Hello lovely ladies!
I need some help to calm down. Has anyone had back/buttock/hip/leg pain that they got all worried was recurrence and then it turned out to be run-of-the-mill back trouble?
After an amazing September and October, I started feeling a bit rubbish in November - hugely tired and no appetite. Then my foot got pins and needles, my ankle went weak and my leg stopped feeling like it was part of my body. I then started getting shooting pains in my buttock and down my leg. At times it makes me cry out if I move the wrong way and I can never get comfy.
The GP sent me for blood tests (all clear) and I went to see the physio I’d been seeing for the nerve damage in my other leg, hoping she could give me some exercises to help. She examined me and said she wanted me to go back to neurology as my symptoms had changed. The neuro saw me quickly, said it was probably sciatica (a disc extrusion showed up on mri from March) and said he’d book me in for another MRI and refer me to a surgeon.
The MRI appt came quickly because I’d been put down as urgent. I knew it was just to make sure nothing sinister was going on and I felt pretty calm. Then the scanner broke down and they cancelled the mri. They’re trying to fix it right now and I don’t know when I’ll get my scan. The calmness has now left me and I’m now convincing myself it’s a recurrence.
I know lots of you will have had recurrence scares and I need to hear some reassuring stories. Can anyone help me feel better?
Hi Kirsty, it may be result of the disc - needles actually is one of the signs of it. Was it stronger at some time and then became lower but still present?
Anyway, there were several cases here with same pain and no recurrence. Hope that's your case, wish you good MRI
The symptoms you describe are absolutely classic sciatica, usually caused by a prolapsed disc. If the MRI is delayed for a while can you ask to have a myelogram? An MRI will show up any amount of internal abnormalities but a myelogram is a specific test for a slipped disc. I spent months and months suffering with sciatica whislt being tested for everything else under the sun but as soon as I had the myelogram there was no question. Since you have already had a disc extrusion confirmed by MRI I suspect that this is the same little bugger getting worse.
Thanks, Liana! It probably will be the disc but it does help for people to tell me that, so thank you. The old imagination does tend to run away with itself.
I know you're waiting for scans too. Wishing you a good scan as well!
It does sound like sciatica, doesn't it? I know there's a dodgy disc so it's very likely it's that. (I'm just going to keep repeating that! ;))
Thanks for the myelogram tip-off. I have now been told my scan will be on Wednesday so fingers crossed it doesn't break again!
Kirsty xx
P.S. Oh, Tivoli, you really should have an award for your dedication to this forum! The number of people who have been soothed by you must run into hundreds by now. Thank you! :)
Hi! I have suffered with siatica, and I also have/ have had a bad back, hips and joint pain. I've been sent for a blood test too and an X-ray on my hips and lower back - waiting for the results.
the hip pain makes me walk funny and i cant walk very quickly, it hurts when I bring my leg up to my body, lean it out, or cross my legs. I also get random aches in each hip. My back its so sore and tender yo touch and hurts when I've been standing, sitting or lying. It feels like it locks and sometimes it will pop then the pain goes.....if I am sat which I do all day in my job it takes me ages to straighten up and if I've been stood for sometime it's painful to bend to sit.
if your is anything like mine it's not siatica but it's not cancer it's something to do with the treatment xx
i had the pins and needles in my foot and that was from my chemo....it happened 3 months after treatment too xx
Hi! I have suffered with siatica, and I also have/ have had a bad back, hips and joint pain. I've been sent for a blood test too and an X-ray on my hips and lower back - waiting for the results.
the hip pain makes me walk funny and i cant walk very quickly, it hurts when I bring my leg up to my body, lean it out, or cross my legs. I also get random aches in each hip. My back its so sore and tender yo touch and hurts when I've been standing, sitting or lying. It feels like it locks and sometimes it will pop then the pain goes.....if I am sat which I do all day in my job it takes me ages to straighten up and if I've been stood for sometime it's painful to bend to sit.
if your is anything like mine it's not siatica but it's not cancer it's something to do with the treatment xx
i had the pins and needles in my foot and that was from my chemo....it happened 3 months after treatment too xx
I thought I'd better update this. I've finally got the results from my MRI and it is indeed a prolapsed disc. There's nothing sinister going on! Very relieved because I had got myself into a right state over it and was imagining all sorts of other symptoms which magically disappeared once I knew it was just a prolapsed disc. I say "just" but the pain from it has got worse and worse. I actually cried on the last long car journey. I was avoiding too much medication but I'm now on all sorts because I couldn't cope any more. I'm waiting to see a neurosurgeon and I hope he'll be able to help.
Anyway, I can now answer the original question I posed: I had back pain that wasn't worth getting into a state over! :) And I did get into such a state - bloomin' cancer doesn't half turn you into a fruitcake if some other bit of the body starts to hurt. ;)
