Sciatica and Parkinson's

   
     Last April of 2018,  I got sciatica. At first, I thought I had a pulled muscle and it would go away. It became so painful so quickly that I had to stop going to the gym.  I went to my family doc and he sent me to PT.  I also started taking over the counter pain meds like Advil or Aleve.  I took so many that I developed Pancreatitis and had to be hospitalized for about 10 days.  Afterwards, I went back to PT and started seeing a pain management doctor.  I got 4 shots in my back over the course of a few months to the tune of $1200 per shot.  None of them worked longer than 24 hours. I had to use a cane to walk and eventually had to use a walker.  I started seeing a new pain management doctor about the time that my daughter Renee, a PA, suggested I get tested for Parkinson's to get it ruled out.  The problem was that it got ruled in.  The last shot I got in my back from my new pain management doctor worked longer than any of the previous shots! She put me on Gabapentin. I needed to take 900 mgs daily to decrease the pain but I developed double vision and my head spun and I was dizzy.  She told me to decrease  the mgs to 800 daily but I still had the crazy spinning so I decreased to 600 to get rid of it. It is not enough to get rid of my pain! I was in shock at my diagnosis.  However, when I look back over the past year, I see that I had tons of Parkinson's symptoms.  My handwriting is very difficult to read and I have trouble making some letters, it looks like chicken scratch! I had a freezing of my gait but I attributed all of it to my sciatica. Even though the doctors have all said that they don't think my sciatica is at all related to Parkinson's, I believe that was the onset.  Renee found a lot of articles that have found a strong correlation. I had so much difficulty getting up and down from the couch! I thought my cushions were too soft so I purchased new couches with harder cushions but I still had the same problem.  I had just attributed it to getting older!  The neurologist I saw said I had atypical Parkinson's.  At this time, I don't have any tremors, that is usually the first symptom that most people get.  I don't know if I skipped over the tremor part and progressed  right to a more advanced stage with walking difficulties. I'll have to talk to the neurologist about it on Thursday.
   I just came home from the chiropractor. I am in so much pain but I hope I start to feel better soon. It took so much time to get there and get in because Dan couldn't take me today!  It takes me a long time to go out to my car and put my walker in, drive there, and park and walk in.  I am in excruciating pain when my session is over so it takes me twice as long to leave the office and walk out to my car with my walker and load the walker and myself into the car!! I just am so appreciative of the walker my friend Carol gave me because it has a carry bag! I had to stop at CVS to pick up meds and I went in because the drive through line was so long.  BIG MISTAKE!!  When I came out, the drive through line was empty, my gait kept freezing in CVS so it took me soooo long to get to the prescription counter,  wait in line, pay, and then have to walk all the way back out to the car and load my walker and myself back in again!

Comments

  1. tamMarch 30, 2019 at 5:09 PM

    i have horrible handwriting and that was what sent me to the neurologist in the first place! it has been bad for about 12 years and getting to the point that no one can read it, it is just scrawl. i have had a frozen gait but it only lasts a few seconds. i can hardly get up out of a chair without help unless it has something to push off of. this has been going on for many years and was atributed to my knees but apparently that isnt true. I do Ok after i get up and start moving but getting up and down is almost impossible! i have pain in my lower back and i think i have had sciatica as long as 40 years off and on but now the muscles in the lower back are freezing up and it gives me great pain. . .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. cmfMarch 30, 2019 at 8:37 PM

      TAM, go see a chiropractor. That is the ONLY person who relieved most of my sciatica. SO so sorry for your pain. Join my new facebook group.. People with Parkinson's

      Delete
  2. Deb JonesApril 23, 2019 at 8:16 AM

    I have found a lot of help from acupuncture

    ReplyDelete

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