Hi there:

I just read one of your posts and you said you had leg pain b/c of mild scoliosis. I have extreme low back and leg pain, and I also have mild scoliosis--my low back curves a little more than it should. What does your leg pain feel like? Mine is down both of my legs and feels like a deep bone ache. I hurt real bad at night (but right now I am taking percocet to help that)....my low back and hips hurt all of the time. Can you describe your pain to me please? Thanks!!!

schao

Sometimes my legs get slightly numb. But most often I get stabbing pain shooting down my legs. When I had an MRI for my back, lying on the table had me in tears from the pain in just a couple of minutes. Mine is positional, meaning I can't lie flat on my back, unless it is something very soft, without pain stabbing down my legs to the point of me crying I hurt so bad. But once I get up, or roll to my side or belly, the pain is gone within a couple of minutes.

We don't take long car trips anymore because I can tolerate them well. We have to stop about every 30 minutes for me to get out and move around or I will be in so much pain I'm crying. I can't sit for long either without getting the pain shooting down my legs, the best I can manage is about 30 - 45 minutes at home. And that is with placing a small pillow behind me in order to flex my spine so that my shoulders go back and my middle back goes forward.

I can't even walk very long without having pain shoot down my legs. Based on how long it takes me to walk a couple of blocks to the school bus stop, it would take me around 1 hour to walk 1 mile. And my pain is a deep pain, in the bones but not the joints. I try to walk daily to the library (3 blocks) but some days my legs start hurting so bad I can't stand it and I have to sit on the ground and wait for it to quit. I also have pitting edema pretty bad but so far I can't get my GP or the rheumy to take me serious about it. Most days it is so bad my socks leave deep marks in my legs and the swelling is all the way up to my knees.

The worst location of my pain is about 4 inches below the top of my hips, right in the middle at my spine. I even tried massage and that made me hurt worse. Right now the only way I can get rid of this leg pain is to either sit and wait it out, lie down until its gone, or take on of the lortab I finally got the rheumy to prescribe.

When I feel up to getting in and out of bed, I sleep on a waterbed with the heater directly under my side. I then cover with an electric blanket and place a light blanket over that. This locks all th eheat in on me and I don't hurt quite as bad and I can actually get some sleep. Right now I take 12 mg Zanaflex every night and it has already begun to loose effectiveness. My husband tells me when he comes home I don't move around at all even the noises from my husband when he comes in from work doesn't rouse me a bit. On the weekends my husband lets me sleep in and I end up sleeping 10-12 hours and I still feel exhausted when I wake up.