New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

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Tortuga
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New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by Tortuga »

Posted this on my FB page already... thought I'd repost here, because some of you know about my struggle, and I wanted to share, as things have gotten a hell of a lot better for me...

On January 7, 2012, a slight bulge in my tailbone (L5, for anyone keeping score) caused a massive flare-up with my sciatic nerve, and I have had to endure considerable pain, loss of feeling, and neuropathy in my back and left leg/foot ever since. I’ve had surgery, numerous epidural injections, chiropractic and acupuncture treatments, and taken more opioids, gabapentin, and pain relievers than anyone should in a lifetime.

In short, this has made life difficult, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. In shorter, it’s shite.

Took me 5 years to get a grip and start losing weight/exercising. This helped me ween off the Norco (major accomplishment), but I still had to take gabapentin religiously to help calm the nerve flare ups that still occur through the day and when I (try to) sleep. After a year of working on it, I spent another 3 putting that weight back on, as resignation and depression worked me over.

Over this past year, I’ve worked hard on my weight problem, physical/mental conditioning, and am rebuilding my life after separating from my wife and moving back to my childhood home in Long Beach, which has allowed me to vastly improve my relationships with my sons, family, as well as being blessed to start a new one 6 months ago with Nikol Conant. All this change has had created some success in alleviating some of the daily pain, but the flare-ups do continue to remind me of their authority often enough.

Since moving here, I’ve started working with new pain management doctors, who have been encouraged by the effort I’ve put in to correct the problem. They’ve tested, proved, and prodded me in new ways, to see if we can tame the beast, but it just continues to breathe fire.

All that said, I continue to be motivated and hopeful/prayerful that something will finally break the cycle. The latest development is that I’m having a spinal cord stimulator partially implanted in my back this week, which has been successful in treating sciatica in others. If this works, I’ll go in for full implant of the device, and become a bionic man. Or, at least someone who can know life without pain - at least for a while.

Dear Lord, I need this. :pray:
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

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Update from just a few minutes ago:

I talked to my doctors this morning after having a pretty tough night with pain (from the area where the electrodes are inserted in the middle of my back and a fairly significant flare-up at 2am).

I've been able to control some of the back pain with ibuprofen and Tylenol, and then just finished making some adjustments to the programming of the electrical stimulation controller.

My back pain is a little better now (finally able to sit without significant pain), but the best part is that after adjusting the controller, I can now feel warmth and tingling (in a GOOD way) in my foot that I literally haven't felt since 2012.

I'm literally crying right now.
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by Tortuga »

In my world, this is a big fucking deal. Anyone with daily, significant, chronic pain knows how the despair of never getting real relief fucks with your head. For the first time in TEN FUCKING YEARS, I'm feeling sensation in my foot that isn't the usual nerve pain that feels like my foot is frozen in a solid block of gasoline that's been lit, and the cheese grater that was also frozen in that block is grinding the flesh from my bones in my toes and top of foot while the ice fire is steadily rising up my lower leg.
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"Slow and steady gets to **** again eventually" :fap:
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by RyanDistortion »

Congrats, man! I don't have any chronic issues but I know many who have and can only imagine the relief. Good luck with the rest.
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linthat22
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by linthat22 »

Damn dude, that's a hell of a journey and I'm glad to hear you're getting some relief!

My wife knows what you mean about getting feeling back in the feet. That's gotta be something.
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by Yarbicus »

You are crushing it! It's always nice when hard work pays off.
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by Pepi »

Does your sciatica rotate from your left to right hip area and then some days it's both? I also cannot deal with this pain any longer. I've got stenosis of the spine and I'm afraid I'm starting to fail in my lower back now
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by Tortuga »

Pepi wrote:Does your sciatica rotate from your left to right hip area and then some days it's both? I also cannot deal with this pain any longer. I've got stenosis of the spine and I'm afraid I'm starting to fail in my lower back now

Mostly in the left side, but I did start having trouble in the other foot a couple years ago.

Ask your doctor about a Spinal Cord Stimulator. I've tried damn near everything else, and am tired of masking (only some of) the pain with meds.
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  • CEOwLP (Sig T), Carvin DC135, Westone Spectrum SX (guitar) & GT (bass), Squier strat
  • '66 Bassman, '61 Magnatone, Mark III, 1960AX, homebrew 2x12 (C90 / EVM12L Thiele), HX Stomp, JCA50H
  • PLX GABion, SD-1, TS9, Crybaby, MXR108, Algal clone, Carbon Copy deluxe

DIY

Ostinato Rubato wrote:"That's the second boomery bro on this forum I've helped seduce to the greenside." :evil:

"Slow and steady gets to **** again eventually" :fap:
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Tortuga
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by Tortuga »

Thanks dudes - this is another game-changer for me.
Co-founder of the Jet Setters 2.0 (Jet ★ City Lounge Redux)

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  • CEOwLP (Sig T), Carvin DC135, Westone Spectrum SX (guitar) & GT (bass), Squier strat
  • '66 Bassman, '61 Magnatone, Mark III, 1960AX, homebrew 2x12 (C90 / EVM12L Thiele), HX Stomp, JCA50H
  • PLX GABion, SD-1, TS9, Crybaby, MXR108, Algal clone, Carbon Copy deluxe

DIY

Ostinato Rubato wrote:"That's the second boomery bro on this forum I've helped seduce to the greenside." :evil:

"Slow and steady gets to **** again eventually" :fap:
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by Pepi »

Good luck and keep us updated. I'm going to a specialist in 11 days. The Mobic and special stretching is helping me a lot but NOT enough :crazy:
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

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Steve Austin Grimespace!
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

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itchyfingers wrote:Steve Austin Grimespace!

