Sciatica sucks

If you ever end up having to describe these to a doctor down the line, I'll save you some time: they're called fasciculations. The key distinction is that they're happening in tiny shreds of muscles that you couldn't willfully isolate and move on your own. They're one of those annoying symptoms like "fatigue" that happen with a lot of conditions, and can be either super serious or no big deal.

(Awhile back I had them in my whole body for months, leading to a slew of tests from my neurologist to rule out new seizures, ALS, MS, etc. before we finally got them under control. Now I only get maybe 1-2 twitches per week, plus I get them steadily in both thighs for about 20 minutes after I exercise.)

I've been hospitalized for sciatica twice. It's a bitch. Being allergic to morphine was the main reason for being admitted, though because muscle relaxant and pain relief are all they can do. So you did all the right things, hope it stays feeling better.

When all this is over, see someone about your back, because it's one of those things that can increase in frequency and severity, but sometimes there are exercises you can do to strengthen the muscles that prevent whatever has moved and is pressing on your sciatic nerve from doing so.

Good luck!

Thanks. I've got a neighbor that dealt with this for 9 years until he got surgery. My dad had a bad bout of this recently too.

I'm hoping that mine will miraculously go away and never return.

Oh, man. I hope the pain eases soon.

Dang. Take care of it man.

No miracles so far. I need to figure out how to deal with the pain. Yesterday, I could sit in a chair, and even get up and walk slowly around. The interval decreased from about 5 minutes to about 2 where I could get up and not feel that ache begin in my hip socket. Once that started, the femur started up yelling at me, then the knee, then into my shins within about a minute. Pain level just below that panic inducing pain of a Charlie horse... But in the bone. Deep in there.

Hobble back to my chair, sit down like I'm dropping a bag of flour... Then it would sing for 3 or 4 more minutes, and slowly fade. The relief is lovely. Makes you want to get back up and see how long you get.

Had to just gut it out to take a shower. Toward the end of that, I was rinsing with the hose thing, and had a moment of no pain abruptly. Then it came back when I got out. If I tuck my ass under and bend my right leg a bit, it eases. But I can't stand around like that.

Ok in my chair at the moment. I'm debating just trying a day of light activity like mowing the lawn, and seeing if that helps, or will I do more damage. If this goes on with no improvement 2 more days, I'm going to have to go see a chiropractor or something. I've got another month before we go back to work, I think. I really don't want to spend it idly trapped in my chair.

Have you taken any pain meds?

Aleve, generic ibuprofen, thc. Not much help. Though my pot is mostly sativa. Indica would be better.

It's not constant pain though. Just a dull ache when I sit, but fire alarm pain after moving about. Best thing has been sitting the fuck down again. Things I read say to try to keep moving. So I did that yesterday, but also sat in a chair a lot. This morning it hurt a bit more and faster than yesterday morning.

alternating between a little light moving around and resting should help.

Have you tried chloroquine?

Woe is me...
 

^No one got the irony (sigh).^

I guess I'm the only one here old enough to remember that quinine and its derivatives, like chloroquine, are muscle relaxants. Decades ago, quinine and vitamin E (to increase circulation) were combined to treat restless leg syndrome and sold over the counter.

The quinine dose was about 1/10 the therapeutic dose used as an antimalarial. Overdosing on it as a muscle relaxant could lead to the same adverse side affects and risks associated with the dosage for antimalarial use; so, the FDA restricted it back in the '90s. It's still used, by prescription, to treat chloroquine resistant strains of malaria which have mutated so much that they've come full circle and are susceptible to the original quinine treatment again.

I thought it was funny that the drug Trump touted as a possible anti-coronavirus treatment; but, was largely a big fail, could actually be applicable in this situation. These days, no doctor would prescribe it as a muscle relaxant though.

It's not a matter of age, it's obscure trivia in a specialized field that others haven't a clue about. We all have bags of shit nobody else would recognize if they stepped in it.

Try alcohol. In particular vodka.

Minus the pills. And +5 on the thc.

tender humping care? ;)