PennyPanic 276 Posted September 24, 2019 First of all, thank God you are all back. I have missed this website. Thank you for coming back. Now to my issue du jour: I need your help in reasoning things out. So about 3 weeks ago I had really really bad back pain...really bad that radiated through my buttocks to my thigh. It was sincerely horrible and there was no position in which I could get comfortable. Long story short - it resolved. Yes, I Googled...and I came up with Sciatica...my mom has had it, my sister has had it, my husband has had it. No big deal, right? Well, here's the next issue...as the back (sciatica?) pain was resolving I developed tingling feelings on my shin and inner ankle to the heel on the same leg the back pain was radiating into. These tingling feelings have not gotten worse nor have they gotten better. They only happen when I first put weight on my leg but as I walk (or if I rub the area in question) it gets better. I have no loss of mobility that I can tell but I do have fairly persistent mild (very mild) numbness in the area. Now here's some more info...and you're going to think I'm really stupid because I am. For years YEARS ...I've been sitting with my legs on a footstool at work...with one leg over the other at the ankle/shin area. Don't try to picture it in your head because I know it makes no sense. I literally have sat doubled over, with one leg over the other on top of my inner shin...coincidentally the area that I feel the most "tightness" and "tingling" when I put weight on my leg. I'm not sure it cause it, but I'm quite sure it didn't help. I've stopped doing that. Over the years I've had odd tingles here and there that have resolved themselves. A few years back I sat on my right foot also for YEARS until one day that foot went terribly numb and it went away - I don't recall how long it took...a few weeks, I think. I never saw a doctor about that because I was worried about something else and by the time I could deal with that it had resolved. So my first lesson is don't sit on my legs/foot etc... for hours day after day, week after week, year after year. But of course being the HA sufferer that I am and utilizing Google (I know, I know)...I've come up with all sorts of far fetched but possible horrendous scenarios for what this could all mean. If it persists, I guess I'll have to go to the doctor...this has been going on for a week now, I think. My only hesitation is that I have a huge deductible...plus I hate that whole medical test worry thing. Oh, if it matters, I had a physical recently with some basic bloodwork and all is well. Any thoughts, encourage and input would be greatly appreciated. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mrsrpmddo 222 Posted September 24, 2019 Hi penny, I have sciatica really bad , as well as lower back pain and si joint problems. I’ve had the exact tingling you’re describing , I’ve had it last for a few monthes. My doctor says it’s from the nerve. And that there’s not much you can do for sciatica. Sometimes I have pain , sometimes numbness, sometimes tingling. It’s soo annoying!! Hope it gets better for you 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PennyPanic 276 Posted September 24, 2019 2 minutes ago, Mrsrpmddo said: Hi penny, I have sciatica really bad , as well as lower back pain and si joint problems. I’ve had the exact tingling you’re describing , I’ve had it last for a few monthes. My doctor says it’s from the nerve. And that there’s not much you can do for sciatica. Sometimes I have pain , sometimes numbness, sometimes tingling. It’s soo annoying!! Hope it gets better for you I could hug you for answering...sincerely hug you. Please accept my virtual hug. I am so sorry you have dealt with those awful back issues. I've had back pain but had no clue how horrible sciatica can be. Wow...that was truly awful. Other than sitting as I had laying one leg on top of the other, I must agree that sciatica could be the issue. At least it's nothing too sinister even though it is truly horrible, painful and incapacitating. The odd thing is, my back pain is all but gone..that resolved pretty quickly and has now been replaced by this...sigh... 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mrsrpmddo 222 Posted September 24, 2019 Believe me ,I know just how you feel. I get the sciatica more than the back pain. It can cause a lot of weird sensations. And it can last awhile. But like you said , it’s nothing senister. I’m glad I could help! Back pain sucks! The older I get , the more issues I have. Hugs to you❤️❤️❤️ 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonathan123 2368 Posted September 25, 2019 The one thing that most of us find difficult is to understand that anxiety can cause REAL physical pain. It's why we Google because we just don't believe that fact even though told by the medics we are OK. People can become paralysed when there is no evidence whatsoever of a physical problem. The mind is powerful and suggestion can play all sorts of tricks. That's why it's unwise to Google. I wonder if none of us had heard of any disease and had no knowledge of physical problems would we worry? We are bombarded with all sorts of negative news about illness. My doctor's surgery has it all over the walls. 'Do you have this or that symptom'? No wonder the surgeries are full! Now I am not saying all physical illness is anxiety related. But if you have been checked out and found to be OK then believe them. No second guessing and certainly no Googling. