Sciatic Nerve Pain & MD

Hi ambitiousturtle24,
I’m very sorry to hear of the pain you have had over the last 2 years.
Luckily I’ve never had sciatica but my main problem with my muscle disease is widespread bad pain.
I worked as an osteopath for many years and treated lots of people with sciatica before I had to stop due to MD. I’m pretty sure in saying that there is no specific connection with MD and sciatica. It is a fairly common condition in people who don’t have MD and can also happen to people who do also have MD. In some ways it might be reasonable to think that one might be more likely to get sciatica if you have MD due to the inevitable musculoskeletal strain that most of us feel and the inevitable sedentary lifestyle that many of us have to adopt. Other than with the physical difficulties that most of us have I don’t think there’s a direct link with MD and sciatica.

In my experience some people who haven’t had sciatica for very long (say less than 6 weeks) often get better with or without treatment including rest, pain killers, stretching and physical therapy (osteopathy, chiropractic or physiotherapy).
Unfortunately the longer it has been there, the harder it is to treat. Most often sciatica is caused by a disc herniation in the lower back. If this is the case for you microdiscectomy surgery is the best and sometimes only treatment that works. I have seen it work very well many times. No one wants to have surgery but it is relatively minor surgery and recovery time is quick.

People often say they have sciatia when it isn’t really sciatica so here are the symptoms of true sciatica:

– Pain which can range from mild to very severe. Often starts in the lower back but then becomes worse in the buttock, thigh and/or calf.
– Pins and needles, numbness and tingling and muscle weakness in one or both legs
– reduced or absent reflexes (knee or ankle)

Has your doctor sent you for an MRI scan? if not they should if you have the above symptoms. Also if you have the above symptoms your GP should refer you to a neurologist specifically for this problem. It’s very easy as you say for doctors to put everything down to MD which means that we often don’t get the treatment that we need for medical conditions that are not as a direct result of the MD.

I’ve tried all the medications you have mentioned for the pain that I struggle with. I’ve never tried them all together like you. I think I would be on another plannet if I did! I’ve come to the conclusion that none of them help if I take them all the time. As you mentioned they just creat awful side effects. I take some medications every couple of days at the moment to try and get some pain relief without the side effects. Some times it works the reduce the pain and sometimes it doesn’t. For me living with the pain is actually easier than living with the pain and side effects but I’m still looking for solutions to treating the pain that I have.

In many ways it would be a great outcome if your sciatica is the result of a disc herniation in your lower back which will show on MRI if it is and that it can be sorted out by microdiscectomy surgery after referal to a neurologist.

Good luck,
Michael

Hiya, ambitiousturtle! My sincerest apologies for the lateness of my response. It’s just that I just so happened to stumble upon this thread while looking up info on sciatic nerve pain. I don’t now anyone personally who has muscular dystrophy, but my friend Lauren recently discovered she was experiencing sciatica. After experiencing this nagging and excruciating pain, she decided to seek out the help of a doctor — and this is the conclusion they came to.

So sorry to hear that the way you’re taking care of sciatica is with a “cocktail” of pain killers. Ironically enough, she says that she’s been experiencing the same side effects WITHOUT taking the “cocktail.” I know because she’s sitting right next to me. . . which I’m guessing she didn’t tell her doctor because she’s giggling nervously and saying “oops.” LOL.

Headaches, tiredness, and dizziness seem to be the more prominent symptoms. Is that (without painkillers) a normal part of sciatica or should we be concerned? The aforementioned symptoms (along with numbness and nerve/back pain) seems to also coincide with the symptoms of chondrosarcoma. Does anyone have any experience (family related or self) with this condition?

We may find that it’s not sciatica after all — but something more significant. Thanks for your time, everyone!

My friend Bette has had lower back pain all her adult life. I have been with her thru several surgeries, including fusing her spine (not a doctor – so I’m sure there is a tehnical term.

Anyway… I looked up the term chondrosarcoma: chondrosarcoma is used to define an heterogeneous group of lesions with diverse features and clinical behavior. Chondrosarcoma is a malignant cancer that results in abnormal bone and cartilage growth.
People who have chondrosarcoma have a tumor growth starting from the medullary canal of a long and flat
bone. However, in some cases the lesion can occur as an abnormal bony type of bump, which can vary in
size and location. Primary chondrosarcoma (or conventional chondrosarcoma) usually develops centrally in a
previously normal bone. Secondary chondrosarcoma is a chondrosarcoma arising from a benign precursor
such as Exostoses, Osteochondromas or Enchondromas. Although rare, chondrosarcoma is the second
most common primary bone cancer.

The malignant cartilage cells begin growing within or on the bone (central chondrosarcoma) or, rarely,
secondarily within the cartilaginous cap of a pre-existing Exostoses (peripheral chondrosarcoma).

You have probably looked it up as well… but I thought it would be nice to see it here.

The only reason I am responding it I know how much back pain can prevent you from doing the things you love to do… so my friend Bette has added some very simple exercises into her daily routine and she is now off the pain meds. You should talk to your doctor first, but she simply does 20 sit-ups in bed before she get’s up and it has tightened her core and she has considerably less pain… something to look into – I hope your appt went well. Kinzie http://treatsciaticanervepain.com

I had been having some serious sciatic nerve pain issues , so much that I was having trouble walking or moving at all. It’s really troubling when it acts up. I had been taking a similar “cocktail” as the OP, and I finally decided I had had enough of being a zombie on pain medicine all the time.

I started to research some different ways to treat the problem and discovered some really great Exercises for Sciatica that have actually helped me tremendously!

I am off the meds and I am also moving around like I used to.

Hi
i myself have not experienced Sciatica before but I have a friend epxerienced this case for long time
It has been around 5 years and He still did not now what to do
he felt suffered for some times
hopefully any one can give better idea to help him

I had horrible sciatica when I was pregnant with my daughter. While seeing a chiropractor for sciatica may have helped some people, it made mine many times worse than it was. I would say… be glad you can’t afford a chiropractor! Since sciatica is nerve pain and not muscle, I don’t see how anyone could get any relief that way. (I do swear by my chiropactor for other aches and pains, though!)

I honestly only got relief for good once I delivered the baby. I tried different sleeping positions, sitting positions, walking in a different way. Nothing gave me any consistent relief. Sleeping was a bit easier when I slept with a pillow between my knees (with the knees separated a bit, the nerve wasn’t pulled as much when I was sleeping).

I was told by my OB (and my mother-in-law, otherwise known as “she who knows all”) that nothing but delivery would really help the pain.

Be glad you didn’t have it start until now! Mine started this time around at about 12 weeks!

Good luck.
Avis J. Cox