I just joined the group and see that we are being asked for our medical history in regards to our PS diagnosis. I am not a medical doctor and don't have all the terminology down pat but I will try to be as descriptive as possible so you will know what I am referring to.

Personal history: 45 year old woman, 2 daughters (19 and 14), 1 miscarriage, 1 stepson (21), married, stay at home mom who does a little computer work on the side (very little at this point, due to medical condition)

Cause or Onset: Not clear although my work history is administrative which involves sitting at a computer all day.  As a stay-at-home mom of school age kids I became an almost full-time Girl Scout volunteer and did a lot of work on the computer in that regard. 

• 2/06 1st symptom I noticed was trouble sleeping with an aching left leg at night. This continued and got stronger.
• The pain came and went.  Weakness began appearing in my left leg - often even on days I didn't have any pain. My left leg is my dominant one - I have no idea if this is important.
• 9/07 bad days outweighed good days and the pain had increased.  Doctor diagnosed hamstring pull.  At this point I was only aware of pain in leg - not in buttock/hip area.  Exercises did not help.
• 12/07 Doctor referred me to PT.  Kept giving me prescriptions to continue PT. 
  
• 3/08 PT referred me back to doctor saying he couldn't help me and I needed a referral to a sport medicine guy or pain management specialist. Pain Management/Physiatry/Physical Medicine doctor ended up diagnosing PT.

Tests

• MRI on back and left leg, contrast MRI on back and left leg.
  
• Sent me to a specialist to have a nerve test done.  He used a machine and small needles as well as electrodes to stimulate my nerve activity. Sorry, I don't remember what this is called.
• Pain Management/Physiatry/Physical Medicine doctor went over MRI and nerve testing results with me.  I have some loss of activity in my nerve due to compression. He showed me on the MRI a large white area that he said was a better example of PS than any book in any text book he had ever studied.  I didn't know whether to be proud or appalled.  He also found 3 discs in my lower back (2 on right, 1 on left) that were a little bit pushed out.  They were not touching my sciatica at all and he concluded that the issue was my piriforma. He was VERY happy to find there was no tumor.  He said that often with this particular presentation, there is a tumor in the utertus.
  

Treatments & Results

• Original PT - exercises for suspected back issue and leg weakness caused more pain symptoms and were stopped. He used a machine to internally heat the muscle (forgot the name of this - sorry) and did acupressure by pushing HARD on the hard area of the muscle.  This HELPED.  He would then ice the area and send me home.  Pain did always come back but he could fix me up for 2-3 weeks before it would come back. I was going 3x a week. 
• Original PT early on did some traction stuff (pulling himself, which actually seemed to help a little)  He was trying to get the pain to move to the source, he said.  He expected it to go to my back.  It went to my buttocks/hip area and never left.  At this point he was certain I had PS but my regular doctor didn't think so.
  
•  2nd round of PT (this was only 2 sessions) - this was not to treat PT, doctor knew at that point I had PT, but wanted to see if I got any relief through a very easy back stretch designed to help the discs in my lower back.  I noticed nothing but I don't have lower back pain anyway.
• Stretching the muscle - having leg across lap and holding for 30 count multiple times.  It does seem to help, sometimes.
  
• Xray guided cortizone treatment.  No help whatsoever - serious, serious pain for over a week.
• Gave me a portible electrical machine that helps with pain management.  It did help when I had to drive Girl Scouts 7/08 for a 14 day camping trip.  I did survive but it is nothing I want to do again.  Our troop had been planning this trip since before I had ANY pain (2/06) and I couldn't tell them no. It doesn't seem to help with anything except when I'm driving or on a long plane ride.  Just sitting or walking around the house it is not helpful.  Nor does it help me sleep.
• Current recommendation is to use a softball and lay on it 10 seconds, off 10 seconds, for 15 minutes a day, 4x a day. I am having very little luck with this - it is hard for me to do to myself.

Pain Management

• 6 Advil 2 or 3 times a day sometimes helps.
• Alcohol can help sometimes but I don't want to be an alcoholic so I don't allow myself to do this much.
• Cyclobenzaprine 10 MG - doctor suggested 1/2 to 1 tablet 3x a day as needed.  Does not take away pain but sometimes will allow me to go to sleep and sometimes when I wake up I feel better.  I rarely use this except to take 1 at night on a horrible day when I have not had alcohol and the Advil isn't helping.

Current Pain Management/Treatment Recommendation

• I am supposed to continue with the softball accupressure and stretching. 
  
• Doctor said I was not a candidate for surgery.  I don't understand why and as the pain continues over time, I think I need to find out why.  My activity level is going down, I'm gaining weight, I'm in pain for 2 weeks out of 4 generally with sleep being difficult, sitting/walking/standing difficult.  The weakness is not good but the pain is horrible. I can't lean down, stretch my leg out, or drive a regular car comfortably.  I can drive my minivan ok because I am sitting straight up.  I have a straight backed lawn chair in my family room I sit in - the couches and soft chairs don't have me in the right position for this problem.
• Doctor told me NOT to get pregnant as I would be in agony the entire 9 months.  Not a problem for us as we are in the high school/college age kids stage. Menstrual cramps do seem to bring on the pain so I believe pregnancy would be a serious issue.
  

Recommendations for Others

I wish I had some advice for others that I knew would help them.  I seem to be getting worse, not better, and I don't know what to do about it.