Hi everyone,

I have alot of questions but just want to ask this one for now. I have sciatica from what my Dr. thinks is a prolapsed disc. I will see my Dr. tomorrow to know for sure. I have pain in back,butt,hips,legs, and feet. I have tingling,prickling feeling in legs and feet. I don't have constant pain like most people I've talked with so does that offer any justice to maybe mine not being a severe thing? Does that make sense? I've talked with a couple of people and they're in severe pain all the time where I'm only in severe pain off and on. I hope my question makes sense and if anyone has any input it would be appreciated! I'll ask my other questions when I have a little extra time. Hope everyone feels better soon and you're all in my prayers!

Just my story - I had the pain in the butt and down the leg, the tingling in the feet, numbness etc...the whole sciatica bit. Didn't really have back pain to speak of.

The pictures told the story and that was enough for me. MRI's, discograms, and myelograms don't lie.

The pain in the hip and leg finally got bad enough to cripple me. Sometimes back trouble shows up in other areas.

Hi TxHunni,

I think I should have kept my mouth shut when I said I didn't have constant severe pain. About an hour ago I bent over t o pick up my daughters pillow off the floor, and I don't know what the heck I did but I've been in severe pain since then. Thinking about going to ER because I can't bend over at all now nor can I stand up straight. If I do bend over just a tiny bit or try to stand up straight it sends major pain through my back and legs. I have a Dr. appointment in the morning and hoping I can wait that long. As of right now it doesn't look like I can wait. Thank you for your reply and hope things get better for you! Take care and keep me posted on how you're doing.

From my own experience, if you're already under the care of a doctor for your back (sciatica) they won't do much for you in the hospital for your back. They'll give you a shot of demerol and send you on your way until you can get into your doc (at least that's what our hospital did on Labor Day when I went in).

I so feel your pain. I'm sorry you're feeling this way. Try a nice warm bath - it will help relax your muscles a bit - which have tightened up due to the pain now. Stay off your feet for a few hours. Try to keep enough meds in you until morning .

Let us know how it goes at the doctor's tomorrow.

You don't have to have constant, horrible pain to have a ruptured disc causing problems. Are you seeing a spine specialist or just your family doctor?
That prickly, tingly feeling is nerve compression....have you had a recent MRI? You cannot tell for sure what is going on without one. An x-ray won't help.
Please give us a bit more information about the kind of dr. you are seeing and what tests you have had....any diagnosis...physical therapy, shots, etc. I'd really like to help you but just don't have enough information to say much more than I have.

Good luck, and please get back with us tomorrow.

Carol

Someone said in their post that MRI's, Myelograms etc... don't lie.... but do they tell the whole story of what is going on and causing pain?

I had a Hemilaminectomy/discectomy back on June 2.... had complete relief for roughly 2 weeks... over the 2 weeks the pain gradually came back..... having constant Lower back, hip, buttock, leg, calf and foot pain.... have the crawling, tingling, burning, numb, sensations in my right leg, and now in my left as well, which I didn't have before surgery, also have the pulling, achy pain in my legs... cant bend at the waist or it pulls all the way down my leg, Doc says I have no achilles reflex in my right leg.... last three toes on my right foot are numb and my toes and foot ache terribly.....EMG concluded I have L5-S1 Radiculopathy.... Had another MRI in August it says I dont have any nerve compression, but I do have residual tissue at L5-S1 after my Lami/Discectomy...Have gone for 3 Epidural Steroid Injections... first two gave me maybe 2 days relief... the last one I had this past tuesday lasted only a few hrs.. now my pain is back worse....I was on Keppra... didnt help... then on Neruontin, he took me off it on tuesday because it was causing terrible headaches... and wasnt helping..... Had a Myelogram on Oct 20th... it says I dont have any nerve compression but when my PM doc was doing my injection this last time, he said on the floroscopy xray he could see something there at the S1 nerve... and that it was irritating my S1 nerve.... mind you this doesnt show up on MRI or Myelogram.....When he did my injection, he said he was going to treat the S1 nerve, and when he injected me, it immediately shot the pain down my butt and leg clear to my foot... .Hurt something awful, but went away in a few seconds... and pain totally disappeared for probably a hour.....so if the MRI and stuff shows no compression on that nerve.... Why am I having such pain? something has to be there...Right? it is so frustrating to have this pain, and have the tests say nothing is there.... sorry so long, had to vent and get it out... any input sure would be appreciated.... Thanks Alot... Take Care All....... :angel:

Aloha and Welcome KayKay,:wave:

Lots of good advice already but I just wanted to put a couple of cents in here. Even if you are not experiencing a constant severe pain, the symptoms that you have described are familiar to me also. I agree that an MRI is the way to go if they feel that a disc may be irritating a nerve. I would also like to add to TexasWildRose's point that even though an MRI is better than an X-ray and Myelograms and EMG’s are good tools also, but I don't believe that an MRI does tell the whole story, and also, for the record, they are given and read by humans (well...ok, doctor's and technicians, almost human), and humans can overlook and they can also make mistakes.

You may have seen my posts about my MRI report. I had surgery in February and am still having some nerve pain, numbness and tingling etc in the same leg that I had it in before my surgery. So, a concern that I have and that hasn’t been disputed by my doctors yet, and because the latest MRI shows no significant findings that would cause radicular pain is that I may now have permanent nerve damage because the pressure wasn’t released soon enough. So, I really can’t tell you how long is too long, we are all different and there are lots of variables, however, my point is that because you don’t think it is severe enough pain wise, any pressure on a nerve is too much and who’s to say when it may become damaged to the point of no return.

I didn’t mean to come across as a doomsayer, alls I am saying is give it the attention that it deserves and if need be, get a second opinion if you are not satisfied with the first.

Good Luck and God Bless:angel: , and welcome again to our little cozy corner of cyber space.

Carl

TexasWild: Didn't you say you were with Bosita? If I were a betting person, I would say it's scar tissue forming in there. Ask him about that. They may have to go back in and clean that out again. I had a similar situation with a neurosurgeon last year. The scar tissue grew back very quickly and I found myself right back where I started. Then when I went to TBI. Just a thought. It's got to be something. MRI's aren't always a tell all, myelograms can sometimes shed a better light, but it's my understanding that the discogram can really pinpoint a problem; however, it depends on where the root of the problem is, whether it's nerve or disc. Myelograms and discograms isoltate different issues. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

TexasWild: Didn't you say you were with Bosita? If I were a betting person, I would say it's scar tissue forming in there. Ask him about that. They may have to go back in and clean that out again. I had a similar situation with a neurosurgeon last year. The scar tissue grew back very quickly and I found myself right back where I started. Then when I went to TBI. Just a thought. It's got to be something. MRI's aren't always a tell all, myelograms can sometimes shed a better light, but it's my understanding that the discogram can really pinpoint a problem; however, it depends on where the root of the problem is, whether it's nerve or disc. Myelograms and discograms isoltate different issues. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.


What is Bosita? Im not sure what that is... one of the first things my Neurologist said was it could be scar tissue but he would not go in to just clean up scar tissue, because it would just grow back and then I would be in the same boat again... and he also said he would not go in and do exploratory because I am having pain...because the MRI and Myelogram do not show any significant impingement on nerves....So I am not sure where I go from here... 3 ESI's have not worked....I am at my wits end... Thanks for your response... Take Care.... :angel:

April