Hi all. I have posted before, my right leg is causing terrible pain from my bottom down to my foot. I also have pins and needles when I stand or walk. As the pain goes down the side the doc said he doubts sciatica. At first the physio has said arthritis, as the exercises made the condition worse the doctor tried naproxen. I was so ill on those and no pain relief. Paracetamol worked better. Now he is arranging an MRI. The thing is he is prescribing amytriptolene ( not sure of the spelling). Feel a bit anxious about those because of the side effects. Does anyone who takes them give me some insight to how they find them. The thing is it was a phone appt. Forgot to ask his advice about having nthe Covid jab and revitive as advertised on tele. Any comments would be much appreciated .
Leg Pain: Hi all. I have posted before, my... - Pain Concern
Leg Pain
I was started on a low dose of Amitriptyline , I already take pregabalin . I didn’t noticed any side effects, I think it is actually helping my sleep as well, not wakening so much with pain .
Thank you for replying. It’s nice to get information about medication precribed for you.
Hi Alloagirl
I am a forum moderator at Pain Concern and have just been reading through your post.
Remembering what you want to say at appointments is something that most of us have a problem with. I know you have posted on here before, but wondered if we had sent you the link to the Self-management Navigator Tool? It is a great help for navigating healthcare appointments.
painconcern.org.uk/the-navi...
The next link will take you to a page on Pain Concerns website, that has a wealth of information on Amitriptyline that I think may answer some of your questions.
painconcern.org.uk/amitript...
I hope this is of help to you
Best wishes
Pain Concern
Thank you. I will certainly look at the links you sent.
Hi Alloagirl, good to hear you’re getting an MRI and hopefully that will see if your pain is coming from a spinal issue or more from your leg or hip.
I have horrible pain down my leg from spinal stenosis and was initially given Amitriptyline for the nerve pain, but I didn’t settle on it so now take Noritriptyline which is better for me and allows me to get sleep at night. I’m on a FB page for Spinal Stenosis and many of them are on Amitriptyline and find them really good along with their other meds in helping ease the pain they feel. If you’ve any questions your pharmacist is usually great in breaking down meds and advising on side effects, my pharmacist has given me suggestions to take back to my GP to try for my pain-relief cocktail.
Thank you. Yes I am glad I will get a scan. It just seems to be getting worse as each week goes by. Strange thing the chemist does not have the prescription so I don’t know if the doc changed his mind after looking at my other meds. He is not my normal GP so maybe doesn’t know my history.
I'm on 20mg amitriptyline have been for a year. They worked on my pain down my leg and nerve pain. I had a dry mouth furva while but doc gave me a false saliva spray. Now it's ok I don't need the spray. If you have to get up for work don't take them later than 8pm or you may feel groggy in the morning. Tha feeling had gone for me too now. I've tried to take half a tablet less for 2 weeks to see if I still need them and the pain is starting to return do I'm going back to 20mg again tonight. Good luck. 😊
Yes they sound like something I would like to try. I feel it is a nerve problem but the MRI should sort that out. Thing is I am on Solifenacin so wondering if there is an issue there. The doc said he was prescribing amitriptyline but doesn’t seem to have sent it across to the pharmacy.
Why would the doctor not send your prescription to the pharmacy?
Don you have incontinence with urine or an overactive bladder. Is that why you are taking Solifenacin?
I had a pinched nerve in my lower right buttock. Surgery released the nerve as it was stuck on ligaments in three places.
I used Nortriptyline for 13 years with no problem but dry mouth and now I use Amytriptyline 50mg to sleep at bedtime. I’ve had no problems with it.
An MRI didn’t spot my nerve injuries so I don’t know if an MRI will find your own. I hope they figure it out. It could be a nerve close to the sciatic nerve.
Good luck
Hi, it was a phone call with him and he thought I said I would stay on paracetamol. Anyway sorted now. I have an overactive bladder but not incontinent. No problem at night. The Solifenacin work really well for me. If the MRI did not pick up your pinched nerve I am interested to know how you found out about it so could have the appropriate treatment. The only thing with the Solifenacin is constipation for me, so strong painkillers would be an added problem. Thank you for your reply and I hope they figure it out as I can barely walk some days. No joint pain just down from bottom to foot. Painful pins and needles too.I just hope the wait for the MRI is not too long.
I didn’t get proper treatment where I live. My GP and all the specialists she sent me to in Vancouver, B.C. Canada in 2008 brushed me off.
I wasn’t examined properly by any doctor in B.C. and the pain specialist I was sent to didn’t follow the ‘Standard of Care.’ I was never seen in a ‘Pain Clinic’ although I was told I would be.
I was seen on a ‘Medicine Ward’. I was never given ‘Pain Clinic Intake Forms’ to fill out. I had no voice. Nothing I said or suggested was listened to.
My sister is law accompanied me to an appointment with the ‘Pain Specialist’ and she witnessed the doctor completely ignoring me and not caring. She vehemently told the doctor to order a nerve block into my buttock stat! ( I knew my nerve was in a vice grip in my buttock )
It helped and the Pain specialist WOULD NOT order me another one.
I was misdiagnosed with vulvodynia and cyclothymia; utter nonsense. Not one medicine I was given in B.C. helped me. The nerve blocks they did were in the wrong spot except the first block my sister in law demanded that I be given. ( it was a radiologist trainee from Montreal who injected the right spot…that was a lucky coincidence as after that block I no longer felt electrocuted)
I found a neurologist in Toronto on the website for Pudendal Neuralgia. He saw me in June 2009 ( I couldn’t sit without my rectum feeling on fire 🔥). I’d been standing up all day for over a year by the time I saw him.
