Any of you bastiches have sciatica?

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Does anything ACTUALLY work to alleviate this nonsense? Painkillers are useless for me. Exercises prescribed by the physical therapist similarly useless. Lost about 50lb, that didn't help.

 

Starting to become a real annoyance. Anybody out there got anything 

[US Egg]

Try a chiropractor?

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

16 minutes ago, US Egg said:

Try a chiropractor?

Scary prospect, being hooked up to a medieval torture device 

[Simon]

You had an MRI yet?

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

4 minutes ago, Simon said:

You had an MRI yet?

VA did X-rays. No MRI. Why ya ask?

[Simon]

Something is pinching or pressing on your nerves in there and it doesn't always show up on an Xray (i.e. broken up or protruding disc material).

I've had 4 spinal surgeries, none of which could have been done without good imaging first.

If meds, exercise, etc don't have any effect, an MRI might be the only way you can diagnose the actual issue so that you can address it.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

5 minutes ago, Simon said:

Something is pinching or pressing on your nerves in there and it doesn't always show up on an Xray (i.e. broken up or protruding disc material).

I've had 4 spinal surgeries, none of which could have been done without good imaging first.

If meds, exercise, etc don't have any effect, an MRI might be the only way you can diagnose the actual issue so that you can address it.

 

Good to know. I'll ask my primary care about it because this is wretched 

[Simon]

Just now, Pine Barrens Mafia said:

I'll ask my primary care about it because this is wretched 

 

It's miserable and fu(ks with every single aspect of your life, both physical and mental.

Have they tried any cortisone injections?

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

4 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

It's miserable and fu(ks with every single aspect of your life, both physical and mental.

Have they tried any cortisone injections?

They have not. But I'm willing to try about anything at this point. 

 

[boyst]

How much do you want me to type from my issues with a few ruptured discs and having issues with weakness to my wife having a rare compartmentalized of her sciatic nerve that took 3 years to diagnose after a severe hamstring tear.

 

Chiropractors are almost always full of *****. Anyone who wants to debate this on me better be willing to die on that hill. That is of course if your stupid chiropractor doesn't internally decapitate you after going through their 2 day seminar of how to relax your neck muscles to restore balance of your face to make your foot feel better. ***** them.

 

Either way, if you've seen a doctor (MD) try a DO. Doctor of Osteopathy. They are subtly different. But, to go next level go see a physiatrist. This is a doctor of rehab medicine, a MD mixed with physical therapist. They deal primarily with pain issues to fix issues and they are not as popular to see because people just want meds and be fat & lazy. Physios make you work to reduce pain, increase movement, and quality of life. This means you have to put in effort.

 

Combine this with a good personal trainer. 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

2 minutes ago, boyst said:

How much do you want me to type from my issues with a few ruptured discs and having issues with weakness to my wife having a rare compartmentalized of her sciatic nerve that took 3 years to diagnose after a severe hamstring tear.

 

Chiropractors are almost always full of *****. Anyone who wants to debate this on me better be willing to die on that hill. That is of course if your stupid chiropractor doesn't internally decapitate you after going through their 2 day seminar of how to relax your neck muscles to restore balance of your face to make your foot feel better. ***** them.

 

Either way, if you've seen a doctor (MD) try a DO. Doctor of Osteopathy. They are subtly different. But, to go next level go see a physiatrist. This is a doctor of rehab medicine, a MD mixed with physical therapist. They deal primarily with pain issues to fix issues and they are not as popular to see because people just want meds and be fat & lazy. Physios make you work to reduce pain, increase movement, and quality of life. This means you have to put in effort.

 

Combine this with a good personal trainer. 

I'm willing to put in effort. I don't want painkillers because of past issues with addictive behavior. But I wonder if the VA offers this kind of thing.

[boyst]

4 minutes ago, Pine Barrens Mafia said:

I'm willing to put in effort. I don't want painkillers because of past issues with addictive behavior. But I wonder if the VA offers this kind of thing.

They do. An ex (one of them you met) was an OT that worked with a physiologist in Durham @ the VA.

 

Another issue becomes finding a physical therapist that doesn't take insurance. Insurance binds a PT. To do cash option is often better for them and you. Insurance limits how many treatments they can do in a session for example. 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

4 minutes ago, boyst said:

They do. An ex (one of them you met) was an OT that worked with a physiologist in Durham @ the VA.

 

Another issue becomes finding a physical therapist that doesn't take insurance. Insurance binds a PT. To do cash option is often better for them and you. Insurance limits how many treatments they can do in a session for example. 

My son in law is graduating with a doctorate in PT this year, so there's that 

[boater]

Gabapentin worked for me. Somewhat worked.

 

 

 

[Augie]

I had a relatively mild case of sciatica a couple decades ago, and it is NO JOKE! I feel for you and anyone else going thru that. There is just no getting comfortable. 

 

Coincidentally, a friend who lives up the road has been dealing with sciatica and a bad knee at the same time. A PA near their second (remote) home gave him a couple gel shots for the knee after draining it. He apparently had a bad reaction to the shot(s) where he has a bulging disc that he’s been dealing with. Maybe an infection?  It’s all a mystery right now, but he’s at an ER for the 4th time in a week right now. At one point he lost all feeling (and control of his bodily functions) below that disc. They almost had to med-evacuate him out of the mountains to get to more serious health care. The gabapentin and other meds barely put a dent in the pain.  

 

Backs are obviously tricky, to say the least. My sciatica eventually faded as I changed how I was dealing with a long daily drive. Our buddy might need surgery, but is trying to avoid it at all costs. I wish I had something helpful to offer, because I know it sucks for you. Getting good imaging of what the problem is seems to be the first step so you know what you’re dealing with and how to proceed. Good luck. 

 

EDIT: They have now put him on a broad spectrum antibiotic while trying to narrow things down getting cultures. The 4th ER is the charm! This is a lot more than the sciatica he started with. Looks like he has an infection from the shot and it’s spreading thru his body. 

 

Healthcare is broken. Very badly broken. 

 

.

Edited 6 hours ago by Augie

[boyst]

4 minutes ago, boater said:

Gabapentin worked for me. Somewhat worked.

 

 

 

Sooo....Gabapentin can interfere with the ability to climax. 

[Augie]

1 minute ago, boyst said:

Sooo....Gabapentin can interfere with the ability to climax. 

 

So….was your wife slipping that into your morning coffee? 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

2 minutes ago, boyst said:

Sooo....Gabapentin can interfere with the ability to climax. 

You know what else interferes with climax? When your back hip and leg are screaming lol

[boyst]

5 minutes ago, Pine Barrens Mafia said:

You know what else interferes with climax? When your back hip and leg are screaming lol

... I will hold back many comments I have because Simon is easy to blush and will ban me.

[Simon]

1 minute ago, boyst said:

... I will hold back many comments I have because Simon is easy to blush and will ban me.

 

Go ahead and tell him that he shouldn't scream when he Jills off.