Sciatic Nerve pain

Hello everyone!! This is my first time posting on the site. I come on almost daily to see all the new topics that are being discussed and finally felt the need to first say, hello! and second, see what help you wonderful ladies could offer me. I am 20 weeks pregnant with my twins (find out tomorrow what i'm having) and I have been dealing with the worst sciatic nerve pain ever. I have a 3 1/2 year old and never had this issue when I was pregnant with her, but this time, woah..seems like the twins just can't stay off that nerve. It's only really bad in my right butt cheek. I know how bad that sounds but it's true. It runs straight down the middle of my cheek and stops before it gets to my leg and thankfully is not in my back. it's the most uncomfortable feeling in the world to try and walk through this pain, or even sit at my desk at work when it's bad. I've starting sitting on a sweater on my chair just for some extra cushioning but even that isn't really helping. From what I have read online, there isn't much that you can do to get the kiddos to move off that area, but any kind of advice on what I could try to ease the pain would be much appreciated!!

 

I had it with both pregnancies but had it severely with my twin pregnancy. Whatever you do, don't put ice on it! That only makes it 100 times worse! Lifting heavy objects or bending down a lot is what triggered the sciatic pain in me. The first time I got it was the day after I went grocer shopping for a BBQ and was lifting cases of drinks and placing them under the shopping cart. Heat helps it tremendously! Heat and tylenol! Mine was so bad with the twins that I had to take a day off work to stay in bed with a heating pad on the left side of my butt. For me, once I stayed off my feet for a day and took it easy another day the pain went away. After it went away I had to be careful so that it wouldn't come back. Heat really helped mine though!

 

First of all, HI!! Welcome to TS!! And please post the gender(s) tomorrow!!! How exciting!!

Second, I agree with everything AImee said!!

 

:welcome: to TS!
I also echo what Aimee said. Plus, my OB suggested that I see a chiropractor when my sciatic nerve pain was going crazy when I was pregnant with the twins. It helped a lot!

 

Mine was so bad I walked with a limp. I went to the chiropractor and it helped tremendously. I went all the way through my pregnancy and I honestly don't know what I would have done without the chirpractor. Also, a maternity belt helped me a bunch to take the pressure off because those babies are already getting heavy. I didn't go a day without it, especially in the last trimester.

 

I'm another who had good luck with the chiropractor. I hope you have relief soon- that pain is no joke.

 

Are you sure it is the Sciatic? I have a similar pain and it is my Sacrum. Which is the muscle that attaches your tail bone to your hips. The Sciatic runs thru it I believe. It has been hard to walk and has left me almost to tears some days. I have been going to Physical Therapy and it has helped so much.

 

You can try a chiropractor and/or accupuncture.

 

Thank you all for the wonderful advice! it seems like it's here one day and gone the next. As of now, i'm just kind of going with it, knowing that it doesn't last all day, but it sure is painful when it's around.

I went in for the level 2 yesterday and we are having two more girls! My hubby and I were just meant to raise girls because this will be my last pregnancy. I don't think we could afford any more than three kids...and with the possibility of another set of twins...yikes!

 

I know the pain you are going through and it is the worst! I have a high tolerance for pain and after weeks of sciatic pain I broke down one day and just cried and cried. I hope this goes away for you soon!
From my experience, I would recommend not lifting anything. At one point, the pain became manageable and I decided it would be fine to lift two very light boxes at work. That was a big mistake. So if it comes back, I will not push the envelope until it's really gone.
As soon as I saw your topic I had to tell you exactly what worked for me- ICE. It goes without saying I laughed out loud when I saw the first post said do anything but ice. But for me, that's ultimately what helped it go away. I started seeing a chiropractor and he recommended ice for the inflammation since I couldn't take anti-inflammatories. Then follow up with a heating pad. I did not drive to work without an ice pack on my butt!
Which brings me to the last recommendation, my chiropractor taught me exercises that stretch out your back and relieve some pressure. Here's a couple of videos with examples of the exercises:back stretchand Exercises. The biggest culprit for me was sitting at my desk and driving to work. Sitting for extended periods adds to the pressure and makes it worse. I was recommended to get up once an hour to walk around a little or most importantly to do some stretchs to loosen up the area.
I hope this helps!

 

Well thank you very very much for your advice! It seems that I only get the pain real bad when i'm at work, sitting in my chair for long periods of time. I get up and try to walk around but as soon as I sit back down, it's like the pressure starts building back up and so the next time i get up, it's worse that before! I have tried those stretches and they help a lot...that and just standing up and bending down from the waist to touch my toes. (my spine loves that since it's the only time it will crack, i think it's the added weight in the front pulling on my muscles to pop my spine back into place...that feels AMAZING) I'm hoping that this is the worse that it will be during my pregnancy.

Again, you ladies are wonderful and i really appreciate all your help!!!