Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Ever had sciatic pain with AS?

John,

Well, glad to know this is what it is. You start wondering if it's something new. I had a few minor episodes of it back when this began, but chalked it up to that rotten prednisone which I will no longer touch (which can cause extensive nerve pain as a side effect). Thsi began Thanksgiving night -- I HATE to think that it's starch related, but I'm wondering . . . See, I had this idea that it was Thanksgiving, and I was going to eat anything I wanted. Three hours later, minor pain in the upper-right-outer thigh, and now it's BIG pain in BOTH upper-outer thighs. (Also, the right femoral nerve is really "hot.") So is it possible, I ask myself, that I set off inflammation and the nerve pain is because of that? Back to STRICT NSD today. I'll see in a couple days what happens.

So, John, does starch (or maybe you're not as stupid as me ) set off nerve pain, too? Funny thing is, my SI's don't really hurt much (maybe a 1).

Oh, and I've been slack about my calcium -- I take all the vitamins with the morning meds, but now I'm off all meds and have no "vitamin reminder." I'll boost that to 1,500 for a week, then back to my normal 1,000.

Thanks for the info! Feel relieved that it's "just" AS!

Patty



With my daughter (Chris) in Mexico, a month before AS kicked my butt!

My cat's web page: http://www.pet-parade.com/petpages2/page.asp?id=351

Megan,

I've had this a couple times before, but thought it was prednisone related (no longer TOUCH that stuff). But now that I think back, when I got my cortisone shots into the SI joints, the sciatica disappeared within a day or two. It's all fitting together now . . .

Thanks,

Patty



With my daughter (Chris) in Mexico, a month before AS kicked my butt!

My cat's web page: http://www.pet-parade.com/petpages2/page.asp?id=351

Maggie,

That's EXACTLY where mine is -- upper outer thighs. Hurst to sit in chairs, especially those kind that curve up on the sides (supposed to be molded to our butts)? They just really press on the thighs. I put the computer up on a high counter and have been standing for 3 days, but I finished my last paper (grad school) and want to find a way to celebrate standing up!

Patty



With my daughter (Chris) in Mexico, a month before AS kicked my butt!

My cat's web page: http://www.pet-parade.com/petpages2/page.asp?id=351

Linda,

Thanks -- I'll try some ice. I've been heating it in the evenings for hours -- duh! Like you, I had (looking back) all the symptoms for years, but a year and a half ago I just couldn't get out of bed one morning -- like bolts of lightning going through my SI's. Didn't take them too long to diagnosis me.

Thanks,

Patty



With my daughter (Chris) in Mexico, a month before AS kicked my butt!

My cat's web page: http://www.pet-parade.com/petpages2/page.asp?id=351

Cheryl,

Love the Santa! I have a little pain in the femoral nerve in my right thigh, but not much. It'll bug me for an hour or wo a couple times a week, but when it does - it's HOT! Yow! I guess all this means it's time for the cortisone injections (SI joints). I usually make it just about 4 months. At least something helps while I wait for Enbrel and that other test.

Thanks,

Patty



With my daughter (Chris) in Mexico, a month before AS kicked my butt!

My cat's web page: http://www.pet-parade.com/petpages2/page.asp?id=351

You've probably read my other replies, but this time it's totally in just the outer-upper thighs -- very different. Normally it's in the butt -- from the Greater Sciatic Notch down. Maybe my butt has burnt out on pain and my thighs are going to pay for a while! But glad to know it just SSDD -- wanted to make sure it was nothing else. (I do have 3 discs degenerating, but everyone does by this age. By 45 years old, 75% of people do, and by 46, 100% have some degeneration. TMy 3 are mild, and the spacing between them is lovely as of last week's X-rays, and last months MRI.)

Thanks for the reassurance! I guess I should be lucky that I don't have this more often . . .

Patty



With my daughter (Chris) in Mexico, a month before AS kicked my butt!

My cat's web page: http://www.pet-parade.com/petpages2/page.asp?id=351

Wow, "Miner,"

QUite a time of it. I have a few degenerating, really mildly, but none herniated. Thanks for the post,

Patty



With my daughter (Chris) in Mexico, a month before AS kicked my butt!

My cat's web page: http://www.pet-parade.com/petpages2/page.asp?id=351

Yup, count me in the "always" category. This is what prompted the thorough x-rays that found AS. I happened to ask about it because it had become a constant companion. In the beginning, it was only bothersome when I got sick or had surgery and needed more bedrest than usual. And my doc back then didn't think there was much to it.

Unlike other little problems that just seem to be there one day, I actually remember the moment the sciatic thing started. Felt a "pop" in the butt while in the hospital. And I wasn't even misbehaving. ;~)

Well, now I wish everyone had said this WASN'T an AS thing -- not looking forward to this constant companion. Maybe after my shots this month it will leave me again . . .

Thanks for posting,

Patty



With my daughter (Chris) in Mexico, a month before AS kicked my butt!

My cat's web page: http://www.pet-parade.com/petpages2/page.asp?id=351

Dear Patty:

Hey...I'm every bit as stupid as the best of us and have become expert at making mistakes. Yes, I have 'tested' my body with starch and my body rebelled all over, but the sciatica I get now is not nearly as severe as it used to be (and it is not just that I am becoming immune to pain).

Sometimes, when I was in a state of guarded semi-remission, I would have sciatic pains just before a waterskiing weekend. There was a healthfood store near my work and I could order wheatgrass juice in advance, so would drink about four ounces: It had to be good for me because it tastes so BAD, but it really seemed to help me get through the weekend. Wish I had known about the NSD and calcium supplementation way back then...

No, the sciatic should not last, especially when you get the inflammation down.

Good luck to you,
John