Unable to sit

[Novascotialady]

Hi new here. It’s been three years for me seeing specialist after specialist trying to find out what my pain generator is. Does anybody struggle or have an inability to sit longer than two minutes. I have severe pain in low back that radiates down my right leg. Burning and stabbing pain . Thanks

 

[BlueBells]

Hi new here. It’s been three years for me seeing specialist after specialist trying to find out what my pain generator is. Does anybody struggle or have an inability to sit longer than two minutes. I have severe pain in low back that radiates down my right leg. Burning and stabbing pain . Thanks

Hi @Novascotialady

Welcome to the forums.

I read somewhere on here people describing something similar. Try the self test on here , too, it might help you to see how many boxes you tick (I ticked way more than I expected).

I don't get 'pain' particularly, but at times my legs get so uncomfortable that I can't sit , or sometimes they annoy me when I lie down, mostly one leg at a time, but they take it in turns. I'm on a big learning curve myself.

 

[sunkacola]

hello NovaSotiaLady and welcome to the forum. Most of us with fibro find that sitting for long periods of time is bad for our bodies, and can cause pain and stiffness. No more than 2 minutes, though, seems a cause for concern. I suggest you ask around and get a recommendation for a really good chiropractor, because that could make all the difference for you. Not saying it will, but it might be worth a try.

 

[seniorzala]

In the majority of cases, Lumbar L5 and s1 Sacrum is involved in sciatica,less often Piriformis syndrome should be.
Investigated.
Senior

 

[JayCS]

Does anybody struggle or have an inability to sit longer than two minutes. I have severe pain in low back that radiates down my right leg. Burning and stabbing pain .

Hiya Novascotialady, well that very much "resonates" with my back pain. I have a whole lot of problems in all parts of my back with any normal sitting, lying down and standing. It can take hours to recover if I do any of this normally for longer than a few minutes.
I'm able to get all my local pains down to zero most of the time. What I do to get this one down is keep on the move with light or intense stretching. Swiveable adjustable chairs help for that if I do have to sit, but I still get up a lot, do back exercises on the floor, and for rest I sit on the floor in a way that my torso is twisted, alternating sides, like propped against a couch, one elbow and laptop on the couch or a chair.
The most important thing is my tailbone and more aren't allowed to touch anything, so a sink-in couch/sofa or arm chair kills me in those few minutes.
Same goes for mattresses, I need a hard mattress with a variety of soft toppers for different parts of my body, but can't sleep on my tailbone, usually I'm twist-stretched in roughly recovery position.
The radiating I just got here in hospital twice. Even here I do what I need and don't even sit on the bed. I have a 2cm mat on the floor, which may hurt my bones, but this is nothing compared to that lower back pain I have to avoid at all costs cos it often takes ages to get back down again. But because it hurt my bones I thought I'd try a thin mattress to go my wife brought me which I thought had once worked for me, but sitting and lying on it I soon got that radiating in either leg. Tucking my duvet under hips softens a bit.

Lumbar L5 and s1 Sacrum is involved in sciatica,less often Piriformis syndrome should be.
Investigated.

Definitely should be cleared up by an orthopedist, if anything can be done.
In my case hardly anything to explain this pain can be found and nothing can be done. Many orthopedists and radiologists have had a look over the decades.

 

[johnsalmon]

Hi new here. It’s been three years for me seeing specialist after specialist trying to find out what my pain generator is. Does anybody struggle or have an inability to sit longer than two minutes. I have severe pain in low back that radiates down my right leg. Burning and stabbing pain . Thanks

you describe arthritis based Sciatica you appear to have a pinched nerve probably from L4/L5 L5/S1- a cat scan or MRI should pick it up easily please change your specialists replace your bed with the hardest you can find try every chair in the house at least one might give you comfort and go and buy a tens machine they are quite cheap on flebay- if you have a heated pool any where near then spend some time in that. I suffered from this since I was 16 and was finally fixed around 31 for me it was bone replacement and metal suppoprts for you probably a quick cut and clean up of the disc. normal medication treatment is Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs which work but can play havoc with the stomach

 

[Novascotialady]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I have a bulging disc and an annular fissure at L5. Otherwise MRI is good . I have tried every conservative tx out there . Floating helps . Spend 90% of my time lying . Sitting and my tailbone touching is something I can’t even push through. I have limited standing time . Have had several nerve blocks . Taking a ton of medication, lyrica , northryptline , butrans patch. Living every day with horrible pain . All day. Some days better than others . But functionally very poor . Thanks for any more advice … helps so very much .

