Hi,
I wanted to share my experience in the hope that it helps.
I had a slight fall on fuel in a petrol forecourt back in September, I had pain for about a month but was lucky enough to be allowed to work from home.
This problem niggled me in the form of mild sciatica until 4 weeks ago( February) I sneezed and found myself doubled over in pain, I was having lower back pain and pain in my right buttock right down my leg to my ankle for a full week, I tried every over the counter pain killer possible to no avail, I decided to take myself to the walk in centre at a relatively close hospital, I waited 2 hours stood up as I was unable to sit down, I told a little fib to be taken seriously saying I had fallen not giving an exact time as I know how the system works, I was given and X-ray this was found to be clear so I was sent home with co-coda mol and paracetamol with no further advice.
In the mean time I had handed in my notice as I was offered a fantastic new job with better prospects, my notice was a month, I was due to start my new job on the 4th of march.
The tablets had no effect whatsoever so I was forced to call my doctors surgery, I did not see my regular doctor but the one I did see seemed nice enough, I described my symptoms and was told it was sciatica and was given another cocktail of pills including Tramadol, Diclofenac,Omeprazole and Amitriptyline.
These also had no effect, by this point I was climbing the walls in agony.
B
I returned to see my regular GP he advised me to stop taking all the pills apart from the Tramadol and gave me Gabapentin again nothing helped, but he did refer me for an MRI and warned me it could be a few weeks for my appointment.
3 days later after driving everyone in my household mad, I persuaded my Father to drive my to Accident and emergency I was in so much pain.
On arrival at the hospital I was assessed and rushed straight through to the assessment area, I was given morphine and fluids and thoroughly examined and assessed the staff were amazing on that ward, I found I had lost sensation in my right leg from thigh to foot, I had lost sensation to want to pass water and with the pain and panic I was hyperventilating.
I was then moved to a surgical assessment ward, I was not told anything but as the morphine was not working I was given alternative medication, I was still in pain but sleepy, I was given an immediate MRI scan, taking 15 minutes, on my return to the ward I was told by one of the the consultants that nothing was showing on the MRI scan he was rude and dismissive and spoke about me as if I was not there, he asked a junior doctor to give me Diclafenic and send me home, I was distraught as I knew the pain I was experiencing must have a more serious origin than muscle spasms down to lower back pain, my experience of this hospital got worse, I was ignored by staff and I constantly cried, I had not emptied my bladder in 12 hours and the staff were fully aware I had no sensation in that area, I was moved to a further 2 wards and received virtually the same treatment, I was put on more drugs and due for release on the Wednesday morning still without any answers as to the cause of my major discomfort.
I was now on Pre-gabaline, oxi-codine(a controlled drug), Diazapam, paracetamols and Nefopam as you can probably imagine I was constantly sick and constipated to add to my pain, I was due to leave the hospital at 1pm at 4pm I was told they had got my prescription wrong and had to wait a further 5 hours before it was corrected and sent back from the pharmacy( in the same building might I add)
I eventually left that terrible place feeling sick, dizzy and having slight illucinations .I lost my appetite and more worrying my notice period for my previous employer was over I had not handed my company car back and was due to start my new fantastic job, I called both parties and explained my situation my old boss was extremely understanding but I still have loose ends to tie up, my new boss was a little sceptical but agreed a new start date at no cost to them, I am now approaching my new start date and have tried everything in my power to regain my movement as not to let my employer down, including 2 doctors appointments, 4 hospitals, 2 physio's and an Osteopath with acupuncture I was given a further MRI that my doctor had booked before my stay in hospital, I was offered the same hospital and quickly declined they then offered me an alternative last Saturday, I am pleased to say I am not a drama queen this MRI discovered a prolapsed disc L5 I saw my doctor on Monday and he gave me the advice to rest and only do core exercises, I am seeing my physio tomorrow to learn the best exercises for my problem, my GP was in disbelief at the amount of medication the terrible hospital gave me and advised me to only take the Pre-gabaline of which he increased the dose and he also upped my dosage on my Diazapam, I feel relieved someone finally believes me and also I am now able to sleep for at least 4 hours a night which was a change from 1 hour for the past 5 weeks.
Wish me luck I now have to call my pending employer to explain I have been signed off until the end of march with no exception, I will of course offer my services by phone where possible and have to wait to receive my lovely new company car still sat in the car park awaiting my arrival, just to add I have not had any money for the past month from either employers as I did not think it was the responsibility of either so I have had over a month of no money( not happy as we all have bills to pay)
Please don't be disheartened by my experience just let it be a reminder that your body tells you more than some of the so called specialists sometimes persist if you believe you have a problem without being fobbed off with medication and sciatica statements as this is a symptom not a cause.
Thanks for reading my very long post, I feel better for getting it all off my chest😅