In short, I’ve been treating my spine like a bendy straw, which is perhaps a sub-optimal technique. Sure, my spine can move like a bendy straw when it needs to. But are bendy straws really designed to withstand a century of daily use? If not, perhaps I should give my poor spine some help.
Category: Sciatica
An Unwanted Constant in a Time of Change
While Amelia U.’s young adulthood included all the adventures and growth opportunities you’d expect, she also dragged an unwanted companion named “sciatica” around with her.
Sciatica: Scourge of Holy Men
I love the story in the article about the Roman physician who connected sciatica with Jacob and told Cardinal Bergoglio he was destined to change his name. I’m sure his comment was a little bit tongue-in-cheek, and surely not everyone with sciatica received it from an angel’s touch. Still, it’s a delightful story.
Lyrica: It relieves pain until you want to die
Lyrica was the first serious prescription med I took to help manage my sciatica. This was back in July of 2017, not long after my problems began. My initial scans weren’t particularly enlightening, and I begged my doctor for something, anything that could help me manage. The something I got was Lyrica. I started out at the fairly low dose of 50 mg. It kind of helped. A little bit. In that, it felt like it would sometimes take the sharp edges off some of the nerve impulses, but it never worked well enough for me to see it as…