Still out of service – BionicOldGuy

On Sunday I started having pretty severe sciatica on my left side. I think this might be a late reaction to my back injury on September 18th. This is the opposite side where I have had piriformis syndrome and an injured SI joint in the past. I had trouble walking more than a few meters without pain, but I could still ride. A day off would have been nice, but a friend of mine was driving from Palo Alto so we could ride together and I felt bad about canceling. We ended up taking about a two and a half hour ride in the hills west of Morgan Hill. I pedaled gently using more electric assistance on my upright and felt good during the ride. But the sciatica was much worse later in the day. My doctor was able to give me a virtual visit Monday afternoon and based on the description of the symptoms, she thinks it’s piriformis syndrome, which is definitely what I’m experiencing. The pain is worst deep in my left buttock, where the piriformis muscle is, and it goes down my left leg to my shin and ankle, which is probably the sciatica muscle being pinched by the muscle. So no driving or any other exercise for a week. She put me on prednisone and another anti-inflammatory meloxicam, as well as a muscle relaxer. We will follow up in a week and if the situation does not improve much, additional diagnostics will be necessary. I remember all my physical therapy exercises from the last time I did this, and I’m supposed to do them too.

It was pretty bad Monday night because I didn’t yet have the medicine I received Tuesday morning. The sciatica was so bad that it was difficult to find a sleeping position that wasn’t painful. Yesterday was better because I think the rest helps and the medication is working.

I think the lesson from this is that I should have taken it a lot easier and made sure I was fully recovered after my injury on September 18th. Instead, as soon as I started feeling better, I became arrogant and threw myself back into long, intense workouts, forgetting that it takes us older people more time to heal !