First Time Having Sciatica

Hi all,

Writing my story here, 22(F), percussionist, looking for some advice or comfort.

My lower back pain started significantly last Sunday 10/20, and I thought I had just twisted it funny and wanted to sleep it off. It woke me up in the middle of the night, lying on my back, unable to move properly.

Went to the ER on Monday 10/21, they got me an x ray and told me I had a back strain. Gave me some lidocaine strips and sent me on my way, that I wasn’t able to pick up until Tuesday, so I picked up a cane to help with the walking in the meantime.

Tuesday evening 10/22 I had a performance, so I stuck that lidocaine patch on hoping that it would help with the pain, and after I played, I sat down and felt the pain go right down my left leg and my right hand, 4 and 5 finger. Freaked, went back to the ER, where the doctor touched my legs a couple times, shrugged the hand pain off, and called it sciatica.

He prescribed me prednisone and methocarbamol, which didn’t help with the pain at all, just made me feel drugged up and in pain rather than just in pain. (which I’m finally weaned off of now).

Now, I have an MRI scheduled on November 7, and I’m just rawdogging the pain until then, as they didn’t prescribe me anything else to try.

My symptoms right now: - significant weakness in hands - weakness in legs - can’t sleep a full evening & also tired all day - constant lower back pain - brain fog (i haven’t been able to speak as well as i used to.)

and with these, I can’t play normally, go to class normally, sit and do my fucking dissertation - I feel like a shell of myself. I don’t know what to do. Please, someone, guide me through this a little bit. I feel immensely helpless.