Aa
Bulging Disc L5 / S1 - referred Leg Pain. Sciatic nerve pressure.
I have extreme referred leg Pain - caused by assumed sciatic nerve pressure from bulge from diagnosed minor Bulging L5 / S1 disc. Signs of canal stynosis - as I have pins and needles in my left foot and calf muscle consistantly. I get severe Glutenal cramping from walking so awkwardly to lessen the impact as sitting and walking seems to aggravate sciatic nerve due to added pressure on the disc. Lying down relieves leg pain. Acupuncture and physio can not relieve my pain more than temporaraly. Physio has given me exercises and also tape strapping to keep me standing straight, not crouching. I have had a few spine stretching treatments with a machine - pulling lower back down whilst strapped to a table. Dry needling, Hydro therapy, Massage and looking at remedial massage currently. You name it - I feel like I've done it. I've got no known allergies to any other medications or supplements ever prescribed or suggested.
I took magnesium yesterday as suggested for muscle cramping. This only caused me a massive headache, dizzyness, extreme stomach cramps that then turned to nausea and vomiting. I guess magnesium just didn't agree with me.
Due to having a bulging disc, all the doctors I go to seem to laugh when I say i'll do anything to take the pain away. They tell me to learn to live with it and write me another script for one of many pain killers Endep 25, Indocid 100mg, Tramadol 100mg, valpam 5mg... nothing is effective any more and I can't help but feel so depressed that after 4 months of dealing with this excrusiating pain at 20 years old - the rest of my life is going to be unbearable.
I keep getting told by practically everybody that surgery is not the answer. The hospital has put me on a waiting list for a consultation with an orthapedic surgeon and after all the attempts in the worlds to get an earlier appointment I've only got to wait another month - but after that there will be many more waiting lists to look forward to, who knows... what surgery is considered in these cases.
Can you suggest anything that will take my pain away? I don't want to be addicted to pain killers and I'm scared it's getting worse not better, or even bearable.
I took magnesium yesterday as suggested for muscle cramping. This only caused me a massive headache, dizzyness, extreme stomach cramps that then turned to nausea and vomiting. I guess magnesium just didn't agree with me.
Due to having a bulging disc, all the doctors I go to seem to laugh when I say i'll do anything to take the pain away. They tell me to learn to live with it and write me another script for one of many pain killers Endep 25, Indocid 100mg, Tramadol 100mg, valpam 5mg... nothing is effective any more and I can't help but feel so depressed that after 4 months of dealing with this excrusiating pain at 20 years old - the rest of my life is going to be unbearable.
I keep getting told by practically everybody that surgery is not the answer. The hospital has put me on a waiting list for a consultation with an orthapedic surgeon and after all the attempts in the worlds to get an earlier appointment I've only got to wait another month - but after that there will be many more waiting lists to look forward to, who knows... what surgery is considered in these cases.
Can you suggest anything that will take my pain away? I don't want to be addicted to pain killers and I'm scared it's getting worse not better, or even bearable.
To everyone on here and those that aren't who is living with the pain associated with back issues......
Like many on here I had "extreme", "beyond severe" leg pain in my outer knee that eventually progressed to my ankle and feet to my sciatic nerve in my buttock.... What seemed puzzling to my doctor and then to the rheumatologist(I am in remission of my RA for almost 7yrs) he referred me to, was that it was only in my left leg....
my doctor thought it was possibly
* fibromyalgia-due to my history of PTSD and ADD(diagnoised by a world reknowned psychiatrist.
* extreme depression-which I wasn't, just deeply concerned that the pain I was experiencing was quickly getting worse. He even went as far as to give me 30days of Prilosec samples. I didn't take them, I wasn't depressed....I knew it was physical.
* That I was over exaggerating my pain to only gain access to pain-killers( please let me footnote that I was very forth coming about my RA history, but I hadn't taken anything stronger than an extra-strength tylenol since 2007. I also have never had an issue with alcohol or drugs. I am the child of an alcoholic and addict, and am very aware of genetic predisposition.
I went to the Rheumatologist he referred me to and blood tests and physical examination were done.(i literally crawled to my car after having gotten an x-ray on my back(useless when the pain is due to a torn bulging disk)) she thought it might be muscle skeletal but wanted an MRI to be done....Two days later after calling her after hours and having passed out because the pain was so bad, she sent me to go through the ER to try and get a MRI which the ER doctor refused to do, but they were more than happy to dose me up with pain medication, wouldn't you guess...