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PennyPanic 276 Posted September 25, 2019 8 hours ago, jonathan123 said: The one thing that most of us find difficult is to understand that anxiety can cause REAL physical pain. It's why we Google because we just don't believe that fact even though told by the medics we are OK. People can become paralysed when there is no evidence whatsoever of a physical problem. The mind is powerful and suggestion can play all sorts of tricks. That's why it's unwise to Google. I wonder if none of us had heard of any disease and had no knowledge of physical problems would we worry? We are bombarded with all sorts of negative news about illness. My doctor's surgery has it all over the walls. 'Do you have this or that symptom'? No wonder the surgeries are full! Now I am not saying all physical illness is anxiety related. But if you have been checked out and found to be OK then believe them. No second guessing and certainly no Googling. Thank you Jonathan, you are so correct. Our minds are amazing and can do really good things for us and really bad things for us as well. In this case, this issue has not been checked by a doctor. But...looky looky here....literally almost a year ago to the day I posted about this issue on here. I vaguely remember it...as it went away. I think it's worse this time but who knows. I'm crushing my own leg. Why am I doing that? Here's a link from last year. I don't remember posting this and found it by happenstance! I think I can safely assume that if it were something really really really terrible something more dramatic would have happened in a year's time and it would not have resolved on it's own. At least I hope so...sigh. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leah1976 301 Posted September 25, 2019 I get this everyday because I sit crossing my legs.... I also get it when doing some stretches in yoga.... I thought it was normal. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PennyPanic 276 Posted September 26, 2019 13 hours ago, Leah1976 said: I get this everyday because I sit crossing my legs.... I also get it when doing some stretches in yoga.... I thought it was normal. Wow! Really? I can't imagine anyone thinking this feeling is normal...but hey...that gives me hope! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leah1976 301 Posted September 27, 2019 13 hours ago, PennyPanic said: Wow! Really? I can't imagine anyone thinking this feeling is normal...but hey...that gives me hope! I had it for such a long time that I didn't think much of it. I do get sciatica pain from time to time as well. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ms.Honey 12 Posted September 27, 2019 I get all kinds of weird sensations in my legs and back, I have for probably 20 years. Of course in my mind I’ve gone through all the horrible possibilities for why these happen, but I have to be sure to remind myself a lot of it is “normal” and nothing has ever progressed. I think it sounds like yours is definitely posture related- if it gets worse, sure see your doctor, but I think the fact that it comes and goes should be reassuring to you that it isn’t anything sinister 😊 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PennyPanic 276 Posted October 9, 2019 Update for anyone reading this in the future and wondering "what happened?": I went to my rheumatologist yesterday (I have RA...unrelated to this issue) to discuss my back/tingling/numb issues. He did a clinical exam and concluded that I have a bulging or herniated disc in my back. My reflexes were good and because I am improving, albeit ever so slowly, he does not consider me a candidate for back surgery. Had he found some deficit in my reflexes, he said, he would have advised otherwise. Therefore, he did not send me for an MRI because, he says that it will not tell him more than what he already knows from a clinical exam. He also told me that he himself had been through it before and his was way worse and he opted for conservative treatments instead of surgery - because, obviously who would willing want that unless one had exhausted everything else, right? He gave me exercises to do and I have my regular follow up in a few months anyway...but he felt sure that this would resolve. I asked him how long and he says "there's no telling. It can linger for weeks or go away spontaneously...but he also cautioned me that when it does go away, I need to continue the exercises to stretch and strengthen the core etc...to try to avoid this in the future. I "mentally" felt better yesterday but then began the sh*&/tstorm of anxiety all night and into this morning. "What if he's wrong? Shouldn't he have done an MRI? What's this tingling now over here? What is the muscle cramp over there? etc...etc...etc..." I know the scenario well. I know it's just the HA. Plus life right now, in general, is one big stress mess after another. How do "normal people" deal with day to day life stresses and not go into an HA spiral? Like seriously, how do "normal people" process things? I think I use HA as a way of escaping from real problems because it distracts me from them. I'm hoping that realization will help me...but I'm not sure yet how. Anyway, I'm still dealing with back pain, numbness and tingling...but it is lessening little by little...very very very glacially slow...but nonetheless. I will do the exercises religiously. I'm good at following rules and doing as I'm told and I want to get better and avoid this in the future. I'm seriously thinking though that perhaps I need to seek a therapist to handle life in general and HA in particular. Budget is an issue though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites