Pain in the butt - Can't sit down

@sbtheplumber1 Be sure to read the comment by @pruitt under the Bones and Joints section today. I am going to bring this up with my doctor for sure.

I just was dx with SI joint pain. For me using a back brace makes walking tolerable. Sitting in my recliner or lying in bed are painful. Pain Management injection tomorrow for left SI. Am unable to take pain meds due to allergic reactions. Am on Low Dose Naltrexone slowly working my way to 4.5 mg. Read it can take 9 - 12 months for full effect. Use lidoderm pain patches and lidocaine prilocaine cream. I go to Core Physical Therapy where hands on Osteopathic treatment helps a great deal.

@barbbielor I tried an epidural 3 months after my surgery with no luck. I’m on low doses of cymbalta, hydrocodone, and gabapentin, having narcolepsy I can’t stay awake taking anything stronger I’m already struggling to stay awake on the lowest doses. I can’t lay in bed because of the tailbone and hip pain. I use a gel cushion in my recliner I’m able to get by with it. I don’t go anywhere without the cushion to set on and don’t go in a store unless there’s a scooter ( that has four rounds wheels) I occasionally use pain patches! I’ve been going thru pelvic therapy my muscles are so tight I can’t relax (and they always have been even when I took muscle relaxers) . I also go to the therapy pool 2x a week and walk ( which I had to stop for a couple weeks the pressure of the water hurt, I have to put a pool noodle under my arms to walk because I was having the burning and stabbing pains in the water and about fell several times) . I know a lot of people deal with the nerve pains at one time mine was so bad setting in church I had to start setting in the foyer on concrete because when they play the bass it was triggering the nerves on the wood floor. My daily exercise I try walking the yard with a cane and grabbers picking up sticks so my son won’t mow over them. I was told not to use a back brace but do from time to time when it’s really bad

Recliners are horrid for my hip pain/sciatica (Piriformis syndrome). My bed is a traditional spring bed with a 3", 3lb density topper. I have found the PT therapy that I took for almost a year gave me some great tools to keep that piriformis muscle loose and hamstring work has made a difference. I used to get a shot for bursitis regularly, but find the stretches, ice/heat and topical lidocaine, CBD ointment work fine. Some like Voltaren cream. Put it on the main sore place, perhaps with a moist microwaveable heat pad.

Damn Plumber that's too much to be going through at age 52. Have you seen a pain specialist, or consulted with another orthopod on your spine?

I wish I could help more. My lumbar spine is shot and held together by a strong core and daily exercise. That's a catch 22 though if exercise is painful. Maybe a PT?

I truly hope you find some relief. Joe

Joe I see a pain specialist but can’t take higher doses of the meds because with narcolepsy meds I struggle staying awake and being on low doses of gabapentin, cymbalta, and hydrocodone plus all the other meds I can be ready for a nap within 30 minutes of getting up and have to nap a couple hours afternoon or evening. I tried physical therapy but it got stopped because back would swell and be painful then tried water therapy but back would swell so it was stopped, I go on my own on a maintence program and just walk in the water, had to stop for a couple weeks the pressure of the water was painful. I’m also going to a pelvic therapist who also gives me exercises that just feel like the leg nerves are tareing then the testicle pain starts. I went to 3 additional neurosurgeons but all they say infusion is all healed and won’t look into additional problems. I’m waiting to be scheduled for a pain stimulator to mark over what should be fixed. So have something shocking me all day instead of fixing it.

Oh man I'm so sorry Plumber. I wish I could suggest something but you've been through it all.

I agree about the pain meds and gabapentin. I end up felling messed up and sleepy. I had both knees replaced in 2022 and just used the diluted nerve block they gave me for three days, then Celebrex for a week and Tylenol. But nothing at all like what you are going through.

This is what scares me about lumbar fusion, or any spinal fusion. It's a last resort. For joint replacements most stories are good. I had three laminotomies on S1, L5, and L4 and all good.

I do wish you the best friend. Stay strong. Joe

Plumber, the ischial tuberosity pain can be from bursitis even though nothing shows up on imaging. Have you had any steroid injections in the bursae? This is a specific painful condition not caused by spinal problems. It’s local and responds well to steroids injected into the bursae. I would ask for that if you have not had any. They should last 6-8 weeks and can be repeated. A gel cushion like those used in wheelchairs gives the most cushioning for sitting.

You could be me. I fell 8 years ago very hard on my butt and lower back. Ever since, even after many docs of various persuasion, many treatments, injections, spinal cord stimulator, pain pump, etc, the pain or sensation of sitting on what I describe as two hockey pucks, has never gone away. Like you MRIs have not shown anything. But, as a retired science teacher, I knor that for every effect there is a cause. I just can't seem to get any doc to look further into this. I had to take charge of my medical journey years ago due to the apathy og most of the doctors I encountered. So, here I am with a totally non effective pain pump, an old spinal cord stimulatoer which was just removed, and waiting for an MRI to hopefully show something.
May we all find the help we need. Perhaps an empathetic doctor somewhere along the line.

I saw a vascular doc for testing. He asked me about pain. I told him I had left butt pain. He poked me with a finger and almost sent me across the room. That's the SI joint he told me. Sitting and lying down were most painful. Walking helped it feel some better. I just had pain management do a SI joint injection and the results have been wonderful. Sleeping on that side does not cause pain! Will have the right side done!