After being taken by ambulance twice to another hospital ER... a wonderful doctor and humanitarian took pity on me and admitted me to the hospital. I was blessed and fortunate to have one of the best neurologists in the country at the foot of my bed the next morning..... Hallelujah! Finally someone that knew what he was doing.....He did a simple test on the bottom of my feet( he scratached his fingernail along the bottom of my foot and had me decribed the feeling or sensation I felt) then he ordered a MRI which took two attempts because by that point I was in so much pain for so long that I couldn't lay flat. Sure enough I had a torn bulging disk right where the spine and pelvis connect....... The next morning he performed lapiscopically a proceedure that reformed my disk and thus taking the pressure off my nerves..........I walked out of the hospital within hours, with almost NO pain.....
Today due to Overland Park Regional Hospital in Overland Park, Ks. and first a doctor in their ER whom took mercy on me, and the neurologist(Dr. Robert Beatty) I haven't taken a painkiller of any kind(so there goes the first doctors theroy of my being an addict), no anti-inflammatories, no muscle relaxers.......
I've gotten my life back....!!! I'm very blessed, miracles do happen.......
The secret for me was:
* I know my body and I know my mind. I knew it was physical and I wasn't going to let any doctor tell me otherwise.....(though I did do alot of research online and in the library, and I talk to several doctors that I trust)
* When I found out that it was a torn bulging disk located where it was...I wasn't going to do chiropractors( i respect what they do), pain management(because of having had experienced severe pain with RA, I didn't want to live my life that way again under ANY circumstances), or go to a orthopedic surgeon( once again, I respect what they do but the pain was so strongly associated with my nerves, to even touch my skin caused pain)
* I knew that surgery was my best option at that point. I thoroughly checked out Dr. Robert Beatty...Online and even personal referrals from individuals and doctors(when asking a doctor about another doctor, make sure to ask them that under the same circumstances whom would they have do their surgery?)
Since having had the surgery that I'm blessed and fortunate that was hugely successful. I've learned that while while other treatments are often suggested or other people influence you try..... They don't work, and the longer you prolong the issue, the more damage you incur......
Do your research..... trust your instincts....don't let others influence you to do treatments that most often if not always prolong your agony.....
You know your body, no one else does, not even a doctor.
You also know how much pain your in....DO NOT let anyone doctor or otherwise tell you how much pain you should be experiencing, at ANY point.... Everyone's pain threshold for pain is different.Do NOT let anyone bully or shame you that your pain is not real.......
I hope any of what I've written helps anyone on here or elsewhere.......
Like many on here I had "extreme", "beyond severe" leg pain in my outer knee that eventually progressed to my ankle and feet to my sciatic nerve in my buttock.... What seemed puzzling to my doctor and then to the rheumatologist(I am in remission of my RA for almost 7yrs) he referred me to, was that it was only in my left leg....
my doctor thought it was possibly
* fibromyalgia-due to my history of PTSD and ADD(diagnoised by a world reknowned psychiatrist.
* extreme depression-which I wasn't, just deeply concerned that the pain I was experiencing was quickly getting worse. He even went as far as to give me 30days of Prilosec samples. I didn't take them, I wasn't depressed....I knew it was physical.
* That I was over exaggerating my pain to only gain access to pain-killers( please let me footnote that I was very forth coming about my RA history, but I hadn't taken anything stronger than an extra-strength tylenol since 2007. I also have never had an issue with alcohol or drugs. I am the child of an alcoholic and addict, and am very aware of genetic predisposition.
I went to the Rheumatologist he referred me to and blood tests and physical examination were done.(i literally crawled to my car after having gotten an x-ray on my back(useless when the pain is due to a torn bulging disk)) she thought it might be muscle skeletal but wanted an MRI to be done....Two days later after calling her after hours and having passed out because the pain was so bad, she sent me to go through the ER to try and get a MRI which the ER doctor refused to do, but they were more than happy to dose me up with pain medication, wouldn't you guess...
