Numbness, tingling, spasms in leg long after sciatica diagnosis

Did you struggle with side effects from Lyrica, satanstempress99? I was given a prescription but I have feared taking it because of the high incidence of side effects that are of the type that could keep me from working.

What is a backnobber, how did you use it exactly, where can i get one? -D

juststopthepain wrote:

Guest wrote:

Hi everyone,

I have battles sciaica, Front thigh pain, glute pain, and lower back pain.  This all began from squatting in a gym, and getting stuck in the bottom position, with no help available.  I had to roll the 200lb barbell over my neck, and then I felt my lower back click in several.  To cut a long story short, after many days of not being able to walk, and seeing so many therapists in Australia, and internationally, I was left with sciatica, front glute pain, and a numb pinky toe.  The condition remained unchanged for the past 7 years.

I then came across trigger point therapy, and bought a backnobber(or any other tool which can apply pressure), and began treating myself, which is easy.  Immediately, all my problems seemed quite easily fixed.  It is amazing to say the least, and I now understand why no professional wanted me to find out about "trigger Point Therapy'.  It gets right to the cause of your problem, and corrects it.  I was absolutely amazed at how quickly this worked.  Most of these problems can not only be corrected but reversed.  It was well worth the time investing in some research and learning about this type of therapy, as you can do it all by yourself, without any reliance on practitioners.

And the icing on the cake, is that I thought they would have taught this to me at medical school!

Good luck, you deserve to have a normal mobile healthy life again.

What is a backnobber, how did you use it exactly, where can i get one? -D

I would like to know this as well. I do have a foam roll that I sit on and roll ...even though it hurts...all over my glutes, and even down my affected leg. I was told that you just have to get in there and massage it...so I'm adding this to my exercise routine.

I wonder if this idea is similar to a backnobber?

I would start on a day off to see how it affects you first. I get the common side effects of drowsiness, dizziness. I wouldn't recommend operating heavy equipment. But everyone reacts differently.

If your suffering from sciatic pain and it's bad enough you need meds you kinda learn to live with the side effects. Not half as bad as the pain.

dude im 22 and i have this exact pain.

it sucks!

find anyways to make it not hurt so much?!

 

Hello all,

In 2005 I was driving a 45 foot charter bus on one of our local highways. The day was clear, the pavement was dry, and traffic was flowing at the speed limit or more. Knowing I was getting ready to climb a hill and that there was an onramp coming up with merging traffic I moved over into the left lane to keep my speed up, and allow traffic to merge. Suddenly everyone in front of me came to a screeching stop from 60mph. I had lots of room, but charter buses range in weight from 40 to 55,000lbs. I had to stand on my brakes and frantically gear down the transmission to stop. Scared the hell out of me, but I stopped within a foot of the bumper of the car in front of me. Traffic began to creep forward again, and just as I was also getting ready to creep forward I heard a scary noise. I looked in both mirrors, and that's when I noticed the semi-truck behind me with his brakes completely locked up and smoking, fishtailing towards the rear of my bus. As close as I still was to the little car in front of me, and with no where to go, my natural reaction was to put both feet on the brake into the floor, and to brace myself with both arms on the steering wheel. The truck hit me and ended up pushing me forward about 6 inches, but I avoided being pushed into any of the vehicles around me. I was pretty shook up, but I felt fine, so we followed the necessary legal steps and my boss sent me home for the day, even though he was skeptical that nothing was wrong. About two days later I started the day with a constant throbbing type of charlie horse in my left leg, and I never get charlie horses. By the end of the day I couldn't stand up straight, and had someone running a flaming knife up and down my leg. The next 6 months were awful. I have birthed 4 children, and at the time I was only 32, and I would rather have had 10 more children completely natural than endure the kind of pain that I was in. I was visibly swollen from the center of my back out, my left leg had swollen to the point where I could only wear sweatpants. I couldn't stand to be on my left side at all, couldn't sleep in my own bed, standing up for more than five minutes at a time caused me so much pain that I would shake uncontrollably, some days I couldn't find a comfortable position no matter what I did, and I was on high doses of ibuprofen, percoset, and cyclobenzaprine. They tried three rounds of cortizone, and all the cortizone did was cause me to break out, and numb the pain for about three days each time. It turned out that my L4 and L5 were herniated. The specialist said it was the worst L5 herniation he had ever seen. By June they elected to do surgery. They removed most of my L5 and had to carve into my vertebrae to get to it as my body was naturally trying to fuse them together to protect my wound.

