sever sciatic back pain please help

[hrenee]

is anyone on here experiancing sever sciatic pain.  it makes me want to scream sometimes.  its keeping me from working, sleeping cleaning etc.  i talked to my doc. nurse about it and she recommended a heating pad and tylenol for the pain,  ya right i have been doing that for 2 wks now with very, very, little relief so i guess my question is if anyone else has had this and if so what did you do to make it any better?

[Gina209]

Oh god, I had that pain SO BAD when I hit 36 weeks! All of a sudden out of nowhere, it hit me! It started out in my right leg...and it stayed there AND moved to my back. It was so painful, I thought I was going to die! I physically could not do a thing...it hurt to sit up, sit down, roll over in bed...anything. I couldn't clean, cook, walk around, anything..it hurt so bad I really thought something was wrong. My doctor said it was completely normal, that my baby was sitting right on my sciatic nerve...and come to find out when I delivered he was over 9 pounds! So that was a pretty big baby sitting on my nerve and it hurt like hell. It was the worst pain I had ever experienced in my life...(until I gave birth). But it was just horrible and I remember thinking if this lasts the rest of my pregnancy, I will shoot myself. Luckily it lasted only a week in a half and than he moved off my nerve, thank god. But it was bad.

To try and relieve some of the pain, I put a heating pad directly on the pain...had my husband massage it and took warm baths. None of it really worked....but I think there were moments of it being less painful. My doctor suggest a chiropractor and body massage but it went away before I really looked into any of that. But I totally feel your pain girl, its no fun! I'll pray for you that it doesn't last long!!

[hkenny]

I would try to go for a massage as well, I havent gone myself yet, but I plan to asap. My sister in law went often and she said it was very helpful. I do see a chiroprator and he really helps but in saying that I have been seeing him for over 10 years and I know many pregnant women who have seen him. I would be very selective about choosing one now and to be honest if I didnt have one I trusted I dont know that I would go being pregnant. I just feel good about him b.c he knows me so well and I know like I said i know some of his previouos pregnancy patients. Ask for a referal from friends and even ask the chiroprator for a refereal person to call or something.
I will say though he has been a god send quite a few times!! I think I would be crying all the time without my chiroprator!!

[hrenee]

thanks so much for the advise i will def. try the message, and swiming something out there has to help!  and ya sleeping on my side or back has no relief at all, if not making it worse.  i feel like such a cry baby but it really hurts.

[spade22]

A back/stomach support belt might also help.  When I had severe back pain, I found that sleeping sitting up gave me some relief - sleeping on my side or back made it worse.

[DCJENN]

I have to agree with sweetangel7, I've seen the same things with my friends who have gone to chiropractors...more problems caused then helped...also, swimming has helped me keep the pain away...good tips...

[sweetangel7]

I agree with massage BUT if you see a chiropractor, make sure you are HIGHLY selective about the one you see and perhaps make sure they have experience with pregnancy and sciatic nerve.  Many chiropractors are not well trained enough to deal with regular patients and cause more problems including stroke!  I would never see a chiropractor (just my personal opinion...seen too many horrific things happen to people who went to one) and I definitely wouldn't do it during pregnancy.

Also, it might sound counter productive, but some movement might help...maybe doing a prenatal yoga stretching video or swimming...

[evthing4reason]

i'd do massage and maybe see a chiropractor

[DCJENN]

I had it too, about half into my pregnancy (I only have 2 weeks left now).  It costs some money but go to a really spa and get a pre-natal massage...no kidding...it worked all the pain out for me!  I also bought one of those swedish massage "chairs" - which was actually a giant pad thing that attaches to any chair.  anytime I started feeling that tale-tale sign of sharp pains in my buttocks shooting down my leg, I'd get the massaging chair out and it prevented it from getting too bad.

Good luck!