Siatica

Just because life hasn't been interesting enough lately... A couple weeks ago, I started having pain while I was sleeping in my right thigh. It would wake me up at night. It was mid-thigh. It woke me out of a dead sleep. The pain was bad enough I yelled out in pain. I like to think I have a pretty good pain tolerance. I don't normally take pain meds for stuff (ie. headaches, etc) because it usually doesn't help. I have gotten pretty good at handling pain. This pain was bad enough that I woke John up when I shouted. (Sorry, John!) I was crying. It was that intense! I turned over on my side and after about 15-20 minutes the pain subsided and I was able to go back to sleep. All was well in my world again. Until the next night... Over the next two weeks, I would sporadically have these episodes. They would only happen at night. Once they were done that was it. They were getting more frequent, but still only happening at night. However, the last couple nights, when I would wake up, I would still feel lingering soreness from them. I will also note, during/after these episodes, the skin on the back of my thigh was numb to touch. Also noting: The pain would start mid thigh, but would go down almost to my knee and up into my butt. 

Me, in all of my doctor's knowledge, knew I had a pinched nerve so I decided for two weeks that they wouldn't do anything about it. However, yesterday, I realized 1) it wasn't getting any better... only worse. and 2) I had better go in and at least let them document that I was having issues just in case something happened later (for insurance purposes). I was officially diagnosed with Sciatica. I was given a shot in my butt (OUCH!! Ok, it wasn't as bad as I hyped it up to be. In fact, progesterone shots from my infertility treatment days were MUCH worse than that shot!)  She also gave me some exercises to try to help work it out. She did tell me it may take several weeks for it to resolve itself. (Yay me!) 

The shot has helped a LOT! I am still in pain... The pain is pretty constant at this point. I am glad I went in when I did! However, 85% of the pain is gone. It is just painful enough that I can still feel that it is there, but not enough to really bother me. Praise God for that! Now, we just do the exercises and wait for it to work itself out. I am not a fan of this getting old stuff. I like the LIVING part, but not the side effects!