Sciatica/back pain worse after weight loss?

I have suffered from severe low back pain for over eight years.  Bulging discs, pinched sciatica and piriformis syndrome.  The last three weeks have been horrible.  I have noticed that I have lost a lot of fat around my hips and I think this may be what is causing things to shift.   The pain meds are barely touching the pain.

I sleep for about 25-30 minutes at a time and then I am up with spasms.  At this point in my weight loss journey I feel that I should be doing some more walking and increasing my exercise, but it seems to have made the pain worse.

Has anyone else had increased pain?

I am scheduled for a cortisone epidural next week in the hopes this will bring things under control.  I am doing stretching excersises for over an hour each day.  Any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Kristie

When we are at our heaviest, our body compensates for the weight.  Leaning, tilting.. whatever.  As we lose, it have to figure itself out again.  Everything hurts.  It does pass, the body does figure it out.

Bonnie

 Hello Kristie,

I to suffer the same and yes i find my back and the left side of my body has worsen in the last 3 months of this surgery, walking,sitting is very  painful but i still try to move as much as i can, had my 3 month check up and they expect more from me then i can do .. i just tell em when they curve my pain then no prob, until then i can do what i can i also often blow out my knee as i have OA just as painful as sciatica i think,  i have been taking oxies and perc but its been a month that i have been weaned off the oxies as they are timed released  but perc have increased, i hear ya with the sleeping pattern and to be honest thank you i thought i was alone on that one and i am getting very short tempered these days so i try to stay away  from anything or any one. lol

Joy

I have issues with sciatica pain in my left hip and down my leg to my toes. It has worsened since my WLS and my doctor tells me that with the weight loss, I am being more active and that aggravates the nerve problem.. so its not uncommon for the sciatica to become  more noticeable even though I am weighing much less than before. He says that eventually it should
ease up a bit as my body adjusts to the weight loss and exercise but in the meantime I find myself requiring hot and cold packs applied to the affected lumbosacral and hip area and I use tramacet by prescription to take the edge off the pain. It seems to help. The doctor says he has no problem prescribing tramacet for me to use as he knows its helping me and when used in moderation its not a habit forming drug. All I know is it works.. relaxes me and helps me get back to sleep at night after the dreaded sciatica pain rears its ugly head and jolts me awake.. and it helps when I have the pain after sitting a bit too long or walking a great deal.

The stretching exercises are supposed to be helpful.. I find that they are ok and when combined with hot packs to area.. and tramacet.. then the problem becomes bearable.. let's hope the cortisone epidural is effective.. please let us know how you are doing after the injection as I am curious and might have to go that route myself in the foreseeable future.

suzyq0052

I have a bone fusion at L-4, L-5 and a bulging disc at L-2, L-3 now. Sciatica and pinched nerves and yes the pain. Arthritis, Rheumatism, little sleep and painkillers. All these are the reasons I got the weight loss surgery. I must say that at first there was no difference it the pain but 2 months post op, I can say that the  pain is less and I do sleep a lot better. I now take no narcotics at all for pain other than extras strength Tylenol. You can also do stomach muscle exercises right in your bed to strengthen you stomach muscles. I started feeling better with that after I consulted a physio therapist about exercises. When those get in better shape, there is less tress on the back ones. Good luck and have a great day!.

 I didn't really have any pain issues as a pre-op.\

I'm almost 16 months post op now, and have severe pain issues.  I'm seeing a specialist about it, but we are no where yet.  I also have almost no ROM in my neck, and I'm told its just due to the changes in my bone structure due to the weight loss.

Hoping for answers soon....I also hope you get an answer for your pain issue.

I also suffer from Sciatica and bulging discs as well as Spinal Stenosis and I was hoping that WLS would help relieve all of them - sorry to hear that's not the case. I take Tramacet for the pain but I think I've kind of gotten "immune" to them as they don't help much anymore. I tried the cortisone shots - a series of 3 - but they didn't make any difference. The doctor who administered the shots did say that they really do help a lot of people so I hope that you're one of them who benefit from them. My sleep is also very interrupted, like yours, Kristie. One thing that you might want to try is using a full-sized, thick pillow to help. If you sleep on your back, but the pillow under your raised knees. If you sleep on your side, tuck the pillow between your knees. The pillow somehow helps to relieve the pressure on the points causing the pain from where the nerves are being pinched. It doesn't always work for me but on occasion it does, so I thought I'd mention it as an alternative you could try. Good luck, Kristie! 

Deb 

Thank you so much for all of your replies. I am glad I am not alone. The sleep deprivation starts to wear on you after a while.

Sometimes just knowing there are other people out there really helps. I will let you know how the epidural goes next week.

Thanks a million,
Kristie

My back pain got worse as well and ended up in a back injury last August that I am still recovering from.( herniated disk)  I agree I think our body is getting used to is newness! Hoping and praying that it hurries the heck up LOL