Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Sciatica could be caused by Spinal Stenosis

18 months or so ago I had my first tate of SCIATICA. I thought my hamstring was getting too tight so had taken up doing lots of forward leg straight stretches. Then I stretched while half asleep and it snapped me awake with the WORST PAIN EVER - well a half notch down from internal bleeding but it was close. After an ambulance ride to hospital and lots of drugs and about a week or two in bed I was back to "normal" and required regular walking to help keep it at bay.

Went to Rheumy (who is specialist) and he said the sciatica was not related to AS but it was "Mechanical". He did MRI so I could go on REmicade. but it always hit me as odd that sciatica was mechanical and not at all possible to be AS.

Then 2 weeks ago my right side again was tingling. I tried some gentle excercises which included twisting. Then Sunday my left side made it impossible to put any weight on it and pain was throbbing. 4 hours in hospital stronger drugs and a request for me to get MRI to figure out more. Waiting on that still. Went to chiro and chiro did a couple tests and said. " I think its being caused by Spinal Stenosis in lumbar region" And different excercises and now I know why the twisting didnt help and flossing wasnt doing a thing at all. Now waiting for MRI and next time I speak with Rheumy will ask him about spinal Stenosis.

Hello, NorthernAS:


Spinal stenosis "perhaps" if you are over 55 to place some arbitrary date!
They should have suggested a short course of steroids to get you over it and to PROVE that it is due to inflammation. The first rule of AS is that EVERYTHING is related to this disease: When my AS first began, I had severe sciatica that lasted MONTHS!

If you are old enough to have stenosis, it is still a surprising cause of sciatica, which can sometimes be helped by prolotherapy.

I hope that You have found some resolution by now; sorry for the late reply.

HEALTH,

John

Hi John, I haven't been here in a while, but saw your question and did a quick search. It seems that Spinal Stenosis can absolutely be caused by Ankylosing Spondylitis.

Here's a link to an article from last year: Medical News Today - AS and Spinal Stenosis [medicalnewstoday.com]https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/ankylosing-spondylitis-and-spinal-stenosis#prevention

And here's an article from The Cleveland Clinic that talks about Sciatica definitely being one of the signs of Spinal Stenosis: The Cleveland Clinic - Spinal Stenosis Page [my.clevelandclinic.org]https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17499-spinal-stenosis

I hope those help.

Love and light.