Pain/ oxycodone/ pregabalin

Apologies for not checking for errors!

Oh dear. Not even a kindly short message.

Marilla I am sorry you are in so much pain. I have had bouts of sciatica but not as severe as yours .I would not hesitate to call the GP again. You should not have to put up with this. Try bumping this thread up again in the morning. I am sure you will get some helpful responses when people are up and doing.

Thank you so much Greenfinch for your message. I am just unsure of how much pain I am supposed to put up with before seeking more help.

Apologies for self pity!

Hardly self pity Marilla. You are being realistic and I am sure your GP would be sympathetic. Would physiotherapy help do you think?Some sort of stretching exercises might help to ease the pain.

Can anyone assist with chronic uti?
I suffer with constant pain, sometimes difficulty in passing urine. At times my face swells and I feel nausia.
Please help.

rozi that sounds absolutely awful.
Have you contacted your GP?
Also, you'd get more help if you were to start your own thread. If you click on 'health'' at the top of the screen it will give you the option to start a new thread.

Marilla as you may know from the Night Owls thread, I've got spinal stenosis which is similar to sciatica ( I may have sciatica aswell, like you I'm waiting to see the consultant).
I'm on 20mg amitriptyline. I'm not sure if they are doing anything or not.
Previously I was on tramadol. Now I take codeine. One GP gave me liquid morphine, but I don't think that that is a common choice.
Are you going to contact your GP again? Perhaps ask them to escalate your case with the consultant. I know that it's pretty rubbish at the moment

Marilla I have only just seen your message. You are not at all self pitying, just desperate to find some relief from your pain. Normally I don't write on the forum about personal matters, but my heart went out to you this morning. Years ago I had a similar problem with a bulging, almost totally dislocated disc. I remember the level of pain you describe. My physiotherapist gave me a series of exercises to carry out several times a day. The exercises released the pressure on the nerve. The disc eventually moved back into place. Also, crutches are sometimes necessary. If your GP does not offer you help other than increasing your drugs, I suggest you go to A&E at your nearest hospital. Drugs will only slow you down, making you need to sit or lie down. You should be moving. Please try to get advice on exercises for your back, otherwise seek help as I have suggested. Best wishes.

My heart goes out to you for i totally understand the pain you are in. After having MRI i was given a 'nerve block' pain into my spine which helped a lot for about six months and enabled me to do exercises. My GP has put me on Gabapentin for the pain which i believe are similar to one of the meds you are taking. Ice packs help as well as they dull the pain for a while. Really hope you get some help soon. When walking try using a stick so you can lean forward safely which helps relieve the pressure of the disc on the nerve.

My daughters GP kept upping painkillers and advising her to buy a tens machine. She was so desperate she paid to see a consultant privately. Think £100 or £150. As a result of this consultation he arranged a spinal block on nhs. Yes queue jumping which I’m against but !!!!! It has worked wonders. She couldn’t look after her children before the block as she was like a zombie due to meds. She also found Pilates helped.
My friend like you is in so much pain and takes all sorts of medication. GP can’t do much more for her as she has had scans, medication, tens machine, and referral to a pain clinic - nothing alleviates the pain. Must be so hard to cope. Hope others have more helpful suggestions.

Marilla Just to say that I had my physiotherapy privately. Is this a possibility for you? Thinking of you, and all with chronic pain.

Sorry you are in such pain. I sympathise as I have been the same with sciatica. I found that, once over the very worst, simple stretching exercises helped most. The NHS website shows these.
I found physiotherapy helped more than painkillers. Can you afford to go private for this as there is usually a long wait on the NHS. Acupuncture helped as well.
I was on the waiting list for a spinal injection (I forget the details) but had improved before getting offered it.

Thank you all so much for such thoughtful and kind replies.
I also found each response very interesting and I’m re-reading each one carefully. I had several physio sessions by telephone which I just found to be bizarre back in September. I think private sessions would be a good idea.

Since the morning, I have now arranged a private appointment with a Neuro/ Spinal surgeon which is at the end of December. An eye watering £250, but I’m hoping it’s worth it. It is another telephone consultation, but if he has my MRI report in front of him, I’m hoping he will offer some good advice and what treatment will be beneficial.

Once again, I can’t thank you all enough for for your responses. I think I reached a very low point last night when I posted the thread!

Very best wishes to you Marilla. I think you have done the right thing and I hope you are able to see some improvement by the end of the year., Keep us updated.

Hi Marilla

I'm glad you've bitten the bullet as such and gone for a private appointment

I've suffered with chronic pain for about 4 years now and it does wear you down.

Let us know how you get on!

My husband had a similar problem, but with the crural nerve. We'd never heard of that but it runs parallel to the sciatic nerve from the spine down the leg.
He was referred to a rheumatologist who did an xray and found spine damage.
At first he was given strong painkillers which bombed him out so went back and was given a cortisone injection into the damaged spine which worked thank God.
He's usually very tough about pain, but this had been really bad. So hoping you can get effective help Marilla.

Hi Marilla I can totally sympathise with you. I had osteomylitis in the L4 and L5 in my lumbar spine. Orthopaedic surgeon advised me to use frozen peas for my pain relief as precription meds were not working. Seven months later and on huge doses of antibiotics me and my bag of peas were the best of pals and the writing on the packet had been worn away with constant use. please give an update stretching also helped. Good luck hear from you son.

I had a bulging disc 30 years ago which refused, despite physiotherapy and being stretched in a machine, to return to it's rightful place and I ended up having a discectomy to shave off the offending bulge. I still remember the pain.

You're doing the right thing paying for a consultant appointment. Good luck. Do let us know how you get on.

Good luck with the referral. I would make sure that you prepare for the telephone appointment. Write down your history, symptoms and questions, make a quick note of what he/she says, especially with regard to the next steps. You may need to go back to your GP and you may find that a pain management clinic is of some use to you. Best wishes

Thank you Daisymae for the prompt regarding the phone consultation. I will definitely be prepared!

Tonight, despite the pain, I feel I haven't lost my dignity and that I’m not a foolish woman who can’t cope.

This is all thanks to you kind people who took the time to share and offer advice. I will keep you informed as to how things progress.

Marilla 8 months to see a consultant seems really wrong when you are in so much pain. Hopefully the neuro-spinal surgeon you are seeing can offer something more than just higher doses of drugs.

I feel really sad for all the people on here who are suffering pain. It must be so exhausting and depressing. I wish I had some useful advice but I'm afraid I haven't. A cortisone injection in my shoulder did work very well a few years ago but I didn't have the same level of pain that you have described. I hope some of the advice on here is helpful for you and everyone else who is suffering.

I to have been suffering with sciatica, since March. I have other health issues so couldn't do most exercise I'm taking pregablin and codine also but about 3wks my physio sent me a link

Please see exercises below:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkXkUjffCYw
(complete for 30 seconds x 2 - Every few hours

I have had my leg resting on the sofa as straight as I can cope with doing these, and after 2 weeks I've started to get great relief. I didn't expect it to be so effective as its so simple but it really has helped. I hope this helps you to xx

After years of trying to cope with disabling sciatica pain, by way of all of the above pain relief, including cortisone injections, my DH has been finally offered an op to relieve the pressure on his spine. Hopefully it won’t come to that in your case, but I do sympathise.