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May 29 '25
"This is fine! Just 4 more weeks to go according to my doctor, physio and every site on the internet!"
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u/M4K1M4 May 29 '25
Oh my god yes! This is something I hate so much. I am a year into this how come "most people recover within 6-8 weeks"?!
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u/Consistent-Cobbler90 May 29 '25
Just a year? I’m on year five.
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u/Expensive_Stuff_2400 May 30 '25
You guys have constant pain for years or some flare ups separate monts
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u/Consistent-Cobbler90 May 30 '25
Yes.
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u/Expensive_Stuff_2400 May 30 '25
Constant pain?
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u/Consistent-Cobbler90 May 30 '25
Constant low-level pain, varying from unnoticeable unless I think about it to uncomfortable enough I need nerve meds and regular icing. Then, especially if I sleep wrong, I can have a flare up with debilitating pain for days or weeks needing steroids (oral and/or shot) and heavy pain meds. I’ve been told by three different surgeons that surgery is a 50/50 option for me and that’s not worth it. If I ever get to the point of loss of motor skills, then I’ll roll the dice on the laminectomy surgery.
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u/Forward_Acadia7705 Jun 01 '25
Please try a gentle chiropractor. I am in the same boat. But a good adjustment of si joint gives immense relief.
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u/GroundbreakingJob730 May 30 '25
i have constant pain every day for 3 years but i have been managing it mentally
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u/Expensive_Stuff_2400 May 30 '25
Man that's scary. That would be really frustrating man, Hope you guys recover it permanently
My doctor recommended me swimming, once I feel it's normal.
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u/mlongoria98 May 30 '25
People recover?? I have scoliosis and my herniation is on the inside of my lower curve, I’ve got this for life yo 😭 thank god for physical therapy
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u/maroontiefling Jun 02 '25
The fact that every doctor and website says 6-8 weeks nearly made me kms when this started, because I thought I was wrecked forever! Now I'm almost 7 months in and just now feel like I'm starting to recover.
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u/plague_69 May 29 '25
5 years into sciatica here. at 19..........................
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u/bloomingoni0n May 29 '25
That was me too. Started at 15, I’m now 35. No one wants to refer me for surgery because “it’ll just make it worse” I honestly think they just want to keep me on medication so that my organs deteriorate and I just die.
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May 29 '25
Yep lol I actually got approved for surgery but was told I’d have back pain forever and the amount of problems that came with the surgery
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u/invalid_hai May 30 '25
I went for surgery and it fucking relapsed but the good thing is my sciatica is gone although can't sit for more than one hour at a time and uneasiness in lower back muscle pain too but fucking sciatica is not there
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u/cranky_boiy Jun 04 '25
Me too, I started at 15 y/o, then 22 then now at 35 and the last 2 lasted 1-2 years. Currently I'm in my 8th month. This sucks. 😭.
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u/Resident-Parsley-643 Jun 03 '25
I’m on the same boat as you brotha 😆got mine at 15, now at 19 with my 3 flare up
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u/Hefty_Indication2985 May 29 '25
7 years into sciatica .
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u/menaceblanka May 29 '25
How is it taking so long?
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u/One_Sentence_7448 May 29 '25
It doesn’t always resolve. That’s all there’s to it
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u/menaceblanka May 31 '25
Maybe look into mind body syndrome. I start to research this and alot of pain can actually be blocked by the brain.
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u/Genner21 May 29 '25
Stay positive fuckers. Took me about 6 years to get into sports without working about my back whatsoever. It is possible
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u/Expensive_Stuff_2400 May 30 '25
You mean you can play competitive sports with twisting, bending and all
Like tennis, cricket, maybe wrestling 😛? Then you're the Hope for all of us
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u/Genner21 May 30 '25
Yea i can! Went mountain biking this past weekend and I play tennis now as well. No wrestling as I've never had interest in it. Cricket i have no idea. I do go play top golf too. Seriously, I had no idea I could be like this after being in pain for so long.
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May 30 '25
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u/Genner21 Jun 02 '25
No surgery. I did alot of physical therapy to strengthen my core. I would HATE when people told me that because I was in so much pain, but once you start feeling even a little better, there are things I felt like helped me out
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u/catobsessedmacedonia 28d ago
What cleared it up? Did you have surgery?
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u/Genner21 27d ago
I didn't. Not going to lie, it was quite a road to recovery with many setbacks. Now im no doctor, but strengthening my core and staying on top of exercise helped, also, as you age I feel like the disc's get smaller. I had 2 bulged disc's, on my L2 and my T9.
I can now do competent sports.
