I have been in real pain today with (what i found out at MW's today) sciatica. Its really painful and really hard to walk about, anyone else have this and have any tips on how to deal with the pain and being able to move around?!? My MW said theres nothing really you can do, except if it gets worse she will refer me to physio. I've tried a bath but thats just made it worse.

Apart from that my appt went well, baby measuring what she should be, is still head down and she is a 'good size' the MW said! Blood Pressure normal, protein levels normal, puffy ankles and hands all normal.

I'm sorry hun...I feel your pain (literally). A few things have helped with mine and a few have not:

Not so helpful: Chiropractor
Sometimes helpful: massage
Definetly helpful: water aerobics and stretching. The stretching hurts while I'm doing it, but it is almost immediately better (sometimes returning a short time later and I have to stretch again.) A friend of mine was sent to a physical therapist and she said they were immensely helpful! I will try to describe the stretches I do- try and see if it helps (I will use L & R just to make it easier to describe, but do the stretches with both legs).

1) Lay on your back. Bend L knee with foot still on the floor. Place R foot/ankle on L knee, allowing R knee to fall open. You should feel this stretching your buttocks and hips. If you feel comfortable, begin raising your L knee, pulling it toward you (keeping your right ankle on the L knee). This should stretch the area even more. When it hurts too much, I have difficulty bringing my knee toward me by myself, so I have my hubby do it for me.

2) With the help of a partner, lay on your back. Bend your L leg, keeping foot on the floor. Keeping your R leg straight and have your partner slowly raise that leg toward your head until you feel a very good stretch.

3) Sit with both legs stretched in front of you. Pull your toes toward your head. Hold. Then bend your foot/toes away from you. You can also do this one standing while placing one leg on a table or desk. I feel a better stretch when I do it standing.

4) Cat and cow yoga position- on all fours alternate humping your back like a screeching cat and then letting it sag like a cow's.

The first stretch is the most helpful one for my sciatica. Like I said, it is kind of a no pain no gain situation. It does hurt to do these, and you should stop if the pain is unbearable, but it is also normal to feel some pain as you stretch. I hope maybe that helps...good luck

Oooohhhh. I'm sorry to hear this. I had sciatica bad from about 6-71/2 months along. Good news is, it went away one day and hasn't come back. I think it's because baby moved lower, and there was less pressure on that area. I ended up going to physio which wasn't that great a help to be honest. Although, it did help to squeeze my bum muscles. That seemed to take away some of the pain (do it like an exercise, like you would do pelvic floor). Another thing that helped was using a birth ball. It was so much more comfortable than a chair for sitting on! I still use mine now every night for dinner.

Paracetamol for when the pain was really bad.

I hope your pain goes away too.

Hey i havent posted on here before, just use the site to calm all my worries that pop up. I had "sciatica" from 29 weeks...... the doctors were useless and gave me paracetamol, then co-codamol when they didnt work. my midwife and doctor just told me that it would go when i had the baby. i persisted for 6 weeks with the pain, not sleeping, bascially i couldnt do anything... when my midwife booked and appointment at the hospital to try positions for labor, as i couldnt stand straight.

well anyway i went to the hospital for this appointment, while i was there an anethatist (cant spell) had a look at me and said he thinks its more serious than my doctor was saying.......so he sent me for a MRI Scan. They then got a neurologist to come see me and he said i had a prolapsed disc in my lower spine, caused by the weight of the baby. well i had to undergo major back surgery within 3 hours, while still pregnant i might add because they wanted the baby to get larger (i was 35 weeks pregnant). i was in hospital for 4 days and i am now recovering....... im now 37 weeks pregnant and its difficult but i can now stand straight which is fantastic..but.. im not allowed to do anything which is annoyin when your nesting.

So to all you ladies out there if you dont feel right about something, dont listen to doctors fobbin you off, you no your own body...... make sure you get something done about it.. just a friendly warning.