I felt almost normal again after sugery. As the nerve began to wake back up I went through bouts where the bottoms of my feet would itch so badly that I would stand at the top of my stairs frantically rubbing my foot against the carpet at the top edge of the top stair. My family was sympathetic, but they found that rather amusing. My left pinky toe is permanently numb to the point that I could break it and I would never know. The toe next to it frequently gets an electric stabbing hot/cold pain. Until we bought a new mattress there were times when I couldn't get out of bed in the morning without help. My theory was that I would be in the same position too long, because within 5 minutes of changing positions I would be okay. We ended up buying a tempur-pedic, and it is the best investment we have ever made. I go through bouts with back pain still. Every now and again I get a lump next to my scar and pain radiating around it. Today I'm dealing with my left pinky going through bouts of numbness, tingling, and periods of feeling hot and then cold.

The long and short of it is that I have never been the same. There are things I simply can't do or won't do for fear of the discomfort. I have never been in as much pain as I was prior to my surgery, but I won't complain much because I know how bad it was. I went through a period where I was exercising regularly and had lost a bunch of weight, and I cannot tell you how much better it made me feel as a whole. For the last couple of years I've  backslid though, and now I am paying the price. A good mattress, and treating your body the right way by exercising will go a long way in reducing any pain you might be feeling. My exercise of choice is the elliptical machine. It doesn't hurt to do it and provides the most bang of any of the machines I've tried. Start out small, 10 or 15 minutes a day, and then gradually work up from there. Even taking walkjs is better than sitting around, which is the worst thing you can do for your back.

Wow...you have been through a lot! I'm glad to hear that you are better now. While your surgery sounds like it was absolutely necessary, I on the other hand have been trying to avoid it. I have that same herniation at L5/S1. I've battled this for a few years, even having 5 in-between injections that I had no trouble at all. Simple movements, like caarrying a backpack that was to heavy, put me back in pain on the same side as yours..left. I never had numbness before this last bout with it. I can draw a line down my thigh in the back, my calf, and into my foot where I am numb. I have had 4 injections this year, and I am just finishing up PT again as the traction I find helps a lot, in particular with the numbness. However....just as I was feeling so much better, this past Sunday, I was doing a "preventitive" movement...as you noted...certain things you just can't do. I was squating next to my bed to tuck in the sheets. I felt the most awful pull just above the cosyx...yet it seems below the disc. I've never felt anything like that. It brought back the pain in the leg as well. So I'm praying it is more muscle related and will ease up, because it is hard to take 2 steps backwards. My numbness does seem to be a bit better; I think traction is helping that. Is the elliptical the only thing you do beyond walking? I don't have any machines...I use an exercise ball, bands, a foam roller, etc. and do many stretches and core exercises. I will have to manage this for the rest of my life but I just pray I don't have to have surgery. Thanks for sharing your story.

i read an old post about foot numbness after a dicsetocmy. i had numbness before but now after suregey it apears a little worse. surgery was about a montha go. other sciatic symptoms are better leg cramps etc. did your numbness ever improve?

Sympathies! I have been diagnosed with 'aging spine' which manifests with squashed and bulging vertebrae trapping various nerves, including the sciatic. I often have numbness which can be either at the back or the side of my leg and sometimes in my foot so walking challenging some days as unsure if foot is on the ground or not! Re 'pulling string' sensation, that is exactly what you are doing - pulling the nerve! Am finding relief, finally, with Neurontin and am awaiting steroid spinal injections. You are not alone! Good luck with finding what helps you

you probably have a trap nerve that caused the sciatica in the first place. getting it released will the free the the nerve on you toes

