@zeppo From your description, if I understand correctly, you have stenosis in the foramen affecting the nerve roots between L5 and S1?

I am a Mayo cervical spine surgery patient, and I know how troubling this kind of pain can be. I did have an epidural injection too that didn't help, and my recourse was surgery to decompress my spinal cord. That is always a last resort when symptoms get worse, and it is important to consider because if nerve damage occurs because of stenosis, it can become permanent, and then surgery at that time may not relieve symptoms as well as if it had been done earlier. Often failed PT would be a prerequisite to getting insurance coverage for surgery.

Still, we do the best we can with physical therapy. You may want to look at Myofascial release done with a specially trained PT. It cannot fix stenosis, but it can help with body and spine alignment by releasing overly tight fascial tissues that can be pulling on the spine. Muscle spasms go hand in hand with spine problems and can start moving vertebrae and changing alignment. Here is our link to a myofascial release discussion :

https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/ which you can find in the Neuropathy and Spine groups. The first pages have lots of links to information, and there is a provider search at http://mfrtherapists.com/

I think @artscaping Chris, may be able to share experience with CBD and pain management, and like me, she has also had a lot of success with myofascial release. Hopefully you can find something that may help.

Are you considering surgery in the future?

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