Sciatica and MS

[dowma]

Does anyone know if there is any correlation between sciatica and MS?  If so how long do the symptoms of sciatica normally last?  Thanks, Mary Beth

[Heather3418]

I do not believe that there is any higher incidence of painful sciatica among people with MS than the "normal" population.

When I have bouts of siactica, I try to sit on a heating pad.  It helps.  My "spells" only last a couple of days at most, only to come back and bother me at another time.

It hurts doesn't it....

Hope you feel better,
Heather  

[dowma]

Thanks it does hurt, I'm just trying to put all my eggs in one basket!!  
Just wondering if there was any correlation.  I know sciatica is caused by inflammation of the spinal nerve root that's why I was asking.  
Thanks Heather,
Mary Beth

[jensequitur]

I had some problems with my left leg that I attributed to sciatica some  years back.  However, I haven't heard of any connection between sciatica and MS.  My current theory is that I have a lesion in my back, somewhere close to the sciatic nerve... if that's possible!

[Ruggiesse]

Hello Dowma, I am very new to this forum, I just discussed some symptoms I have been having for 5 years.  I have experienced sciatica- pain in my upper buttock to knee for a few months, a few years ago.  The condition magically ceased after I thought I injured my back without knowing.  Sciatica is a condition of the nervous system and there may be a correlation because if I truly had this condition I would still be suffering from this pain.  God Bless

[dowma]

Hi ruggiesse,

Sorry confused, :)  Do you mean if you have Sciatica you would still be suffering from it even after all this time.  Or if you had MS you would still be suffering from sciatica.  I'm sure its just me but sometimes I have a hard time understanding and retaining what i read.  God Bless you too!!  Mary Beth

[jensequitur]

I think she means the sciatica wouldn't have gone away after a back injury - therefore it must have been the MS.

I'm not a doctor, so I won't comment on that!  But I had a similar situation - my left shoulder was so painful and knotted that I couldn't turn my head to the left.  I thought it was residual whiplash from a fender bender a week ago.  But after two days, it was almost gone, which if it was whiplash, wouldn't have happened.  So it must have been the MS!  Now the pain has moved to my right shoulder - but it's not as bad.  :-|

[Ruggiesse]

Hello Dowma,
Sorry for the confusion, I no longer have the symptoms of sciatica. It lasted only for a few months a few years ago and like magically disappeared.  I feel that if I truly had this condition I would continue to have these symptoms but I don't.  I think that this is due to my undiagnosed neurological condition.  Take care :)

[dowma]

Thanks for the clarification:  feel like a moron sometimes!!
I'v had pain in my buttock, sharp pain, does not go down leg but have buzzing and numbness in leg.  The pain only lasts for a few short minutes then goes away.  It was only for a day, and then disappeared.  I've had this pain before and thought it may be positional and attributed it to sciatica but now I'm wondering if it really is.  Isin't the sciatic nerve low to be affected by an MS lesion on the spine?  Don't most lesions occur on the cervical and thoracic spine?  Take care to you too :)
Mary Beth

[Heather3418]

The spinal cord is weird.  It has "white matter" in it, until it gets to the Lumbar region.  It then branches off into a bundle of nervies.  Sciatica is caused from one of those nerves that is NOT containted in the white matter.

MS is a white matter disease.  No lesions are found in the Lumbar region, because their is no white matter for the MS to attack.

MS lesions are mostly seen in the cervical and upper thoracic spinal cord.  There can be lesions lower in the spine, where there is white matter, but lesions lower than the thoracic region are rare.

So you are correct...the sciatic nerve is too low in the spinal cord to be affected by MS, since that nerve is not covered by white matter.

Heather  

[dowma]

Thanks, I thought so...

[stev21]

Sciatic pain can be caused by a lesion or full on sciatica (nerve compression). The only way to be sure what causes the pain is to have a MRI of the lower back. I had a MRI and found no lesion, only disk bulges.   I believe that my MS induced weakness caused my caused bulges and therefore my sciatica.

My story;

My MS caused me to lose mobility in my right side. I gained most of strength back because of time and physical therapy. I wasn't able to fully regain my strength in my right leg, causing me to limp and walk kind of cockeyed. Well a year after walking with my limp I got my first bat of sciatica, bad. I was out of commission for a while, but after physical therapy it went away.....It came back and so started my 5+ years of battling sciatica and my weak leg. I finally went to my MS doctor with the possibility my MS was causing my pain. He had me get an MRI of my lower back.....I had two large disk bulges (herniated disks). I am currently recovering from a mircodisectomy, all my leg pain is gone, but there is some incision pain.  Only time will tell if the surgery was the right decision, but after 5 years of trying everything out there, it was my only option and so far its worked.

[ELT]

I learned of something on this site, called Meralgia Paresthetica, which could be mistaken for sciatica.  It can cause a burning in your thighs, an aching, shooting pain in your hips, buttocks, knees, and sometimes groin.  

If the meralagia is caused by a pinched nerve, it is apt to be unilateral.  If it is caused by ms, it is, like all those other fun things, more likely to be bilateral, to some degree.  

I went to my doctor about the pains, thinking that the thigh/buttocks were sciatica or a varicose vein or something, he didn't really say much.  Just that there was a slightly visible vein there.  I went at a different time about my knee, thinking I was injuring it at the gym, he said keep exercising.  I never asked about the hips or thigh, I figured that had to be spasms or something, due to my imaginary ms.

It was like an epiphany when I read the other persons post about meralgia.  I researched it to death on line for the day, and decided yes, it describes what I am experiencing to a tee.

Good luck

Erica

[marez]

Hi,
I am in limbo but, the satica nerve has always been a problem for me but I wrote that off to a bad water skiing accident when I was 17, some times just the slight bend when I brush my  teeth sets it off and then usually for weeks as you walk strange to compinsate. No one has ever done a scan and x ray of my lower spine??

also someone remind me to add this to my list later... my neck from about 15 my neck used to go out OH so painful nerves all bunched up the most pain ever and yes I had kids, I was in neck braces all kinds of things on and off for years. Now this has not happend for some time (knock on wood) but I wonder .... my friends have said I have been sick for years about 13 years old. ( one doc at the time told me I had a "cold" in my neck :-)

It sure would be nice if all our eggs went in one basket huh? maybe that is why the doctors have such a hard time dx???

Who wrote on buldging disk surgery? can you please email me my best friend found out yesterday that is her issue and is scared single mom and doesn't see her doctor for awhile, she has 2 disks doing this just got the MRI. Having trouble seeing today light bothering me so not sure I read it right on the surgery??

Thanks,
Mary