sciatic nerve pain

    
      Re: sciatic nerve pain
    


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Posted by ccf neuro M.D. on May 26, 1997 at 12:53:24:

In Reply to: sciatic nerve pain posted by Betty  on May 18, 1997 at 17:00:17:

: Dear Dr's,
  My mother is suffering from severe sciatic nerve pain.
  She has been diagnosed with a slipped disk that is pinching
  her sciatic nerve. She is 71 years young, and until recently,
  has not had a whole lot of back and leg pain. She also has
  hypertension and diabetes. She takes a lot of medication every day,
  namely, glucotrol, primavil and estrogen supplements. The docs here
  have tried different pain medications but they all have adverse side
  effects. She was given tylenol 3 but that made her sleepy, and the ultram
  makes her nauseated. She has lost 12 lbs over the past two months because
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If your mother has a known herniated disk that is known to be compressing a nerve root, she has by definition a mechanical problem that requires a mechanical solution--- namely removal of the disk material. No medication can do this and expecting any  medication to effectively manage the symptoms of such a problem is, to be blunt, absurd. Your mother might wish to consider epidural corticosteroid and local anesthetic injections, which sometimes provide temporary relief (weeks to months) in such cases, but the bottom line is that she needs surgery at this point from what you have told me, and I would advise her to not expect any other drug or solution to work. Unless she has a medical contraindication to general anesthesia, get her to a neurosurgeon so she can stop being miserable!!! The other issue I would raise is WHY does she not wish to have the surgery. If the reason is not medical, I would suggest you consider whether or not she may be depressed. Fear of or thoughts of dying often accompany depression as well as immobility and lack of motivation, and a reluctance to do what one would otherwise ordinarily do when faced with a particular problem or circumstance. Her refusal to have surgery may be a symptom of such an underlying problem, which is very common in the elderly and can manifest itself in very subtle, difficult to diagnose ways. I hope your mother changes her mind, and hope you find this information helpful. Your mother's physician has my condolences!!! Good luck to you and her.
  of this medication. I'm seriously begining to wonder if her doc is just picking
  meds out of a hat. She is a strong lady, and can take some pain, but this is
  getting to be unbearable. The meds have also made her very depressed and moody.
  Can you please offer some advice? She doesn't want to have surgery. Maybe you can
  tell us where to go for more advice or some other pain meds to try.
  Thanks for listening,
  Wendi Hoagland