For the last three years have suffered from sciatica in the left leg radiating from the buttox all down the back of the leg into the lower front area of the foot. All tests have been done MRI catscan no major defects have been found. the area that has been ignored by the specialits is the Piriformis Muscle which as far as I am concerned is the main problem. because of the density of the maximus glutius it is often quite dificult to see the prirformis muscle impinging on the sciatic nerve on an MRI. it seems that very little attention is devoted to this problem affecting thousands of people, in fact on attemting to search for information on the piriformis muscle syndrome, the search drew a blank. Could you please re asscess the importance of the pirifomis muscles role in the devastaing pain of sciatica, and promote further reseach into this problem. Any Help or infomation woid be appreciated Thank You Bill Molyneaux

I have continually experienced the left leg & sciatica symptoms after falling upon the ice and bulging my L-5 disc about 7 years ago. When walking barefoot my big toe on my left foot curls up & I cannot get it to touch the floor without pressing it down by hand. I also occasionally will experience a total collapse of my left leg; much like would occur if I stepped upon a tennis ball. I work out every morning and have managed to be able to do an extensive daily morning workout commencing with aggressive full-body stretching, Swiss ball routine, a full round of the cybex machines or alternating days of 20 min. on elliptical machine---all followed by 50 deep lunges. For the past year I have also experienced sleeplessness, memory lapses, obvious mispelling of words online, difficulty concentrating, progressive acid reflux and occasional erratic blood pressure elevation. Is there a possible connection among these symptoms in spite of my conditioning program and daily consumption of organically derived vitamins, food supplements? I take no other medication, drink 3-5 cups of coffee a day and consume 1-2 lite beers 3 nights per week. Have others experienced such body function degradation over a similar period of time?

Mr. Burman, Sounds like you may have sleep apnea. Essential hypertension, GERD, memory lapses, difficulty concentrating and sleeplessness can all be symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS). Most often you find excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in OSAS but it is not uncommon to find insomnia as a symptom. You probably sleep 1-3 hours then wake up and cannot go back sleep. It is like your body is saying "I've had enough of that not breathing, I think I will just stay awake". Or you might be going into REM sleep where apnea/hypopnea is much more severe (longer duration of obstructions, lower oxygen (SaO2) declines). Different centers in tthe brain take over respiration in REM (20-25% of sleep which comes in 80-90 min. cycles) as opposed to NREM (75-80% of sleep) which allow this to happen. Pehaps this is the time of night that your body says the above. By the way, alcohol, like any sedative, makes OSAS worse. Les Bell, Dream Catchers Sleep lab