Yesssss!

Keep getting better Steve! Sounds like no fun :(
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by GuitarBilly »

man I can't imagine what it is like to live with chronic pain. Hopefully as medicine continues to advance there will be a definite solutiopn for this, but it seems like your doctors are doing a good job with managing it best they can. Losing weight is also a huge factor, as I am sure you know.
Good to hear about all the positive changes in your life man. :hug:
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by Bonano »

Gah, your story reminds me of my experience from like six summers ago. Somehow I put so much pressure on a disc in my lower back that I somehow blew it out or something like that, and the viscous goo inside oozed out and I guess pressed up against a nerve root. Similar to you, my left leg felt like it was on fire and my toes were always tingling. I couldn't really walk as that leg was pretty much out of commission. I couldn't even sit on the toilet long enough to finish a session, so I had to squeeze some out, fall on the bathroom floor in agonizing pain, recover, get back on the toilet, and repeated this a few times until I was done. Then afterwards I crawled into the shower and cleaned myself up. I was bed-ridden otherwise.

I also got an epidural but it had no effect. I was prescribed Norco too but that made my heart race, which scared the shit out of me so I tried to take it as little as possible.

I finally had surgery. I think the procedure was called a laminectomy. Felt better immediately. But the muscles in that leg had atrophied so I had to build them back up.

I since got in better shape but have been putting it all back on since Covid hit, which is fucking with my psyche now too. I know what I need to do but can't find any motivation to do so. And I'm so damn creative and convincing in talking myself out of any exercise. But so far, my back has not given me any problems since. My posture is much better when I sit now too.

I have dealt with pain of different kinds before, but this one was straight out debilitating. It brought me to the floor moaning, and had me grinding and breathing through my teeth all the time. In those moments, nothing mattered. The pain took center stage.

I was so bored stuck at home and bed ridden, I began to challenge myself to see how well I was able to control my psyche and its perception of the pain. I tried to extend the hours I can get by without taking the pain killers. Conducting these stupid experiments on myself seemed to have created in me a high tolerance for pain. A few years ago when I had to get a cavity drilled out and filled, I turned down the Novocain and went through the procedure fine. I'd much rather deal with the pain than the numbness from that local anesthesia.

Good luck, Bro. Ain't gonna say that I can related to 10 years of pain, but I think I might've touched the surface of a similar pain.
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by Chris Z »

I feel your pain, I'm homebound and have to be horizontal 99% of the time due to the pressures on my spine. Like I posted in the other thread, I have DDD, bulging disc, osteoarthritis, osteophytes, stenosis, and adult scoliosis. It hurts just to sit up right for more than 30 minutes to play guitar and then I have to lay down. I have no quality of life chained to a bed, lost my family and had to move in with my sister. The only saving grace was I won my disability case after two and half years. I explain the pain as if someone cut your spine away and put a cinder block on your spine right above your hips.

Doctors have said no surgery will help and I have to live the rest of my life in misery. I've looked into right to die and euthanasia but the doctors won't sign off saying that it is not a terminal illness. I hope every day I go to sleep and don't wake up, because there is no hope left to get better.
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by ajaxlepinski »

Really glad to hear things are looking better and you have new doctors taking a look!!!!


" feels like my foot is frozen in a solid block of gasoline that's been lit, and the cheese grater that was also frozen in that block is grinding the flesh from my bones in my toes and top of foot while the ice fire is steadily rising up my lower leg"
Buhjeebuz!!! Man, that's fn insane!!!
I wouldn't wish that on anyone... well, maybe a few people but holy fuck!!
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by fretless »

Chris that is super fucking fucked up to hear but don’t give up. I’m no Dr. But Johns Hopkins says there are treatments available. Get with another Dr. ‘Moe& jo
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by BroSlinger »

You guys are dealing with some tough shit. You are all in my prayers.

I had a ruptured disc a few years ago. Made my arm numb. Also had chronic knee paid for YEARS, until I realized it was referred pain from what I assume was a bulging disc.

I made some lifestyle changes (cleaned up my act) and started doing some Diamond Dallas Page Yoga. Fingers crossed, I haven't had any issues since. I could definitely lose some weight, but Yoga really seems to help a LOT.

STAY AWAY FROM NICOTINE. It fucks up your back royally.
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by Tortuga »

Nice to hear from y'all - thanks for the props. My final surgery (completely wireless internal unit) is scheduled for April 28. Hoping this will be as big a boost as I got from the temporary unit last month.

Chris - not sure what to say, other than you're in my prayers, man. I hope you find relief in some soon, to-be-discovered cure for what's going on with you.
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by Pepi »

Bums me out knowing your surgery on L5 did fix you :( I was hoping for relief from doing the L4-L5 fusion
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by Tortuga »

Headed back in for surgery tomorrow. Finally having the actual device implanted! Can't wait - this will hopefully be a game-changer. :pray:
Co-founder of the Jet Setters 2.0 (Jet ★ City Lounge Redux)

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  • PLX GABion, SD-1, TS9, Crybaby, MXR108, Algal clone, Carbon Copy deluxe

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Ostinato Rubato wrote:"That's the second boomery bro on this forum I've helped seduce to the greenside." :evil:

"Slow and steady gets to **** again eventually" :fap:
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by fretless »

All the best Homie !
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

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Godspeed, Bro!
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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by VTM »

Good luck, hope this works for you.

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Re: New development in my 10-year relationship with sciatica

Post by JiveTurkey »

Positive vibes sent Grimes!
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