Sciatic nerve irritation from radiation?

[cmewrrie]

Last night we ended up visiting the ER for severe leg pain accompanied by numbness and tingling in dHs feet. They checked for blood clot (none thank goodness), did bloodwork and X-rays which all came back normal.

Er doc believes it's sciatica and prescribed steroids.

I find it hard to believe this has nothing to do with treatment but was wondering if anyone else had similar issues during chemo/rad. Being only half way through I'm hoping this isn't something that could end up a permanent long term issue but haven't found much info in my searches.

Hoping the steroids help!

[peanut_8]

I didn't have problems during treatment, butt have definitely gotten some after, in all sorts of places. Tendonitis in my elbow, which I never had before. Hip pain, sciatica etc. It's discouraging. Good luck with treatment.
peanut

[mstults]

What chemo is he taking?

[cmewrrie]

he is taking Xeloda.

[JudeD59]

I haven't had leg pain, but I have had glut pain. In fact, I had glut spasms during my treatment yesterday and I asked about it. They said it was just the radiation building up in my body and not to worry about it.

I know that I have to sit a certain way because of the tailbone pain from the tumor. If your husband is doing that also, that might be irritating his sciatic nerve.

Hope he feels better!

Judy

[MrPleistocene]

I didn't have sciatica during chemo-rad, but have had some issues. They were primarily when I had ureteral stents. It was intermittent, but, at points, incapacitating.

Before the stints, I remember my first post-op going over scans and reports with the surgeon because of pains in my upper legs. We couldn't find any reason. When my ureters stopped passing enough urine and I got the stents the pain was the same only greatly magnified running down to my knee and sometimes making it hard to walk. I could tell it was the same pain only more.

Going back over the surgical report, there was a need for ureteral manipulation, which in my mind is a strong candidate for the post surgical sensations. Additionally, without the stents, the pain nearly went away. I still have that pain occasionally, but it isn't a big deal for me.

In your situation, I might see about talking to a urologist and see if they might have some input. It is possible that the sciatica is from a spasming along the urinary tract. They might try something like pyridium, which is used to calm ureter and bladder spasms. They could also for a kidney study where they can see if there is a build up of pressure in the kidneys and if urine is flowing properly.

I found it counter intuitive, but, in my case, I'm pretty certain that my sciatic pain is from my ureters/bladder and caused by radiation damage.

I also had radiation cystitis, where my urine became chunky with globs of congealed blood. I was able to reverse that through hyperbarric oxygen therapy. Currently it is only indicated for radiation cystitis. Radiation, however, is something that progresses for years after treatment is over, so if you are starting to see some of these radiation related symptoms, it is good to be proactive as they can continue to get worse even after radiation is over.

And lastly, chemo-rad was probably the most physically taxing time (post-surgery has it's place, but you can just lay in bed if you feel bad that day, you don't have to go to radiation). It is finite and you are getting through it. If it feels rough, that is because it is. There isn't any sugar coating except that I finished mine half a decade ago. Just get through this part the best you can.

[cathy123]

About halfway thru radiation I started getting a sharp pain in my hip and down my leg. It was especially bad when I would first stand up after sitting - sometimes my leg would almost give out. my radiation onc said maybe the nerves were inflamed? But she wasn't sure. It got better, but has been bothering me a bit again the last month or so. So who knows.

[Jachut]

I've had intermittent sciatica but also a lot of problems with a leg that feels heavy and dead and just, well trashed, all the time. I've been really tempted at times to just write it off as radiation damage because I've searched for years for help with it and everybody just scratches their heads. But in truth, I had a touch of this a few years before my cancer diagnosis too. And I've just recently found a really excellent myotherapist who has identified a whole lot of muscle imbalances in how my hips work and - touch wood - the core work and dynamic warm ups and stuff that he has me doing seem to be working. I ran 7kms last night and no pain at all today. Plus he told me to ditch my orthotics and I feel so much better for that also. My feet have strengthened up enormously (can stand on toes on one foot now) and my leg's improved markedly from that also.

Just because we've had cancer and cancer treatment, does not mean that everything that goes wrong afterwards is related to it. We still get old, get mobility and pain problems, get other diseases etc. I'm sure all the surgeries I've had might have had something to do with dysfunctional muscles and lack of core balance and strength but I"m not sure radiation has anything to do with it. But I definitely think that in our situations, doctors can be far to quick to just chalk things up to "ageing" or "overuse" etc when there might in fact be something that needs to be identified and managed in a different way. At times my hip has hurt so badly I've been sure I had bone mets, and I do think things like that need to be checked out.