Cross your fingers

[Sangersteve]

On 12/18/15 I crawled out the side of a molding machine and knew I wouldn't be back to that plant for at least a couple of weeks.

That was the third time that sciatica reached out and grabbed me only this time it was different, I wouldn't know how different until after the loading of tools and the hour and a half drive home.

By the time I got to the house the pain in my left butt cheek was more intense than the other times, my hip felt like there was a red hot Bowie knife stuck in it, my thigh felt like my butt cheek, and as as bonus I was numb from hip to knee.

Literally could only take a few steps with a cane before the pain made me sit down.

Since that was Friday I waited til Monday to call the Doc, the docs office said that they were completely booked that week and were closing until 1/4/16. Now matter what I tried they would not see me.I asked for pain meds,no.

Donna called her GP and they made a spot for me on Wednesday. This is the doc that referred me to the one I tried to get the appointment with. He looked me over and said he would be right back. He came back in and told me to get over to the other docs office right now,that I had an appointment, funny how that stuff works and I didn't even have to wait long.

Got the injections, they usually work right now. I told the doc it still hurt and I was still numb. The nurses got me off the table and put me in recovery. When the came to get me to go home I still couldn't walk, I asked for medication, the doc said he doesn't do medication therapy. Their office closed for the year 1 hour later.

Over the next 14 days I called his office once, in the phone message was the statement " If you contact the on call doctor they are not allow to prescribe medication" I'll bet I hold the world record for the amount of aleve, advil, and over the counter pain pills taken.

Now the new doc may have it under control , he ordered X-rays and gave me a bunch of medical mumbo-jumbo about that I have two things wrong. The back thing is probably fixed,with the injections, but the other problem is in my hip and he can fix it out patient Thursday morning.

Did you know that massive amounts of single malt scotch is a sleep aid?

[grouchy]

Fingers crossed. Sorry you are having to go thru this. I have some of the same problems but no where near your level.Glenfidich?

[Red Oak]

Don't mix the hooch with anti-inflammatory meds

[GFB]

Please do this exercise..sit on a straight backed kitchen/dining room chair.


Bend the foot backwards,,(towards you) while lifting the leg at the knee until you feel a little twinge.

When you feel the twinge, put the leg back down and keep lifting up and down..(about 15 times)..each tine putting the leg back down when you feel the twinge.

Very important to keep the foot bent backwards the whole time.

When I do this, I get instant relief.

[Sangersteve]

Greg, that is exactly how the new doc diagnosed the hip, only he added a twist.

[jellowrestling]

Please do this exercise..sit on a straight backed kitchen/dining room chair.


Bend the foot backwards,,(towards you) while lifting the leg at the knee until you feel a little twinge.

When you feel the twinge, put the leg back down and keep lifting up and down..(about 15 times)..each tine putting the leg back down when you feel the twinge.

Very important to keep the foot bent backwards the whole time.

When I do this, I get instant relief.

Not sure I did this right; I couldn't tell any difference. The hydrocodone should kick in soon, though.
I'll try it again tomorrow. Should I keep my leg at a 90 degree angle, or should I bend it in a bit when I bend the foot in?

I was supposed to get a steroid injection yesterday, but the office person cancelled it and told me the doctor wanted to see me to go over treatment options, that he had changed his original diagnosis. Long story short: she apparently misunderstood, and I'll get the second injection on Thursday. I got the first one three weeks ago, and I think the effects are wearing off. The good news is that the doc has decided to give me injections in two different places.

[jellowrestling]

Fingers crossed. Sorry you are having to go thru this. I have some of the same problems but no where near your level.Glenfidich?

+1 I've basically been a shut-in, but the pain meds have made things reasonably tolerable. I've been taking Vikoprofen (hydrocodone and ibuprofen) 3 times a day. Mornings are rough. 12/18 was the same day I limped in to see the doc the first time. I'm in much, much better shape now. I went out and ate lunch with one of my bandmates today. That's the first time I've been anywhere other than to the doctor or surgery center. I hope that you can get some relief soon. I literally "feel your pain".

One other thing that helped me: I would put an ice pack on my back and hip for about 20 minutes, then soak in a hot bath for an hour or so. That's how I get going in the morning now, too, but I only use the ice pack for about 5 minutes.

[Sangersteve]

Good luck, are you getting facet, or selective nerve root injection?

Got 3 facet the first time and Thursday will be selective twice and a WD-40 for lubrication.

[jellowrestling]

Good luck, are you getting facet, or selective nerve root injection?

Got 3 facet the first time and Thursday will be selective twice and a WD-40 for lubrication.

I believe that they are facet injections. Part of the confusion was that the doc changed the diagnosis on the spot when I went in for the first injection, and then had me do an MRI the next week (which confirmed his new diagnosis). His original diagnosis was based on x-rays and the pain I was experiencing at the time, but I was in much worse, radiating pain by the time I went for the injection.

[GFB]

Please do this exercise..sit on a straight backed kitchen/dining room chair.


