Suggestions pls! Sorry kinda long

Hello Ladies!

I'm a bit of a lurker, but have found that I value and appreciate the awesome advice you ladies on here put out...so, here I am asking for some much needed advice.

 I'm almost 29 weeks pregnant, with my first baby, and I'm doing it alone. I take care of my mom, and have no family. My friends all work, and it's been challenging.

Ok, sorry for that long intro...but about three weeks ago my friend had to rush me to labor and delivery cause I was screaming in pain. The pain was horrific, running from my butt down to my ankle. I knew it was my sciatic nerve because I've had back problems for 11 years now. They checked out the baby, she was fine. They gave me demerol, and that didn't even help. They said since the baby was ok, there was nothing they could do but give me vicodin to go home with and to follow up with my primary md.

 I did that following Monday, still not being able to walk or sit or anything. The only relief I got was from lying down. I found out that I now have a pinched nerve, and my degenerating discs are now bulging.  I'm stuck in my apartment, in my room because I can't sit or walk far, or drive. I'm going crazy! I guess what my question is, has anyone here ever had this, and how did you recover from this asap? I'm doing this alone, and so I have to be able to do things for myself. I need to get back to at least being able to drive, and to walk small distances. I've had to be written out of work for the rest of my pregnancy. I can't rely on my one friend (he's out of work and has been great, but he has a life of his own too) forever. I know I need to rest, and recover, but I need this to hurry up. I'm finally able to walk around my apartment without crying, but I need to do much more!

Any words of how I can speed recovery, and not go crazy in the process? I think I'm losing my mind. I'm starting to get real blue from not being able to get out, and being lonely! I never realized just how busy my friends are until not having the ability to do anything. 

 

Any advice would help! My dog is even getting sad from being stuck with an almost bed ridden owner. lol 

 

Thank you guys! Very much appreciated for listening to me rant!

Wow! I admire your courage. I am a big fan of chiropractic- I'm not sure if you have insurance or access to a good one- I have a seen a few who were not great, but I recently found one who is really good- if I were in your shoes I would begin seeing one, as he has made some major improvements in my back and neck pain and done so rather quickly. They are able to relieve a lot of the pressure on the sciatic nerve right away, and slowly work on your other problems. Have you also tried alternating between ice and heat? Sometimes when my nerve acts up that is really helpful for me as I am lying down. Hopefully something starts to work for you soon. Keep us posted- we would all love to be there and support you on this journey. 

Carrie  

Thank you Carrie!  I have tried heat and ice! I suffered for three days before I couldn't take it anymore and my friend rushed me to the ER. Luckily he insisted on spending the night that night! 

 I will try to start finding a chiropractor tomorrow. I looked into it a while back before the pain got out of hand, but never followed through.  This pain is bringing me to my breaking point!

 Thank you for your support and suggestion. I will definitely call around tomorrow.

 

I'm sorry to hear the tough time you are going through.  I've been there *hug* 

As far as your back...I would immediately look for a chiropractor and a physical therapist.  Both can do wonders for you.  Also..make sure there aren't any other meds that are safe to take during pregnancy that can help you with the pain and stiffness.  Being able to do some exercises and/or stretching (only on recommendation of the physical therapist) will help you get well again.  A talk with your doctor will give you some more info on that.  

If you have insurance I would definitely use it now to the fullest extent to help you get better before the baby comes.  And don't be afraid to keep using your friend until you are back on your feet...that's what friends are for!

Good luck and give us an update

-Jennifer

Thank you Jennifer!

 

I am quite grateful that I have wonderful insurance because I work for one the largest HMOs in California. Unfortunately, they don't offer chiropractors. I'm hoping I can afford a good one because I thought I'd at least have a few more weeks at work with a steady paycheck.

 I am going to see the physical therapist on Wednesday! I saw the specialist, physical medicine doctor, on Friday, and he had me crying the whole appointment. He said I was too young to have this much pain, even though I told him I've had it for eleven years. The only info I got out of this appointment was that I have bulging discs and a pinched nerve, hence the numbness in my foot. Ugh. I hope the physical therapist has more to offer.

