hi all, to anyone who has went through this chronic pain, I'm so sorry for what you've gone through with.
Thankfully for me, using the advice given to check on my SI joint seems to be helping! Especially this particular "single knee to chest" stretch. My ankle/calf leg is now gone, and the only painful areas are the top of my buttocks, left and right lower back, and left thighs. The pain seems to be fading from bottom to top. Funny thing is the lower back pain comes and goes, mostly it's worst when I just finished eating. It might be because of all the diarrhea I'm having for the past few weeks since I started arcoxia, or just bad posture. Planning to visit the ortho to check on my SI Joint in a month if the pain is still there.
And I've been seeing an endocronologist for the past few months and all my hormones are ok except for the extremely low estrogen. I figured that might be why my bones are so weak, have facet arthrosis, facet hypertrophy, mild retrolisthesis, or why my discs are totally dried out at L4/L5, especially for my age of only 25.
Now that my leg/back pain is 50% better (pain-wise), I swore to myself to get healthier, and to lose weight so that no doctor can ever blame my obesity for the sciatica and take me more seriously in the future. I've just started on a diet yesterday and hoping to drop from 105kg (232lbs) to 75kg (165lbs) the healthy way by the end of 2021. Wish me luck!
It has not been an easy year for any of us, especially with covid and all. I know this pain from sciatica, is really not something people around me/us would actually understand or sympathize with. I'm just glad these forums exists, it really does bring me happiness that nice people that care about strangers do exists, and that now I know, I am really not alone. Have a great 2021, everyone, and please take care of your backs and health! I will be commenting on this post in the future if anything sciatica-related comes back! 😁
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