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Discussion

What next?

I'm a little spooked at the moment and just wondering if anyone has any ideas about who I should contact about this problem.

I've been having a strange sort of sciatic pain for the past two months. I've been to the doctor repeatedly for it. The doctor hasn't found any cause of this pain yet. She put me on Flexeril and Vicodin to get through it.

Well, the scary part is that I work a homecare case where i take care of a little boy on a vent. I was speaking to the boy's mother and she complained of exactly the same pain I have. It's a sciatic type pain, but mostly involves the back of the thigh and the ankle. This is also accompanied by numbness in the foot. She has been seeing her doctor about this as well as a chiropractor.

OK, so the day shift nurse comes in and she complains of the same pain. She has been seeing her doctor and a chiropractor as well.

So, out of 4 people who work in this home on a regular basis, 3 of us have been having severe sciatic type pain. All of us are affected on the right side and it has been about 2 months of this for each of us.

Seems a little odd to me. I intend to speak with my doctor about it, but my appointment with her is in about 2 weeks. This family lives in the country in the middle of a cornfield and has well water.... i'm wondering if it could be something in the water, or perhaps some problem with the way we are moving in the environment? I don't know, just seems really odd to have 3/4 of us with the exact same problem. I've considered contacting the EPA, or perhaps the public health department...

Just wondered what thoughts other people have about this, or if i'm probably just making a mountain out of a molehill.

Featured Replies

Wow, that certainly is extremely strange.

I certainly am not qualified to make any kind of a medical diagnosis, but is seems that it HAS to be more than coincidental.

Does the agency you work for know about this? There may be an issue with an unsafe work environment.

I would certainly pursue it. It obviously can't be good for the people living there either. It sounds like an Erin Brokovich type of issue? The water making people sick?? Very scary!!

Good luck to you. I am soooo sorry this is happening to you. I would take action as soon as possible. Hopefully other people will have other suggestions as who to contact.

i think it may be coincidence..do you really drink enough water to have eaffected all of you??

not the same thing but i bought a new car and suddenly i started seeing the model of car everywhere i went

  • Author
i think it may be coincidence..do you really drink enough water to have eaffected all of you??

not the same thing but i bought a new car and suddenly i started seeing the model of car everywhere i went

I expect it would depend on what (if anything) is in the water as to if we drink enough water to be affected. I usually go through about 2L of water in 12 hour shift. Not sure how much the others use.

Also, i wasn't sure if I can even really say anything about what the other nurse and the mother say they are experiencing because of HIPPA... is it even legal to tell anyone that these 3 people are affected with the same thing?

I haven't told the agency yet mostly because of that concern. The day nurse is on some pain killers for her pain and is concerned the office might make her quit working until she is off the meds... ~sigh~

Assume the legal question is rhetorical since we can't discuss that here.

you think it has something to do with the way you're maneuvering the little boy in bed, and it's affecting the same parts of your spine/discs?

if the injury is compressing certain nerves (due to inflammation, edema), then it will affect their associated body parts.

are you all around the same height?

very strange.

but it doesn't sound like a water problem.

in erin brokovitch, the people were getting flu-like symptoms...

keep us informed.

and good luck.

leslie

try looking into the arrangement of the room where the patient is. Can you reach the vent and supplies easy or is it a reach? Perhaps you are all doing the same repetitive movement in some way that is causeing you all the same pain. Look at the environment--are you working around extra furniture, reaching over the bed regularly, lifting at a weird angle...look to those kinds of things. It could be environmental and has to do with the body mechanics involved in caring for the patient.

Is there an occupational health nurse who could come into the home and look a the environment? She may be able to give you some pointers. I agree with the above posters that ergonomics may play a role here...it is certainly something to investigate.

  • Experts

I suffered from sciatic pain that is strikingly similar to what you have described; however, my pain progressed for 2 debilitating years (2005 to 2007). The pain ran down the back of my right leg, was very sharp in nature, and led to foot numbness, tingling, and difficulty walking. The more I walked, the sharper my calf pain became.

After 2 months of chiropractic therapy, I am now freed of the chronic pain that so adversely placed limitations on my life.

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