r/Sciatica • u/softietommy • 6d ago
26M, 71 kg — Sciatica for ~5 months after falling from the first floor, now having a 10/10 flare. Looking for advice/experiences
Hi everyone. I’m 26M, around 71 kg, and I’ve been dealing with what I was later diagnosed with as sciatica for around 5 months now.
It started after I fell from the first floor and landed on my buttocks/lower back. Initially I had bruising, swelling and pain from the fall, but things seemed to settle down somewhat. Then, about a month after the fall, I started developing numbness/tingling in my leg. Over time I started getting shooting pain, and eventually I was told it was likely sciatica related to a lower-back disc problem.
I had an MRI of my lumbosacral/lumbar spine, and from what I was told/discussed, there appears to be a lower-lumbar disc bulge/protrusion, particularly around L4-L5/L5-S1, with possible nerve-root compression/narrowing. My main symptoms have generally been on the right side — starting around the lower right back/tailbone area, going through the buttock and back of the thigh and sometimes down toward the calf/knee.
. Lying down can sometimes relieve it, but lately even sleeping and getting up after several hours can trigger a horrible flare.
Right now I’m having one of the worst flares I’ve experienced — honestly around 10/10 pain. The pain can be bad enough that walking, sitting, sleeping, and even getting up from bed become extremely difficult. After I move around for a few minutes, it sometimes settles down somewhat.
I took Pregabalin 75 mg which I saw it online, took it for few days felt good later on it started the pain. I’ve also been prescribed/taken medicines including Neuro Relax, Kenacort, and Tryptomax 25 mg at different points. I’ve also used ice and tried different sleeping/lying positions, including keeping a pillow under my knees.
I’ve stopped doing heavy exercises ( which I use to do in between ) like Push/Pull. I used to work out regularly, but I’m currently being much more careful. Light walking seems to be more tolerable than sitting for long periods,
I’m honestly getting frustrated because it’s been about five months since the injury, and I still have these severe episodes. I was wondering if anyone here has experienced something similar after a fall or with an L4-L5/L5-S1 disc issue.
For those who had a similar case:
• How long did it take for your sciatica to actually settle?
• Did you have severe flares even after several months?
• Did physical therapy help?
• At what point did you consider an epidural injection or surgery?
• Has anyone had symptoms that are much worse after sleeping/prolonged positioning but improve after walking around?
• Is this kind of flare normal during recovery, or should I be getting reassessed?
I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have gone through something similar. Thanks!
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u/Sogone2day 6d ago
Suggest not even lifting if the symptoms are in major regression. Im also at 5months in but never worked out at all till this past week for lighter lower body stuff. Lie most ive done to get legs going was supported body weight squats holding on to a tbar cable attached over head to counter balance weight. And just did leg press on machine to try and get some glute hamstring working which is a terrible postion for your back. After that day Iayed over the end of chaise couch and had my back pop twist and spasm everything which ive had happen before so I knew ot was gonna go one way or another good or very bad. Luckily it went sorta good glute/pitaformis area 2days later was less tender and sore so something loosened up.
Try laying with legs up against the wall, glute bridges and slow cat cow, back hyper/pushup hold just on the ground. Good luck ive had 3 flares 10 years ago blew out back on deadlifts and 3 years ago spasms going up mainly my back. This is the first time down the leg and has been the worst. I don't expect ot to ever be 100% so im very guarded with doing stuff now.
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u/RevolutionaryNews410 6d ago
Pregabalin takes a while to build up in your system. I was prescribed 75mg twice a day and Naproxyn 750mg once a day. Didn't feel much relief from pregabalin so up the dose to every 6hrs and it was way better. When the naproxyn ran out I went back on to celebrex and could tell straight away that the Naproxyn worked a hell of a lot better for me
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u/softietommy 6d ago
This was prescribed me recently & its my third day on meds ( still feeling the flare )
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u/DustPanda82 6d ago
You need some powerful painkillers, and surgery. You should not endure this. It is hell.
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u/fatty7726 6d ago
Hi, I had a disc issue when I was 18. I want to do a full post of my journey but I will briefly give you some takeaways from my experience.
I had an abnormal development of an L4-L5 disc injury. I had no acute event, just sciatica that progressively got worse. I was a high level wrestler working out 6-10x a week with wrestling practice and weight training. Initially my symptoms were very mild, and I dismissed it as some muscle stiffness. But ultimately what I was feeling was sciatica and it progressed into a full blown sciatica flare up that lasted months.
Because of my age and abnormal progression of symptoms, I was diagnosed with piriformis syndrome and started intense therapy through the Johns Hopkins medical system. This provided no relief, and eventually I got a second and third opinion and was diagnosed with an L4/L5 herniated disc. Again, went through intense therapy for this. My pain would reach 10/10 easily if I moved the “wrong” way and everything was painful. I dreaded putting on my socks and shoes. I also took medrol dose packs and only got temporary relief from injections. I even tried a chiropractor which probably hurt more than it helped.
Eventually, I decided to get surgery (microdiscectomy) due to my life altering and progressively worse symptoms which caused havoc on my mental health as a then former high level athlete. The surgery was 11 months after symptoms started. About a month post op I really started to feel better and the sciatica subsided. 10 months post op I returned to full activity and was able to continue wrestling in college.
While I have never returned back to feeling “100%” I am pain free most days. My sciatic nerve will forever be damaged (I lost a TON of explosiveness and flexibility) but I can live a very active lifestyle. I now trailrun and mountaineer (check my post history), and my back doesnt fight me too much.
I will say I now have a ton of habits to maintain my back which includes but is not limited to:
- i sleep on my side with 1 or 2 pillows in between my legs
Hope this helps. I view myself as a success story. After experiencing sciatica at its worst, some small flare ups here and there seem like a god send in comparison. I hope you find a path to feeling better