oh my god, this sciatica is ruining me.

[Anonymous]

33 weeks. Sciatica is unbearable. Chiro works minimally but the relief is short lived and my insurance doesn't cover it so it's an expensive way to have relief for about a half day, then it comes raging back. Heat / ice work minimally as well. Massage feels great and seems to help a little bit, but no miracles there, either. Some days it's better than others, but when it's bad (today) it's so bad that any movement is practically unbearable. The ONLY comfortable place for me to sit is upright in bed propped up on a ton of pillows and sitting on a heating pad.

Am I doomed for the rest of my pregnancy to feel like this? I'm actually feeling fine otherwise, no sleep problems, no heartburn, no energy issues and I think if I weren't so pissed off about the sciatica I'd be feeling emotionally good, too. I don't want to give up the joy of my last few months pregnancy over this and I don't want to be bedridden. I'm bored out of my mind, want to get outside, have stuff to do, and just want to enjoy hte rest of my pregnancy. I've been having such a good time so far! I'm even worried that spending so much time in bed is going to cause other problems (high blood pressure, bad health / muscle tone / etc) and I've never been a wimp about things before and feel like one now. But it's a real catch 22, because when I"m up and moving around, sometimes it seems to make it worse for me, and the pain is worse for days after any real activity. Same goes for sitting in a chair. Thank god I work from home. Oh, and tylenol? Tylenol is so useless on this pain I don't bother. Taking tylenol makes absolutely NO difference to the pain.

WTF can I do about this? Chiro / massage are what people suggest and I sooo wanted them to be the answer but they're not working for me. The pain is so bad sometimes I'm almost buckling over.

Also, am I making it worse or better by trying to force myself to get up and move around? My doctor is very sympathetic but says that for some women, it just gets very bad and almost debilitating, but there's not much that can be done other than tylenol and massage / chiro if that works for the woman. Is this really my fate?

[Anonymous]

Sooo sorry to hear about your sciatica! I had it with #1, but I was religious about prenatal yoga with #2 and avoided it. I cannot recommend prenatal yoga enough. It may be a little tough at first, but the movement may help ease the pain. The other reason it is good is that you can do the poses at home (unlike chiro, which you cannot do at home). Whenever I had a sciatica twinge coming on with #2, I would do some poses and it would help relieve the pain.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I know that this will seem strange, but go buy some pregnancy Spanx. Spanx Mama or somesuch. They REALLY lift your belly up, and I found them super helpful with getting the pressure off my sciatic nerve and relieving the pain. They are uncomfortable in other ways, but so worth it. Also, when sleeping, use a pregnancy belt. I felt like the Medela ones stretched out, but I bought one from the Breastfeeding Center on K Street that worked well. I can't remember the brand. Basically, never go without support. Lifting the belly up makes a world of difference.

[Anonymous]

19:36, you might be onto something, although I'd be a little bit worried that, in this heat, I would be trading my sciatica in for a nasty yeast infection if I wear any type of panty hose. (naturally prone to those as it is, fun fun). I might check out a pregnancy belt, though. If it were just on my tummy, I could handle an extra layer, but don't know if I can do pantyhose. (though if this pain keeps up, I might actually PREFER the yeasties...) Thanks all.

[Anonymous]

Yoga poster here. Forgot a trick from #1. Swimming or just being in a pool was amazing! The water helped lift everything up and off of the nerve. So relieving! I soooo hope you can find something (or several things!) That help get you through this pain.

[Anonymous]

I had it pretty painfully earlier in my pregnancy at around 29-32 weeks. At the time, the doc told me that as the baby grows, the change in weight and size will shift everything off of the nerve. After several weeks, that's what happened. I went from being intermittantly immobilized by pain for weeks to the pain just disappearing. Now at 36 weeks, it will flare up occasionally but nothing like it was earlier. I don't know if my experience is common but hopefully the same will happen to you!

[Anonymous]

I too had sciatica during my twin pregnancy several years ago. I was also on bedrest, so the only thing that really worked for me was a heating pad. And to alleviate your fears, when women get high blood pressure during pregnancy the doctors prescribe bedrest, so no need to worry that lying around will cause high blood pressure.

Best of luck to you!

[Anonymous]

Thank you all so much. 11:17, you have given me a glimmer of hope! Since i had the sciatica earlier on and it's back, I'm worried that it's here for good (I'm already carrying really, really low -- not sure if that's what's doing this or not). Baby still hasn't settled head down (still seems to be turning around a lot). I think it might be my uterus and not the baby pushing on the nerve, but who knows? Certainly some days are better than others. Today is a midrange day, yesterday was brutal, the day before, barely any pain at all. I hope it just goes away! Going to try swimming this weekend.