​With Thanksgiving looming closely on the autumn horizon, the hubby and I had already decided to break tradition again this year as we had done the year before, by spending Thanksgiving at the "Salty Owl" - our little "home away from home", a place at the beach we had purchased just a year ago.

Generally a quiet time weather-wise, that was NOT to be the case this year. As fate would have it, a year after we had bought our little beach place, a five hundred year hurricane hit our coast and left moderate damage to our little piece of heaven on earth. Thankfully, we sustained MUCH less damage that many others in that area, and NOTHING compared to the destruction and loss of life suffered by many, many more others. All in all, we were VERY blessed and came out quite unscathed. And while we have just completed the minor repairs needed fixing on our little place, it will be many more months - possibly years - before others are as fortunate. Still, we did spend Thanksgiving at the beach, although it was quite nontraditional, with steak and salad replacing the traditional turkey and dressing. I think the best part was being there in the off-season when its mostly barren and secluded.  Truly a great time and place to DE-flect instead of RE-flect.

​Dr. Sarno is the father of TMS - Tension Mytosis Syndrome, and offers a revolutionary approach to back pain that is based on his discovery that tension is the underlying cause of most back problems. Reading these two radical, yet common-sense books helped me to realize and understand the source AND treatment to my sciatic condition, based on his documented research and experience with hundreds of “cured” patients who had suffered from the same condition, as well as many other similar ailments. If you have an open mind and are willing to “consider” Dr. Sarno’s “theories”, you, too may glean a powerful benefit from reading these two little books. All I can say is that after reading BOTH of them within a 24 hour period, I have been able to walk with LESS pain and have a new “euphoric attitude” about finally being rid of this horrid condition ONCE AND FOR ALL! Suffice it to say that I am a FIRM believer in “mind over matter”. As I enter into my 6th week, I feel enormously blessed and hopeful that God has finally brought me to MY “promised land” - a full recovery and total healing of the curse of sciatic nerve pain. Further updates forthcoming!

​Among my NEWEST (and most helpful) holistic treatments are the addition of mega-doses of Vitamin C. I read about its powerful ability to successfully treat acute sciatic conditions during one of my website researches, and was so impressed with one woman’s testimony, (read her story here), that I drove myself to the local dollar store about two miles down the road and picked up a big bottle of it. Over the next few days, I took 8000-10,000 gms of Vitamin C a day. By the third day, I could tell a BIG difference in not only my pain level, but my overall mental and physical state. Everyone knows how Vitamin C can knock out a cold, but not many know what a potent inflammation fighter it is when it comes to sciatica! Well,it made ME a believer, and I am still mega-dosing going on almost a week now. Even though I’m still not pain-free, I can attest to the remarkable difference just adding this Vitamin C protocol to my treatment regimen has made to my healing and recovery process. One word of caution if you try this: although it is non-toxic, high doses of Vitamin C can cause bowel issues, so make sure you don’t exceed YOUR bowel tolerance levels! You’ll know when you do, in which case you just need to back off to a lower intake.

​Finally, at this stage of my treatment, I’ve decided to STOP taking Aleve, an OTC pain med, that I’ve been using for the past five weeks to deal with the pain, and rely solely on the all- natural and holistic treatments I’m currently doing. Besides the irritating gastric side effects, I realize the long term damage of taking NSAIDS on a daily basis is not WORTH the minimal pain relief it gives, and may in fact be HINDERING my recovery. Again, in my own research, I have found more than one study suggesting the long-term use of many OTC pain meds can actually cause tissue damage and impede your body’s ability to heal inflammation on its own. That just reinforces my determination I to deal with this condition as holistically as possible, and weaning my body off ANY kind of unnatural or man-made pain meds. Instead, I will rely on the Vitamin C, magnesium and other natural supplements that are proven to be effective pain relief options. As with the decision to stop taking the opoids I was consuming earlier, I fully expect a positive outcome from dropping the Aleve from my treatment plan.

​It’s going on three weeks now, and while I’m MUCH better, I still have lingering pain, numbness and weakness in my right leg and foot, and still walk “crooked”, and can only walk for short periods at the time. I’ve lost about ten pounds due to a loss of appetite from the constant nauseating pain, and have only ventured out of my home with my husband on two occasions. I sleep with a pillow between my legs at night, and alternate between cold packs and a heating pad to temporarily relieve the pain. Up until a couple of days ago, I had to give up doing any kind of housework or sitting at a computer for long periods of time. And I am STILL not able to drive due to the partial numbness in my right foot. According to the information I’ve researched about sciatica, my situation is somewhat “normal”. In fact, most articles indicated recovery time on average is between 4-8 weeks, unless it gets worse which indicates another underlying problem that could require more aggressive treatment. Sometimes even surgery. I can only hope and pray I’m one of the “average” statistics.

Besides the overwhelming pain that comes with sciatica, I feel like I’ve been robbed of a life that was active, happy and full. I can no longer talk my dog on long walks around our farm, or even for a short jaunt to the mailbox down the path. I’ve fallen woefully behind in my housework and laundry duties, not to mention just being able to do “general cleaning” on an as-needed basis. And without getting too “personal”, let’s just say that my husband is a VERY patient man! ;) Thank God I married a man who is not only a wonderful and loving husband, but who can cook and clean just as well! In fact, he has been a Godsend these past few weeks, and I don’t know where I would have been if he hadn’t been here to take care of me! This is definitely ONE health issue you can’t bear all by yourself, and if you do, you’re a better woman than me!

​This morning, I added some ALA to my yogurt, and will continue taking this supplement three times a day to see if it gives any added relief. There have been numerous studies done about the positive efficacy of ALA to treat sciatic nerve pain,so I am very anxious to see if it gives me the same results. I also take the following supplements on a daily basis: multi-vitamin especially for women over 50, MSM, magnesium, ginger, Triple Flex (a glucosomine chondroitin MSM supplement), Aleve gel caps, and enteric coated aspirin. I also take a warm epsom salt bath either nightly or every other night to soothe and ease the nerve pain before bedtime. I try to eat yogurt 3-4 times a week and drink lots of bottled water throughout the day. My goal is to slowly but surely transition from taking ANY kind of RX/OTC pain medication to taking nothing but all natural supplements to ease and control my sciatica condition, AND help prevent future occurrences of this intrusive monster! In fact, I read an interesting article that said when taken, certain opiod pain meds (i.e., oxycodone, hydrocodone, etc.) actually stimulated pain cells in the spinal column and created MORE pain, creating the need for MORE pain medication! This vicious cycle explains why so many people find themselves addicted to these type pain relievers. Even I was finding myself in this same vicious cycle after taking oxycodone for only two weeks, and knew I had to find an alternative method of pain relief.