chronic back pain with pain down leg

[mkh9]

Hi I have chronic back pain that starts in the left buttock in one spot and then it gets more dull as it goes down the back of the leg all the way to the heel. The left leg is weaker than the right. The MRI is negative and bone scan negative and get conflicting information from PT's to doctors. I wonder what you think it is (another opinion). How do you get stronger. I can't go to a PT because they really injured me but I do the stretches at home and am walking as much as I can. If I've had the pain for two years will it ever go away or do I have to take drugs to get it to go away. I heard the brain changes can it change back with exercise?
thanks,
mkh9

[Rena705]

You poor woman!  You have been through the ringer!  I am wondering if you have tried Lyrica?  
My hubby has damage on the inside of his spine which causes major pain in the lower back but he also complained of the same pain as you are which I personally think sounds like Sciatica through and through.  

The regular pain relievers were not helping and he went as far as taking high doses of oxy which did nothing to help this nerve pain!  

Please talk to your doc about using Lyrica!  I really think it may help and it won't hurt to give it a whirl.  

I have MS and tried it for my pain but I had a bad reaction to it but most people don't as long as you titrate up to a dose you can handle.  I would start at 75mg/day and then work your way to a higher dose a week or so at a time.  

I really hope this give you some relief.  Please let me know if this has been of any assistance to you.

Hugs from Canada,
Rena705

[JGF25]

I have not actually had it done but rather I read about it and its use for piriformis syndrome.  Here is a link

http://www.spinal-healthcare.com/article.php?article_id=32

I am fortunate in that unless I really stress my lower back, I don't have sciatic pain.  It is only when I have done something really stupid, happens a few times a year, that I pay the price.  That leg pain....I hate it.  You can't even point to a particular place and say "It hurts here."  It just flippin hurts everywhere.  

[mkh9]

Where do you go to get the botox ? Do they inject it into the muscle? How does it work? So you get relief for your sciatica with it? How long does it last? You have helped a lot.
thx,
Mkh9

[mkh9]

Well I think you are right though that it may be pyriformis syndrome. Yes the Ibupropin helps me too. But I have to also use it sparingly. Thanks for trying. But I think this is as close as it is going to get. I am doign stretches and strengthening and walking. I hope to get better some day.
mkh9

[mkh9]

I have been to see my GP, neurologist, pain doctor, orthopedic surgeon, physicatrist, and an integrative pain med doctor. I could tell you how this all started and how I got reinjured etc. but it is a long story. I don't know if you want to hear it all. When I went to the integrative med doc he tried several topicals which didn't work (lidocaine, volatarin gel) also tried ketamine topical which gave me some temporary nerve damage but it worked some. I have tried neurontin (didn't work at all) and pain meds for a month when it was really bad. Anyway, I also tried biofeedback and accupunture. Biofeedback worked on my anxiety/fear and the accupunture worked  a couple of times out of 20 visits.

[mkh9]

Yes if I take a large dose of Ibupropin around the clock my pain goes down a lot. Also, if I take a muscle relaxer the pain goes down a lot in fact it went away but then I forgot I couldn't bend and hurt myself again. Then after 3 weeks the muscle relaxer didn't work anymore. I still took it per doctors orders but then I got an arrhymia from it. So, I take Flexeril any more. It has apparently a inflammatory and muscle component.
mkh9

[JGF25]

Do anti-inflammatory medications help or not?  

[mkh9]

No the MRI was very clean. They just say myofasical pain syndrome. I think it may be a pinched sciatic nerve or pyriformis syndrome. Not sure though. The PT's say SI joint dysfuntion. It also varies every other day. I get one day of lower pain then the next is moderate and so forth. I have been walking an hour now and trying to get more strength but I have gotten deconditioned due to sitting too much due to the pain. I got off all pain killers a long time ago and can tolerate it now. But I just want to my life back. I can't bend and I can't cross the left leg over the right while sitting.
mkh9

[JGF25]

No bulging disc showed up on the MRI?  Nothing that would be pressing on your sciatic nerve?  The docs are probably as stumped as you are.