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@carol1024
I also have sciatica. I also have severe lower back pain. I have to be very careful how I bend or twist or the sciatica will flair up. Have you tried a back brace? You have a pinched nerve there and you gotta do something to get it released. Maybe doing the yoga pose where you get on knees and elbows and stretch as far forward as you can with arms on the floor. I also use a heating pad when it's very bad. It may sound crazy but I've also stood and slightly did the twist. There's a nerve that runs through the groin area called the piriformis muscle. It can get caught there too. I've folded many a heating pad and jammed it in that area and believe it or not it helps some. I've also laid on sofa with something under my knees to separate and take pressure off lower back. I also kept a little booklet and wrote down every day my pain level, what I did to relieve pain, if possible like soaking in tub of hot water, what I was able to physically do, how it hurt when I went to the bathroom etc. I took it with me to doctor and asked them to scan that in my chart. I know it hurts to move but that's all you can do but do it very gently and slowly and the nerve will slowly release. It put me in the bed for a week once and my boyfriend called a non emergency service to take me to orthopedic office and gave me a shot. I had not been able to sit or stand for 7 days but after that shot I sat up on that stretcher and the nurse said "don't you get down from there" I said "I'm not, I haven't been in a vertical position for 7 days and I just want to sit upright". I walked out of that doctors office. Got another shot in 30 days and he prescribed some potent muscle relaxers and hydrocodone. If you have the MRI's and scans that prove you're in that much pain it's crazy to have to wait that long. I'd be calling EMS once a week until I finally got some relief. I saw a chiropractor right when I started having issues, mine was from sitting on 5 gallon bucket bending over pulling weeds from a garden we were making and all the repetitive bending separated the lumbar spine enough and wore the disc's enough that it got ahold of the nerve, and my back felt really good for about 3 days then the pain came back. I wish I had better answers for you. I have to wear a back brace still because when I stand in one place too long my thighs get so numb I couldn't feel a hot poker touch them. I can't stand and cook like I used to. I cook a little at the time. The back brace presses in on my lower abdomen and changes things there. I've asked my pain management doctor at what point do we do something? I don't want to wake up one morning and not be able to get out of bed because I can't feel my legs. I'm 67, not active either. I have a treadmill I got years ago and use it sometimes. I have neuropathy in feet and hands but it's really hard to know if it's from my back and pinched nerve in neck from doing hair for over 20 years or a result of chemotherapy after 12 treatments for cancer. Had my last one yesterday and I'm gonna need more. Got morphine for bone pain that's going to last about a week after this Udenyca shot goes off this afternoon. I could also stand to lose about 30 pounds too which may help a lot but my oncologist has advised me this is not the time for a diet change. Can you make some calls or go to primary care doctor to maybe see someone to get a shot in your back? Seems like they might would do that at the hospital. I really hope you get some relief of some kind soon. I know exactly how you feel. 🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️
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@carol1024
Hello, Carol.
Thank you for your compassion and the validation that my pain is severe enough that indeed, yesterday it was so bad I nearly presented myself back to the ER, called a health line to seek the advice of a registered nurse, but when I was told by the agent that the wait for a call back from the nurse in over 4 hours i just said angrily, "Oh forget it."
Why wait 4 hours when the wait at the ER would be only a couple hours more?
I am glad the back brace helps you, I really ought to order one.
I am so sorry you are enduring cancer and it's pain that I have no idea how you cope with.
You are very strong, and so generous of heart to offer your support to me while you are suffering so much yourself.
Thank you again, and blessings.