Sciatic Nerve Drama

angry-woman-on-boardThis probably goes on my pregnancy blog, but really, I don’t feel like chronically how my daughter is trying to kill me, on the blog that celebrates her life.

Ok, it’s no secret that this pregnancy isn’t going so very smooth. Two counts of bleeding, once at 18 weeks and then again at 27, lots of cramping through pretty much all of it, and massive (dangerous) overheating at work because I can’t control my body temperature and the building is unairconditioned. (Though apparently they “fixed” it, but I can’t tell the difference and neither can anyone else that I’ve talked to.)

All this within the first 2 trimesters. (Note: as of today I’m 28 weeks and officially in my 3rd trimester. According to babycenter.com I might start feeling miserable at some point in the coming weeks. Though I stopped reading babycenter when during my 2nd trimester they said I should be feeling great and well, see above paragraph. So babycenter can pretty much bite me.)

Now, there has been an occasional odd burning sensation coming and going on my lower right side the past few weeks. Here and there. It’s located anywhere from my butt/hip, on down to my foot. I didn’t really put much thought into it though because it never lasted more than a few minutes here and there and didn’t really affect my ability to function.

Saturday, by the end of the work day, that pain became constant in my right hip/butt region. I was limping pretty bad, but had hope that it was just a tired muscle and sleep would relax it.

At 5:30 Sunday morning when I woke at my usual time to pee, I couldn’t walk. I did eventually make it up the stairs and to the bathroom, but I’m not honestly sure how. When I was back up at 9, the walking situation was only slightly better, but exactly how much pain I was in began to register.

I was suppose to be at work at 11am Sunday morning, but instead I was in the ER. Within minutes of walking into the room, the doctor knew exactly what was wrong. My sciatic nerve was very angry with me.

She instructed ice for 20 minutes of every hour, showed me a way to stretch it, and ordered me off my feet for at least a couple of days. I was also instructed to follow up with my doctor in 2-3 days. This wasn’t an if I was still in pain, this was a given. I figured if I could make it to work Tuesday, my next scheduled day, I would visit my doc Wednesday (I already had a OBGYN appointment so I figured since it was pregnancy related, that would work unless she told me to go to my reg doctor as well) but if I couldn’t make it to work Tuesday, I would go to my regular doc asap.

Common sense also kicked in and I decided it was time to start going back to my chiropractor. I have a deal going with him and my mom (who is a regular patient of his) that I can go 2-3 times a week for 50$ a month and mom covers it. I don’t go often enough that mom ends up shelling out a ton of money, it’s mostly just in my back pocket for emergencies. I don’t have patience for even therapy weekly, much less someone touching me twice a week. Unless I’m at a point where I have no choice. I’m there at that point.

So anyway, I went in today when my mom could meet me there and had a months worth of adjustments paid for on the spot, so in I go every Monday and Wednesday for at least the next month. Paired with the ice and stretching, I’ll hopefully eventually sort this shit out.

After the adjustment, I realized I was no where near a point where I could work Tuesday, so I went ahead and scheduled my doctor’s appointment for the next day and called work because there was no point in waiting till morning. (If by some miracle I wake up healed, I’ll cancel the appointment and go to work.)

So that was my battle plan.

Here is the thing though. I then did a little bit of the google. And while I KNOW you NEVER type symptoms into a search, because it’ll predict your painful death that is doomed to happen within days, I figured plugging the diagnosis in would at least educate me. That’s what I did with BPD, after all.

Here is what I learned.

The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in your body and essentially provides sensory and motor function to your legs. It runs from your lower back all the way down to the foot. So that explains the random !@#$%^& in, well, everywhere below my back on my right side. As well as why I couldn’t even walk at times. Oh yes, and this nerve? It runs under my uterus so this is pressure as the baby develops. It is also known to be one of the more painful complications of pregnancy. As in, at this point I’d welcome a natural medication free child-birth over what I’m currently going though. The best treatment is the ice, the stretch, laying on the opposite side, no lifting, and staying off your feet. Which is what I’ve been doing. All of it. Adding in the chiropractor because I can.

So those are the facts that are, well, factual.

Here is where I read with a grain of salt.

Nothing I read implies this is going away anytime soon. The 5 days in a row off my feet this week might bring relief, but there is every indication that the 3, 8-9 hour work days in a row that follow, is only going to bring it right back.

Now maybe I’m hopefully wrong about that. I don’t know. It is the Internet, after all and according to the Internet my shoulder should still be bother me and frozen in place. Luckily between the two different doctor appointments I have in the next two days, I have every opportunity to have two nice long discussions to find out what exactly I’m up against.

BUT this might mean I have to stop working. I won’t be on actual bed rest, but I can’t exactly do any of my job off my feet. Considering I have short-term disability, I’m not entirely sure I’m all that upset with the idea. I mean, bottom line, I’m miserable. This pregnancy is anything but smooth and work isn’t helping. So having a reason to go on leave, might bring the relief I need. What I don’t know is exactly how many weeks of leave I have and I don’t know if either doctor will consider this a reason for me to go on it. It kinda depends on if they think this is something that will go away with a few days of rest or not. I honestly don’t know. If it will go away, I’ll man up and work through to the end. If I’m going to be dealing with this for the next 12 weeks, however, being on my feet 8-9 hours a day, 4 days a week, is no longer an option. So I guess we’ll see.

Bottom line: for over 48 hours now I’ve been in constant pain. At it’s worse I can’t walk, at it’s best it’s a solid 8-9 on the pain scale. And while things can dull it down to that 8 for a while, it’s never gone and nothing works for good. Oh and pain meds? Tylenol. The ER doctor (who has had 2 babies and totally completely gets this) said that yes she could give me something stronger but said she herself wouldn’t take it. It’s the risk verses benefit. I’m to the point where I wouldn’t turn down a couple of doses to get me through a couple of work days, but if I’m not working, or it’s more than a couple of doses, it’s not worth the risk.

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