Does this sound like sciatica?
A little over a week ago I started having minor lower back pain for a few days that didn’t bother me too much because it’s happened before, but it’s always been just that by itself that goes away in a day or two. About five days ago when I lay down at night my feet started tingling, pulsing, going slightly numb, and sometimes get cold even when no other part of my body is. Everything I describe is mostly on my left leg, with occasional pulses in my right, except for the coldness which is both.
The day after the tingling started I had off and on soreness on both of my upper thighs that isn’t very persistent. There’s still tingling in my left feet and my toes going numb or twitching, but it mostly calf tightness and cramping which just started yesterday with a random pulse/ache in my leg that lasts a few seconds and then goes away, but everytime it feels like it’s in a different place around my knee. The lower back pain will appear for a short amount of time a couple times a day.
All of these sensations come and go - the pain is mild and more like an ache. Worse at night when laying down. The pain is rarely in more than one place at once. Only thing that stays throughout the day when I’m active is my left calf muscle feeling tight - most of it is at night when laying down. I’ve also been having off and on mild nausea for a day but I’m not sure if that’s connected to this, but almost everyday there’s some kind of new sensation in my leg. My brain has convinced me I have a blood clot but I also don’t realistically think that’s what these symptoms are - no swelling, discoloration, or warmness in one place.
Posted Apr 1, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC