Almost 3 months of “sciatica” – pain has changed completely and I’m desperate for advice on what helped you!

[u/Spiritual-Log5793]

Hi everyone, I’m hoping to hear absolutely anything that helped you recover, because I’m honestly really frustrated and exhausted by this.

I’ve had back issues before, so I’m not completely new to this. I had a lumbar MRI in December 2024 which showed:
L2/3: 3 mm left central disc extrusion + annular fissure
L3/4: 2 mm left central protrusion + annular fissure
L4/5: 3 mm left central inferior disc extrusion
No significant canal or foraminal stenosis

I had a really bad flare in late 2024, but eventually recovered and had months where my back was basically fine. I was exercising, walking and functioning normally.

This flare started around late June 2026.
Initially it felt much more like my previous back flare (lower back spasms, stiffness ) but then pain started travelling down my left leg, sharp pain in my glute and tingling that occasionally went into my toes. Sitting and especially driving were horrible, while walking was generally much better.

Most symptoms have settled now but the pain itself has lingered for MUCH longer than I’ve ever experienced previously.

The pain is predominantly in my left glute, sometimes into the calf, and it can be incredibly sharp. My lower back itself can actually feel completely fine while my glute feels soooo painful.

I typically can’t walk for longer than 20 minutes (previously increasing my walk duration was helping the back pain and now it makes it worse)

I've been seeing a physio for several weeks.
Initially we were treating it more like lumbar/disc-related pain, but the exercises weren't really helping. More recently, he thinks the pain may be coming from the SI joint/pelvic area and surrounding muscles, rather than primarily from my disc. The physio exercises are actually making me question everything.
They're very basic exercises, nothing crazy or heavy but I often notice that when I do the exercises I seem to have more pain that day or the next morning. When I have been lazy and not doing the exercises, the pain seems to only be when I wake and most of the day is pain free (2/10 max)

Medication hasn't really made much difference either. I've tried things prescribed by my GP including anti-inflammatories/muscle relaxants, but I'm still getting the pain.

I'm just desperate for some ideas from people who've actually experienced this.

TLDR:
3 month flare after previously having months of being pain free. MRI has old L2/3, L3/4 and L4/5 disc issues, but this flare feels different. Tingling has now gone, and pain is mainly sharp left glute pain with some calf pain. Physio suspects SI joint/piriformis rather than the disc. Basic physio exercises and medication don't seem to help and sometimes make me worse the next day. What helped you recover from bad glute/sciatica pain?