03 | When THE SYPTOMS DIDN’T FIT WITH SCIATICA
RETURNING HOME RELEIVED BUT APPREHENSIVE
After the first hospital visit, I left with a diagnosis of sciatica and was awaiting an outpatient appointment with a physiotherapist to establish a treatment plan. I was prescribed pain relief medication, and there was some relief that the physio seemed confident in the diagnosis despite what felt like serious symptoms. I’d never had sciatica before, and it sounded like a common condition that should be relatively straightforward to treat. However, looking back, leaving the hospital in a wheelchair probably should have been a bigger red flag. Deep down, something didn’t feel right. The symptoms I was experiencing went far beyond what I understood sciatica to be.
On the very first morning after leaving hospital, I had managed to get downstairs and used the zimmer frame to make my way into the living room. But as soon as I got there, I suffered another sudden backward fall. It was frightening — my body simply stiffened without warning and I went straight back.
A few days after discharge, the community occupational therapist and physiotherapist visited me at home. I was still unable to walk unaided. They immediately recognised that the hospital diagnosis of sciatica could not explain what they were seeing and arranged for my urgent readmission. The contrast with the hospital physiotherapist’s assessment — including the senior physiotherapist who had voiced doubts during the zimmer frame test — was stark. This rapid reversal of the discharge plan highlighted early inconsistencies in how my symptoms were being interpreted.
WHAT I WOULS SAY TO SOMEONE NOW
If you have just been sent home from hospital with a diagnosis that doesn’t feel right, and your body is still doing things that don’t match the explanation you’ve been given, trust that feeling. Document everything — times, symptoms, what you can and cannot do — and don’t be afraid to question the label if it doesn’t fit. A second pair of eyes from a different team can make all the difference. Early clarity matters, especially with a rare neurological condition where delays can allow symptoms to worsen rapidly.
Technical Note
he community team’s decision to arrange urgent readmission after a home visit is significant. When symptoms (especially axial rigidity, startle reflexes, and gait failure) progress rapidly and do not respond to standard musculoskeletal treatment, guidelines recommend reconsidering the diagnosis and ruling out rarer neurological conditions such as stiff-person spectrum disorders.