 Thanks for the support! I will definitely be calling the chiropractor tomorrow morning.

Hello,

I have a bulging/herniated disc, too.  My L5 disc irritates a nerve that runs down my butt cheek, and then jets around to the front side of my leg, into my groin (on occasion my groin hurts) and then runs along the outer portion of my thigh and calf.  So far, OB has done nothing, except recommend Chiropractic and physical therapy.  The neurosurgeons office said there isn't much that they can do in my pregnant state. 

It has been bearable lately... it seems to be coming and going in spurts.  Usually when I am super active all day... it starts to kick in around bedtime.  Or, if I am sitting in one position for too long it starts to ache.  I try to stand and stretch every 15 mins or so at work to alleviate the pressure. 

I am not sure if a pain clinic is an option while pregnant or not.  That was my next step, but then I found out I was pregnant... so I never proceeded.  I know my OB said that if the pain got to be very bad or conditions were so bad as to warrant surgery... that she has known some neuros to perform back surgery during pregnancy.  Which I don't think my pain warrants that.. but sometimes it warrants more than just a tylenol, which is all I have for my moments of pain right now. 

You may want to talk to them about maybe prescribing some PT or going to the Chiro.  I was going to the Chiro and it did seem to help a little.. (after the first couple of appts...I was in a lot of pain after the very first one) 

I wish I had more insight for you, but I don't  There aren't many options out there when you're pregnant.. feel fortunate that you have some kind of pain relievers available to you.  I had terrible sciatic pain with pregnancy #4.  I, like you, couldn't get comfortable in any position.  There were even times when laying down didn't help.  Then again, I was close to 300 lbs at that point in my pregnancy... so I am sure that greatly affected me, too.

Hope you get some resolution to your issues.

B

Hey B! 

I can't believe Sydnee's going to be 2 next week?!  and that you're already heading to the third trimester?!  Where's the time going?!

Sorry to hear you're also suffering from back pain.  My husband had the same thing as you - the bulging/herniated disk (L5 also) and pinched sciatic nerve as a result of an injury at work when I was pg w/my son.  I can sympathize w/anyone going through that...let alone being pg and doing it!

My husband had  a pinched sciatic nerve and bulging/herniated disk also.  A few years ago when we were living in Belgium he was seeing an osteopath for it and it helped for a while.  The drs were also giving him some sort of injection in his back which didn't do anything for him.  Eventually he had to have surgery and it helped some, but not 100%...but brought it down to a level he can tolerate the pain.  I know the surgery's obviously not an option for you...but you might look around and see if you can find an osteopath...or even see if acupuncture would help?

Good luck...and even if you're going stir crazy...at least pop in and 'talk' to us here so you're not too lonely. 

can you swim?... that might help you get moving but help make you more light weight so to say

sounds very similar to the pain i get from time to time... once the pain was so excruitiating i had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital because i could be in no other position other than lying down. In the emergency room they gave me all sorts of pain releivers and all it did was make me loopy as a bat... it did nothing for the pain. i wound up being admitted and had all sorts of tests run by a neurologist. I too have buldging/herniated disks and at first this is what they thought was causing me the most discomfort. The neurologist decided to run more tests since the main meds werent working and the pain was mostly from my mid section down. Turns out i have a slight birth defect. when you are born the joint where your spine meets your hips fuses and is immobile. turns out mine is not fused and has slight movement. there is a nerve in this joint and when it moves causes inflamation in the joint putting pressure on the nerve. so i got a steroid drip for 12 hrs and went from not being able to be in any position but laying down for 3 days to walking all around. i havent had the pain get that bad since then, but now with all the pregnancy hormones kicking around your joints losen up and i have felt the sharp twinge in my hip (almost in my butt cheek) a few times and it scares the crap outta me.

sorry that was long and drawn out, but my point is if your pain isnt being releived with the pain killers i think you really need an appointment with a neurologist. No pain in my life compared to that.