He did a pinprick analysis and noticed I was numb in several spots in my right thigh and right genital area. He referred me to the best pudendal nerve expert in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
I flew to Minneapolis in late September 2009.( standing up at the back of the plane ).
The US specialist did a fluoroscopy guided nerve block into the ligaments in my right buttock using both a steroid medication and an anesthetic. I sat pain free for the first time in almost 20 months.
I was sent home with a confirmed diagnosis and a treatment plan. I needed three more nerve blocks done into the same place and done one month apart.
My GP was furious! She told me she didn’t believe the US expert and that my Pain specialist had dropped me!
I was left poly drugged, sedated and in agony with no sleep and I almost died.
By divine intervention I met a registered nurse consultant in late Dec. 2010. I hired her the following May of 2011 after two more specialists brushed me off.
She got through all the previous doctors lies and misrepresentations ( they all said I was aggressive when I was just being assertive in a polite way because they didn’t believe I was in pain . )
Why did I have to manage my own case? That wasn’t my job but it was my life and I was only 51 years old ),
I got my life saving and sanity sparing decompression surgery in November 2011 in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Surgery was the only way to prove how badly my pudendal nerve was compressed in three places. The successful nerve blocks into my buttock where the sacrosphinous ligament was, proved the nerve was likely pinched there. ( 77% of PNE are caused the intra ligamental grip ).
I’m doing so much better. I’ve weaned off of four medications, I no longer take meds three times a day and I only take two at bedtime.
I’m definitely a medical malpractice case and I’ll never get justice. No B.C. doctor has apologized and when I made a complaint to the B.C. ‘College of Doctors and Surgeons’, they also brushed me off. The system is corrupt.
Oh my goodness you really have suffered. So glad you got it sorted. Here in UK we have two choices wait for NHS or private med. I dont have the funds for private medical help. Probably could afford the MRI scan but not any treatment after and the NHS would not take over from private scans. Luckily it is not my bottom though do have pain there when standing down my leg which is getting worse. Cannot walk far now , doc has prescribed Cocodamil 8/500 which I can buy over counter. I was hoping for a few stronger ones just to take when going out. Not as a regular thing. Anyway see how it goes.
Hi, sorry to hear you are going through this. But glad to hear you have an MRI booked. by the time I had my MRI for 'sciatica' the whole episode was all over so no one knew what was going on that caused the huge flare. They all had their own opinions, all disagreed with each other, but none of them were proven right!
The reason why I put 'sciatica' in quote marks is because it isn't just one thing, and it can present differently, and a lot of GPs don't seem to understand the little differences.
This is a good blog from a physio who teaches and writes books about the lower back and sciatica:
shop.tomjesson.com/blogs/bl...
Sciatica is mentioned at the bottom but it is worth reading through all the definitions.
As for amitriptyline, for every four people that try it, only one will get a benefit. The problem is we don't know who those people are before they try it. (well, with extensive genetic testing and cross referencing we might but that would cost way too much money for the NHS). My son takes a low dose for pain and it really helps him and he doesn't have any side effects after the first week of getting used to it. He has also tried a couple of other medications like this and they were all a disaster.
I hope it helps for you and good luck with the MRI.
Thank you. Yes I do think GPs do not have the answer if it is not to do with arthritis. He actually said to me it was strange and didn’t fit in with the symptoms he is used to.
The problem is no one is the same as everyone else. Nerves don't follow the textbook diagrams, and things like the dermatome is not only not for pain, but isn't even accurate for sensation either. I sometimes wonder if they have all forgotten all the anatomy they learned in med school!
What do u mean pain goes down the side? Outside of your leg from hip down? It could be IT Band issues … look it up I suffer with this on my left leg and limping , worn out or wrong type of shoes, walking on slanted surfaces can all cause IT Band issues
It goes downn the side of my leg into foot from my bottom rather than hip. The pain just gets worse and pain med not really working. So will see after scan.
Hi I don't think they can say it's arthritis without xrays etc. Does sound like sciatica, I have both. Sciatica is soooo painful, best thing I've found is stretching it out. Arthritis is another thing altogether. I have degenerative arthritis of the lower spine, Brought on by a broken back. Amytrypteline in my opinion, sucks 😕 did nothing for pain neither did naproxen, best thing is keep moving, stretching every other day, don't seize up xxxx
No naproxen made me ill. Diarrhoea, stomach pains and no pain relief. I had exercises which I did regularly. It just got worse. I don’t think I can take Ibuprofen either. I still do go out though the pain can be awful. Thankyou for replying.
Are u taking lansoprezole? It's totally needed for most pain meds, stops the stomach pain and runs, ur g.p should be prescribed it if he's giving u those meds xx
My go-to for that pain would be Bowen therapy (or derivative NST) - both complementary therapies.. Can work like magic, but not always! Non-invasive and no drugs. More info if you like. V best wishes Tim x
if you have tingling in feet try this and it must have an R in front you may also get ankle and knee pain from the back if a disc is intruding into the space.Usuall from L5/S1 this is the big culprit. it can bulge central to the canal or it can go to the side if its left it causes pain down left leg only and to right the same.
R -ALPHA LIPOIC ACID Not cheap but if you have any neuropathy it worth a try. look this up on u tube their is a woman American doctor will tell you about it.
walking incorrectly can cause you gate to go off and this is what not only the sciatica but foot nerves get irritated.
regards john
Ask your Dr to check folate,vit D ,calcuim ,red cell magnesium,iron,active vitamin B12 as these deficient can causes severe nerve ,muscle & bone pain,Numbness,pins & needles,burning sensation.10yrs ago I experienced these symptoms & was diagnosed with severe vit B12 & D Deficiency.
I take amitripilime for nerve pain and it works.
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