Bend the foot backwards,,(towards you) while lifting the leg at the knee until you feel a little twinge.

When you feel the twinge, put the leg back down and keep lifting up and down..(about 15 times)..each tine putting the leg back down when you feel the twinge.

Very important to keep the foot bent backwards the whole time.

When I do this, I get instant relief.

Not sure I did this right; I couldn't tell any difference. The hydrocodone should kick in soon, though.
I'll try it again tomorrow. Should I keep my leg at a 90 degree angle, or should I bend it in a bit when I bend the foot in?

I was supposed to get a steroid injection yesterday, but the office person cancelled it and told me the doctor wanted to see me to go over treatment options, that he had changed his original diagnosis. Long story short: she apparently misunderstood, and I'll get the second injection on Thursday. I got the first one three weeks ago, and I think the effects are wearing off. The good news is that the doc has decided to give me injections in two different places.

You are sitting and your feet are on the floor..or dangling.

You are moving towards straightening the leg in this exercise, but if you have a sciatica type pain..you will get about halfway up before you have to move it back down to do it again. It is like an on/off switch for the little twinge you feel.

[GFB]

Greg, that is exactly how the new doc diagnosed the hip, only he added a twist.

If you feel that twinge, you can alleviate it this way..if it is a sciatica type nerve problem.

[GFB]

Sorry if I didn't explain it well the first time.

[ann jusko]

I am so sorry Sangersteve and Jellowrestling. It really is debilitating as I well know. Hubs has had 5 or 6 back surgeries. He swears when they fix two discs, the other around it go even with all the instrumentation they put in. He refused another surgery and due to Obama, he now has to go to pain management. That's a crock and a real money maker for the doctors who switched to pain management. Our internist was giving him 30 hydrochonone to get to sleep at night. However, your own doctor can no longer do that. So another layer off payoffs is added. He goes once a month and the "pee in a cup" itself is
$100. Then there's the doctor's fee. This is to make sure he's taking it and not selling it. He'll be 81 on Feb. 5. The neurosurgeon said "Well, the last surgery you had wasn't the right one. We thought it was at the time, but now we know it wasn't." Steve said "I'm not going to spend the rest of my life recovering from back surgery. Then he HAD to go to physical therapy, which had never helped before and didn't this time.

[Jami]

I hope both of you get some relief SOON!!

[jellowrestling]

Sorry if I didn't explain it well the first time.

Probably had more to do with it being late and the drugs.

[jellowrestling]

I am so sorry Sangersteve and Jellowrestling. It really is debilitating as I well know. Hubs has had 5 or 6 back surgeries. He swears when they fix two discs, the other around it go even with all the instrumentation they put in. He refused another surgery and due to Obama, he now has to go to pain management. That's a crock and a real money maker for the doctors who switched to pain management. Our internist was giving him 30 hydrochonone to get to sleep at night. However, your own doctor can no longer do that. So another layer off payoffs is added. He goes once a month and the "pee in a cup" itself is
$100. Then there's the doctor's fee. This is to make sure he's taking it and not selling it. He'll be 81 on Feb. 5. The neurosurgeon said "Well, the last surgery you had wasn't the right one. We thought it was at the time, but now we know it wasn't." Steve said "I'm not going to spend the rest of my life recovering from back surgery. Then he HAD to go to physical therapy, which had never helped before and didn't this time.

So sorry to hear this, Ann. I know that this has been harder on my wife than on me.

[crocmommy]

Sorry if I didn't explain it well the first time.

Probably had more to do with it being late and the drugs.

Greg does drugs??

[GFB]

That was jello that mentioned the drugs...but to answer your question...yes.

[crackertoes]

Good to know I'm in good company but so sorry y'all are hurting!!

Two days before Christmas, I bent down to pick up a piece of lint from the floor and thought I was never going to straighten up again. But I did and proceeded to consume mass quantities of advil and used the Christmas season as a reason to go ahead and have another glass or two of wine. I somehow got through Christmas and started feeling better. Then I put on a shoe which requires a little stomp to get it on correctly. That landed me in the ER. Got a wonderful shot of Toradol and a valium and went home to a hot bath and a decent night's sleep. They prescribed narcotics that I can't take so the relief was short-lived and I'll need to make an appt with my back doc when he gets back from vacation. They can prescribe oral Toradol so not sure why they didn't do that.

I had a cortisone shot in my hip last May; they hit a nerve and I was utterly miserable from that for months. They referred me to a surgeon who had only "well, if we do this or that, there's a 50% chance it might help *some* and a good chance it won't help at all. Good bye! every time I went back for a follow-up with the original doc, I was kept waiting to extremes... like three hours or more during the middle of a work day when I asked specifically for a "first appointment of the day or after lunch."

Interesting trick of lifting the leg with the foot pulled back... tried that a moment ago and got that twinge and my hip does feel better! Thanks for the tip!!

[jellowrestling]

Ouch! We're quite a group, aren't we?