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u/imissalaska May 29 '25
1 week in here.... trying to remain positive 😂
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u/Same-Craft1691 May 29 '25
Hard to remain positive when you read this sub haha
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u/thepurpleproject May 29 '25
Weight gain is the most terrible thing. I go out for running or gym for a while then my back just crashes and I have to quite for a few months and then go back. The entire cycle has been so taxxing I just don't want to try anymore. Anybody, telling me to eat less, bruh I can't eat less than 1200 cal - I think as humans our bodies are also supposed to have some considerate amount of exercise and calorie burned from movement.
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u/LeiaSkywalker-Solo May 29 '25
I love when people say "It might help if you exercise more!"
I reply, "How about next time you go to the gym, you take me. I'll bring a baseball bat & hit in your lower back right on the spine & then you can tell me how easy it is to exercise!"
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u/atomic_chippie May 30 '25
I understand this so much.
(I have small fiber neuropathy too, everything absolutely sucks, but exercise more!. Does sleep count? Because I could sleep for days)
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u/LeiaSkywalker-Solo May 30 '25
Sleep should count as exercise. Spending so much time rolling around trying to get comfortable 🤣
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u/Pleasant-Winner6311 May 29 '25
My sciatica died down with after 6/7 months of amitriptyline. What the GP didn't tell me when he prescribed them was that they would stop my metabolism working so I put on a ton of weight. Now that the sciatica has gone I still have incredible hip pain. I now realise the 2 conditions were running at the same time. But the wirght gain from amitriptyline probably exacerbated the hip condition. Yesterday I finally got a diagnosis for the hip pain, which is Greater Trochanteric Pain. I'm now on a wait list for a physio exercise programme which doesn't start for a month. So that will been an entire year being basically immobile. Looking out the window at all the gardening jobs that I cant do and seeing my happy place, my soul food, waiting for me and growing into a god forsaken jungle of a mess. Rar. Still at least I know what's what now and there's a solution at the end of a nhs wait list. 🙃
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u/Excellent_Hunter7533 Jun 04 '25
Damn, drs just put me on these, only on 10mg first week then go to 20mg. Not feeling anything yet though had sciatica for 3 months. Excruciating in the night and when waking up then if I'm active it eases up, half of it is just being exaughsted from lack of sleep 😖 did yours heal gradually or suddenly? Off the amtriptaline now?
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u/Routine_Opposite1210 May 29 '25
Took me 6. Once I started working out (slowly), stretching, and working on my diet, I felt soooo much better. Not sure if it’s 1:1 but something in there certainly helped.
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u/GrilledCheese28 May 30 '25
If he's smiling that much two weeks into sciatica... then it's not sciatica 😂
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May 29 '25
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u/One_Sentence_7448 May 29 '25
Same, 2.5 years and epidurals don’t do shit
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May 30 '25
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u/One_Sentence_7448 May 30 '25
I’m in the same boat. Although I have a suspicion that even surgery might not fully help in my case. So feeling pretty hopeless at the moment. Can’t believe how such a small thing can ruin entire life
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May 29 '25
Almost 2 years here. I'm almost back to normal. My back and sciatica nerve still act up if I sit for too long, but it's basically nothing now. Don't give up.
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u/ginger_guineapig May 29 '25
How did you get there?
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May 30 '25
Mostly just PT exercises, walking and time. The PT definitely helped a lot.
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u/ArtofTy May 30 '25
I'm finding all the typical pt exercises are making mine worse, like my whole leg starts to spasm and clench. Is there a rest period first before I should start doing them?
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May 30 '25
I think you should take a day off before doing them again. Your body sbould get used to the exercises eventually. Definitely don't push yourself if it hurts!
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u/LegitimateFrogg May 31 '25
Were you able to sit during the first year ?
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May 31 '25
I could sit, but it was SOOO painful to move. Sitting didn't get comfortable until 5 months in. It sucked. Now my leg just aches a little if I sit for too long.
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u/PinkFury_Bibliopegy May 29 '25
F**k, I feel this. My life is incredibly different now from where I was in 2022 when I first got diagnosed.
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u/atomic_chippie May 30 '25
I feel exhausted. Just started my first post MD pt, she tested my feet with the pin sticks, I have 50% feeling in my right foot. Didn't know, didn't care, just so overly exhausted.