After being taken by ambulance twice to another hospital ER... a wonderful doctor and humanitarian took pity on me and admitted me to the hospital. I was blessed and fortunate to have one of the best neurologists in the country at the foot of my bed the next morning..... Hallelujah! Finally someone that knew what he was doing.....He did a simple test on the bottom of my feet( he scratached his fingernail along the bottom of my foot and had me decribed the feeling or sensation I felt) then he ordered a MRI which took two attempts because by that point I was in so much pain for so long that I couldn't lay flat. Sure enough I had a torn bulging disk right where the spine and pelvis connect....... The next morning he performed lapiscopically a proceedure that reformed my disk and thus taking the pressure off my nerves..........I walked out of the hospital within hours, with almost NO pain.....
Today due to Overland Park Regional Hospital in Overland Park, Ks. and first a doctor in their ER whom took mercy on me, and the neurologist(Dr. Robert Beatty) I haven't taken a painkiller of any kind(so there goes the first doctors theroy of my being an addict), no anti-inflammatories, no muscle relaxers.......
I've gotten my life back....!!! I'm very blessed, miracles do happen.......
The secret for me was:
* I know my body and I know my mind. I knew it was physical and I wasn't going to let any doctor tell me otherwise.....(though I did do alot of research online and in the library, and I talk to several doctors that I trust)
* When I found out that it was a torn bulging disk located where it was...I wasn't going to do chiropractors( i respect what they do), pain management(because of having had experienced severe pain with RA, I didn't want to live my life that way again under ANY circumstances), or go to a orthopedic surgeon( once again, I respect what they do but the pain was so strongly associated with my nerves, to even touch my skin caused pain)
* I knew that surgery was my best option at that point. I thoroughly checked out Dr. Robert Beatty...Online and even personal referrals from individuals and doctors(when asking a doctor about another doctor, make sure to ask them that under the same circumstances whom would they have do their surgery?)
Since having had the surgery that I'm blessed and fortunate that was hugely successful. I've learned that while while other treatments are often suggested or other people influence you try..... They don't work, and the longer you prolong the issue, the more damage you incur......
Do your research..... trust your instincts....don't let others influence you to do treatments that most often if not always prolong your agony.....
You know your body, no one else does, not even a doctor.
You also know how much pain your in....DO NOT let anyone doctor or otherwise tell you how much pain you should be experiencing, at ANY point.... Everyone's pain threshold for pain is different.Do NOT let anyone bully or shame you that your pain is not real.......
I hope any of what I've written helps anyone on here or elsewhere.......
I tried the lumbar epidural shots thwe ffirst shot help the second didnt i went to the local hospital said they couldnt touch me bwecause of the pain management doctor. So ok when i couldnt stand the pain i went to pain management hospital where he was on staff they said i needed a hip replacement and the doctor why i didnt call him duh he said wherever i went hospital they would call him.I went home and later a couple a days i was begging for someone to take to the houston hospital er memorial herman univeersity of texas. They aare teaching hospital found that L5 S1 disc were herniaated on a major nerve and drop foot. They have done surgery and i got out on DEC19. I know i feel better. Foot drop may take a year to get better if it ever does but i am schedule for physical therapy.i am so thinkfulfor going to the teaching hospital because they get to gether to discuss my case and evveryone missed the drop foot until one of the doctorsw wanted me to raise my big toe and i couldnt and the dignosis was made.
5yrs ago i tore the tendon in my right knee, left it for a year and hurt it 2 more times after that. Finaly went to dr 2yrs ago and had to get full ACL surgery ( where they remove a tendon from the hamstring and attach it across your knee) and ripped over 50% percent of my cartilage that they removed. After surgery they told me i would be off for 8 months. But stubborn me, i was back in 2 months. Everything was good for about 6months untill i had to move. I being the tough guy, did it all myself with a friend. And a week later had bad pain in my leg. I thought i just stressed out my "new knee" and tried to deal with it. Finally after 2 months i went to drs and told i had L5 S1 disc bulge. Ive tried all the dr pills, doesnt work, physio, doesnt work, acupunture and stretches, doesnt work. My dr says back injections and chiropractors are a joke and just wants to give me pills, which i wont take, need some help its been over a year with this pain..... Email ***@**** is you have want to give some serious tips
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Back & Neck Community
Find out how beta-blocker eye drops show promising results for acute migraine relief.
Could it be something you ate? Lack of sleep? Here are 11 migraine triggers to look out for.
Find out if PRP therapy right for you.
Tips for preventing one of the most common types of knee injury.
Here are 10 ways to stop headaches before they start.
Tips and moves to ease backaches