 

[JayCS]

I have a bulging disc and an annular fissure at L5.

Ah, good/helps to know you know the reason! And what you've already tried.

trying to find out what my pain generator is

Hmm, or don't you think L5 is the reason? Then praps I've answered your "does anyone" question by saying I have this without an L5 problem, if at all a little osteochondritis and my tailbone sticking out too far, but both are things that docs don't mention much.

---

tx

As an aside: I could guess, but didn't know what this stands for.
The "etymology" is brilliantly explained on english.stackexchange:
It seems plausible that the medical convention of using 'x' as the second letter of an abbreviation (in, for example, Dx (diagnosis), Sx (symptom or surgery), Fx (family), Hx (history), and Tx (transplant or treatment)) comes from copying the convention of using Rx as an abbreviation of prescription.
Rx is ... most likely an approximation of the Latin '℞', which is an 'R' with a slashed leg. The 'R' stands for recipe, the Latin translation of the imperative "take"...
It seems very likely ..that the slash through the leg of the 'R' [that it's an abbreviation].

 

[Novascotialady]

Sorry tx stands for treatment . My first neurologist appt mentioned central sensitization I haven’t had my EMG yet. I’ve been suffering terribly for three years I guess I’m wondering if there’s anybody out there that has such severe pain that they’re so limited with sitting and standing after three years, requiring some sort of spinal surgery..

 

[Novascotialady]

Thank you so much for your time and replying to me. I’ve tried sitting on a Memory cushion with the towel and portion cut out. It helped a little right now. My occupational therapist has me trying a wheelchair cushion that is made of air. I am making a little progress and I’m currently up to three minutes, the problem is is when I sit longer it’s not just a pain at the base of my spine. I have burning pain down my right buttock and my right thigh and down my right leg. I have numbness that goes right down to the bottom of my foot, I also get random stabbing pains in my thigh, my buttock and calf, and if I force myself to sit through it I will typically go into a flare that could be weeks long. Does FM cause someone to have such severity and pain that they are on unable to function at all and have to spend most of our time lying down at home?
Besides the pain, I have a memory loss cognitive impairment. Which I attributed to the Lyrica and chronic pain. I also get pins and needles in my arms. I have a lot of G.I. issues as well.

 

[Novascotialady]

And suffer from CFS as well . Like I was ran over by a bus and could sleep for hours and hours … body fatigue ….

 

[Novascotialady]

My spine surgeon says there is nothing to be operated on and it’s not my back . Even though he said 3 years ago I had an annular tear that should heal in a couple of years !

 

[JayCS]

Does FM cause someone to have such severity and pain that they are on unable to function at all and have to spend most of our time lying down at home?

Yes, it can. But that's not the end of the story. But everything you describe is possibly fibro, if that helps...

My spine surgeon says there is nothing to be operated on and it’s not my back .

In my experience blaming fibro can't explain or help. Docs sometimes can, but if not, and always best is to work on these local pains more and more. I'd get a manual therapist (like @sunkacola has already recommended) and/or use the many youtube physios. On the back/leg issues and the pins and needles in your arms. Elimination diet for your GI issues. If pregabalin/Lyrica fogs you, you could ask to change or you could try supps etc. CFS/fatigue is difficult, lots for that to try tho, such as with supps instead of meds.
Depends what you want to know/do.

 

[Novascotialady]

Thank you Jaycs. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond to my last question. My pain is mostly from my waist down and sometimes in my hands the pain. I have in my low back that is severe and chronic 24/7 therefore I’m wondering if a surgery for the disc that is torn would help .
Anyone have severe pain mainly in one area . Similar to sciatica ?? I’m thinking of trying to have a private surgery on my back, but if this is fibromyalgia than a back surgery and will not help me.

My Neurologist has ruled out MS, but she mentioned that it is central sensitization.

I have done a lot of reading, and I certainly do have a lot of the symptoms for fibromyalgia. Besides the ones that I’ve already mentioned, I also have a lot of stiffness, especially in my back muscles and in my legs. I take baclofen for the spasms and it helps with the twitching.
I’m also confused by the central sensitization does that mean it is fibromyalgia or something like fibromyalgia?

Thx again

 

[Novascotialady]

Very similar to me. I cannot sit on anything soft when I do, I can manage to sit on a bench as long as my tailbone is not touching in my bed and needs to be firm with a soft pillow top over it. Thanks for all your information, it truly does help.