I have had ongoing sciatic problems since "sequestering" l3/l4 and l4/l5 about 4 yrs ago. it's a real up and down thing - i do find it sooo frustrating - at the moment i have swollen left foot which feels really hot - and the bottom of my foot feels like it is bruised and is really sore to walk on - the best thing i have found (recommended by my osteopath) is regular swimming - i hadn't done front crawl / freestyle in years and took a while to rediscover (you tube!) - it stretches the spine while strengthening the core - while it hasn't resolved the issue altogether it is now more manageable - it is a long road but from what i've read and found out it is all about personal management - like you say - stretching and core work - if i don't swim for a few days i really notice the negative effects - it does take more (i think) mental strength - but once you can motivate yourself you will feel much better - best of luck with your regieme ; )

fitness wrote:

DistintinctivelyMe...? wrote:

Ive read many posts on the issue but none have related to my issues that Im concerned about. I was diagnosed with sciatica about a year ago and MY experience was very different from these posts but according to the doctors very typical of the disorder. My pain began after a lower back injury and started in the middle of my butt cheek and radiated down my right leg. Some times was worse than others. I got no relief from the combination of pain meds (oxycodone) and anti-inflammatories and excersize. I figured it just had to run its course and then it would be over. I asked if there would be long term affects and I was ASSURED that usually once the pain is managed and it works itself out that it may come back again later but as far as lasting affects there were none. I kinda felt like the doctor was saying (between all the terminology and facts) 'yeah, yeah, we all get pain lady. Buck up'. She said she had the same thing and almost everyone will at some point experience this. I chalked it up to her having a long/bad day and maybe she was just tired of people complaining all the time. Who knows? After that, I did a lot of research online but still never came across lasting affects from it. At least none of the affects Im experiencing so Im wondering if it may be something else. Well I am having this numbness on the back side of the affected leg, mainly through the lower leg. My toes have numbed and the feeling hasnt returned since (which is why Im linking this with the sciatica but could it be describing another issue that may be being masked by the sciatica event?) My pinky toe is most numb then the next 3 three toes are pretty numb and my big toe is a little less numb. The outer half of that foot all the way around is numb and tingly. Aaaawwww man, the tingling!!!! So weird. Im also getting muscle spasms throughout that leg and mainly in my butt right where I was feeling the original sciatica pain. When I flex my foot (like pointing your toes downward) or if I twist my leg (like to change direction) it feels like something is pulling a string that is connected from my butt muscle to my calf muscle cuz I can feel it all the way up and down. Its not pain but it feels so alien that I notice it and suddenly stop doing that action as if it were painful. I feel all this mostly when Im in bed. Also ever since the sciatica my skin on the top of my feet, yes both, itch like crazy. None of this is painful but its really irritating and I dont want to hear that its just one of those things Ill have to live with now, even though Im thinking that may be the case. Could it be anything else? Diabetes? or some degenerative disease? At this time I dont have any insurance to be able to afford a doctor but if I can get an opinion Im sure I can research online what I may be able to do about it, whatever it MAY be. I also have uncontrolled high blood pressure. Might it be related to that?

DistinctivelyMe...?

you probably have a trap nerve that caused the sciatica in the first place. getting it released will the free the the nerve on you toes

You might want to Google peripheral neuropathy.

Hi, I have just been going through a bad time with sciatica. Over a weekend I couldn't sleep with the pain and could easily have jumped off a balcony during the night. I finally got to see a doctor on the monday and with pain killers and muscle relaxants the pain has eased apart from just above and around my right side ankle. My toes are also numb and I have noticed I am dragging my foot and tripping now and again. I have also had to stop driving as I cannot feel the accelorator pedal under my foot. Wish I knew how long this is going to last??

Hi there...i have been constipated now for a long time due to anti-depressants and i have been getting a swollen lump in my left buttock a day or two after i would force violently on the toilet...sorry i know it's gross. But the last time this happened the pain ran down my left leg...and i have seen my GP and he said i have definitely pinched a nerve because of the spasms and numbness. The spasms have pretty much stopped now but i still have alot of numbness in my shin, and foot and i notice my big toe often cramps up. Im pretty sure i have Piriformis syndrome. Im just worried the numbness wont go away...i suppose it takes time especially when you cannot just stay in bed all day every day to rest it.