Fritzy 22's Journal, 14 Apr 22

Sorry to hear about your back and leg pain 

Thanks Abba - I've had the pain for a few months now. I have a doctor appointment in 2 weeks to follow up on the pain. He sent me to physical therapy for about 6 weeks but the pain never totally went away. I think it's worse in the cold weather like we are having now in No. California. 

It took me 4 weeks to stretch out my sciatica. Hang in there! I suspect it's the pain killers that are upsetting your stomach, though, and it's a pretty common problem. I can't handle big doses, either -- it sends me heaving up that nasty, yellow gastric acid. Just ask the doctor if he can prescribe something more gentle. Definitely take it with food! and at least 30 minutes before you lay down. 

Hang in there Fritzy...you're one of the 'troopers' here on FS💙 How did the soup turn out? 

Great weather for chicken soup! Hope this rain lasts longer than forecast 

Try anti acid with Ibuprofen. That's what coated prescription has.  

Thanks Bananas - I've taken the prescription ibuprofen before and it hasn't really bothered me. But now I usually take it just at night and often when I wake up at 1am or something. That's when my thigh or calf hurt the most. I was having a piece of a Hawaiian bread roll (I buy the small packs of 4 rolls) when I took the pill. But recently, since I'm trying not to have bread I've been having some grapes or a couple of olives. That could be the problem. Last night I toasted a half of an English muffin and ate it dry. That seems to work better. I started going to physical therapy late in January and stopped early in March. The pain is in different places now and both legs hurt. Thanks Crystal - the soup was fine. It's really the only soup I can make. I get bored with it if I make it more than a couple of times in the winter but it hit the spot on a cold and rainy day. Thanks Daddy - it hasn't stopped raining since I got up this morning. I thought maybe it would stop long enough to take my dog out for a walk but it hasn't stopped. Not a heavy rain, just a constant light rain. It's nice, I enjoy this weather because we need the rain so much. Just1 - I don't understand what you mean. Do you mean to take something else along with the ibuprofen? I take Gaviscon usually when my stomach is upset. I'm not sure it's the medication that's causing it because I've taken it many times before. 

Fritzy, just a cautionary bit of info. I took Rx NSAID for about 3 years. It zapped my kidney filtration into stage 3 CKD. Try to add extra liquid to your day and don't take it any longer than you really must. Just another thing that you don't think about if you get relief from the pain.  

Fritzy buy some light support hose for night time. You may be surprised at how much they help. Has the doc checked the pulses in your legs for evidence of vascular disease? If not, talk to him about that.  

Thanks Slyone - I've taken the same medication before because of shoulder pain, but not for several years. Usually I take over the counter Tylenol or Motrin but needed something extra for the sciatic and back pain. I try not to take it every day. Thanks Kenna - I saw my doctor in January and he examined my leg and thought it was the sciatic nerve. But he told me to come back after the physical therapy and if that didn't fix it we'd deal with it. I don't remember if he checked the pulses in my leg. I'm actually beginning to think the calf pain is because of the walking. I didn't walk yesterday because of the rain but had walked for the previous 4 or 5 days in a row. The calf hadn't been bothering me since physical therapy ended in March. I haven't been wearing walking shoes, just the canvas shoes I wear during the day. I am going to wear my walking shoes when I walk again, hopefully tomorrow.