Another round with Sciatica

Well, here I go again. Back in 2006 I had a very painful attack of sciatica that lasted for about 6 months. I was finally able to get rid of it by taking a couple of prescribed medications, doing a few doctor-prescribed exercises, and just plain taking it easy. I thought I had gotten rid of it for good (I know, wishful thinking!), but it has reared its ugly head once again.

For those of you who have never experienced the pain of sciatica (lucky you), here’s a brief description. Not an illness in itself, the term sciatica is used to describe the symptoms a person endures when suffering from an irritated or inflamed sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in the human body, extending from the lower back where it exits the spine all the way down the back of the leg to the foot. The pain and burning of sciatica is ALWAYS caused by a problem in the lower back region, but the pain can extend throughout the entire length of the sciatic nerve. Mine does exactly that, but the most severe pain seems to be in my right hip and right calf.

For some, the sciatic pain is most severe when walking, but for me walking is the only way I can get any relief from it at all. I find it extremely uncomfortable to lie down, sit, or stand in one position. For the past 3 weeks I have spent the majority of my time awake just walking around to keep the pain at bay, and by the end of the day I’m as tired as I can possibly be. But the real problem comes when I go to bed. I can hit the sack feeling little or no pain, but I’ll wake up in an hour or so with my right hip and leg so stiff and painful that I have to struggle just to get out of bed. And it stays that way until I get up and walk around for a while.

I went to the emergency room a couple of weeks ago and got prescriptions for a rather powerful pain killer and muscle relaxer, but the help they have been providing is marginal at best. The doc at the ER told me that an MRI is needed to help them determine exactly what’s causing my sciatic pain so that an effective treatment regimen can be developed. He scheduled an appointment for me to have one done – in late August! Looks like I’ll be hobbling around for at least another month.

I don’t think anyone has ever been completely done in by sciatica, but the pain is about as bad as it gets. If you have never had it, I hope you never do. If you have, I can certainly “feel your pain”.