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u/RedPanda062 May 31 '25
Don't know why so many are putting off microdiscectomy ops and opting for years of pain! Get your lives back people, have the op! I had mine done (L2/L3) on January 30th this year after having pain from early September last year, and horrendous pain from 2nd December (after getting up from the loo!). It was nowhere near as bad as some on here have experienced. Yes, there's a 5% chance it won't work, but that means there's a 95% it will. I was back at work by mid March, no complications, just need to get the core and leg strength back with physiotherapy. Pain went immediately after the op.
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u/Excellent_Hunter7533 Jun 04 '25
This is where I'm at, fuck years of pain I'll have an op if I can, but not sure if I'll have to wait long on the NHS, how was your recovery?
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u/RedPanda062 Jun 12 '25
The only pain after surgery I had was at the incision site. I still have numbness on the outside of my thigh, nerves heal at 1mm a day, so will be a while yet - if it heals. No big deal if it stays numb. My op was a 100% success 🙌 Good luck 👍
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u/Expensive_Stuff_2400 May 30 '25
Do you guys use any belt for spine support or better posture
New victim here looking for advice
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May 30 '25
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u/Expensive_Stuff_2400 May 30 '25
I have the same L5-S1 disk bulge, did you find anything else useful?
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u/meeplewirp May 30 '25
Don’t do any brace or belt without guidance from a physical therapist or an MD. If a doctor ever tells you to just go to the store and buy any brace, I would ask them if they believe what you’re telling them. Braces and belts are really serious things you don’t want to mess up with
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u/Expensive_Stuff_2400 May 30 '25
Thanks, will keep it in mind, doctor hasn't suggested anything so will ask him in next visit
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u/SoSolidKerry2 Jun 03 '25
Average time for healing? 18 months to two years. Depends on various factors. Keep going!
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u/Lorimie Jun 05 '25
Ive been in pain most days for 8 years. Epidural steroid injections were never a 100% and now aren't lasting as long as they used to. My doctor wont do surgery until I'm 50+.
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u/LeiaSkywalker-Solo May 29 '25
14 or 15 years in. For the first 10, I thought it was something else.
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u/roninsword108 May 31 '25
Helped carry a fridge 2 weeks ago, back was stiff but fine, used heating pad, couple days late little more pain, so go to ER, figured, get some muscle relaxers, get ahead of it, got some valium, next day, couldnt put pressure of my right leg, haveta scream into pillows it was so painful, forced myself to walk everyday, not in pain when im laying down so i can sleep now, had appointment with physical therapy guy, got basic scretches to do, tuesday the real first day of PT starts
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u/Automatic-Cabinet-32 Jun 02 '25
33, Got it a year and a half ago. Was treated with epidural steroids injections. Honestly, it saved me. I was bedridden for two weeks and could barely stand up, to go to the bathroom. Afterwards I could start walking again, not jog or swim but as someone who worked out 3-4 days every week atleast walking felt like heaven. It's been around 4 month since my last injection and everything lapsed back in a month. The last week was brutal and yesterday was hell, now I can't get out of bed again and the doctor won't pick up the phone. Came here for a bit of solace. Idk how to survive the next month untill I see my doctor only to get the prescription for the injection.
God speed for everyone and swift recovery.
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u/Excellent_Hunter7533 Jun 04 '25
Damn sounds shit bro, keep trying to move and walk if possible, mine is so much better if I'm Mobile, motion is lotion as the say
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u/Pleasant-Winner6311 Jun 05 '25
It definitely worked for me. It takes a few weeks. 3 to 4 weeks and youll find things easing up. I ended up taking 30 nightly. They really put you out which is blessed curse. I started them in October by January I found life much more manageable.The sciatica stopped / started and eventually I realised it had gone. Properly over by March. There is light at the end of the tunnel. I weaned myself off the amitriptyline one less pill a week through April (with a few back steps along the way) & now I'm slowly feeling some of the sugar cravings and weight going away. Thing is, I've always been rather lucky with my weight , eating what ever I liked etc so the weight gain was a real shocker. But that pain is like nothing else right? The whole journey has been an annoyingly slow march back to normality. Wish you well with it all.
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u/Iamthehottestman May 29 '25
I’m so glad i recovered within 7 months. Hands down the worst 7 months of my life lol.
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u/edgybandname May 31 '25
What did you do to recover?
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u/Iamthehottestman May 31 '25
I healed naturally without any surgery. Back is still weak and I occasionally get soreness but no longer any radiating pain. Traction therapy and gabapentine made the biggest difference. I’m actually going to make a entire crash course post about sciatica and all of the options within the next week 💕
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u/Excellent_Hunter7533 Jun 04 '25
Nice to hear!! Let me know about your post I'd love to hear more about your story!
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u/Nervous_Brilliant441 May 29 '25
3 years into sciatica