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By Rachael O'Connor
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A woman who lived with crippling back pain on-and-off for years finally got a diagnosis—but only after the agony returned with a vengence.
Shelby, 33, who gave her first name only, lives in North Carolina. In 2020 she began suffering debilitating back pain which she recalled to Newsweek beginning as a "loud pop."
At the time, Shelby was "extremely overweight," with the 5-foot-2-inch woman weighing 325 pounds at her heaviest. She explained that she lifted something "way heavier than I should have" while at work when she heard the noise—and knew instantly "that can't be good."
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"When I woke up the next day I couldn't move from the intense pain. Like, a 20 on a scale of 1 to 10, and I'm not trying to be dramatic," she recalled.
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Having just started a new job, Shelby wasn't covered by work insurance and "couldn't go to the doctor"—and she says she was "crippled" for around a year and a half, barely able to stand and unable to sit in chairs for long periods.
She recalled being unable to "get pain pills legally"—and refused to get pills by any other means due to addiction in her family, being "terrified of ending up like that."
"I basically just thugged it out. I just dealt with the pain," she said. Eventually, things started "easing up", and she returned to work in 2021, while dealing with back and leg pain on and off "for years."
"In my past, I've always had doctors just jump to 'oh it's your weight' when I wasn't even 200 pounds then," she said. "So the bigger I got, the more I'd ignore things, because I just assumed they'd blame it on the weight."
By 2025, Shelby had lost close to 100 pounds, but had also lost her job and got a new role which involved being on her feet and lifting heavy things, which would "aggravate" the pain.
She had also started working out for further weight loss—but during one workout, she heard that same telling pop, and felt "instant pain."
But things were a bit different this time around, she told Newsweek, as she had been approved for Medicaid earlier in the year, and was able to go to urgent care when the pain became too much to bear.
There, a "sympathetic" doctor diagnosed sciatica, and prescribed steroid pills with the suggestion she had "likely inflamed my nerve [or] the sac near the nerve." And this worked, for a while—but when the steroid pills ran out, "the pain came back even harder."
Shelby advocated for herself, going to her primary care doctor and orthopedic doctor, getting X-rays and an MRI—and finally, she got a diagnosis.
The sciatica was, in fact, a herniated disk—and the diagnosis, along with proper treatment, means Shelby's "pain has been reduced significantly."
Sciatica is caused by irritation or compression affecting nerves in the lower back. It is usually not serious and, in most cases, will eventually get better with time and self-care treatments, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
A herniated disk, also known as a slipped disk, is when the soft center of a disk in the spine pushes out and leaks from the outer ring, leading to severe pain, numbness, weakness and sciatica symptoms.
While herniated disks can heal within six weeks, if such does not appear to be healing on its own, doctors may recommend medication, physical therapy, spinal injections or even surgery.
In Shelby's case, while the diagnosis has been a relief, there is still a long road to go—and a lot of waiting involved. She's already been waiting weeks for a back injection before she can start physical therapy, and expects she'll be waiting for several more weeks.
While she's been told surgery could be an option, she's "terrified" of the idea and potential complications it brings. She also expects she will eventually have to leave her new retail job due to it aggravating the condition.
"All in all this whole thing has really sucked," she put it plainly, but noted she has a solid group of friends around her for support. "I couldn't really tell you anything I've done since June when this all restarted, both from pain fog and just fighting to stay okay."
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"My doctors have been great and surprisingly very attentive when I would describe things," she added. "Now, I'm working towards stretching daily, and trying to get to where I'm semi-ok again."
In September, Shelby shared the story of her years-long battle to Reddit's r/Wellthatsucks via her account u/Shelbutter, writing: "Been having severe back pain off and on for 5 years… kept getting told it was sciatica… guess what? Better! Herniated disk."
Along with medical images showing the slipped disk, she said she was "definitely not happy about this, but it explains my issues for sure."
"Going to do injections and PT…. Surgery is a very last ditch effort. Wish me luck."
Redditors were full of sympathy, awarding the post more than 1,200 upvotes, with one who had been through a similar issue saying they "wouldn't wish this pain on their worst enemy."
"Welcome to the club," another wrote. "We don't meet often. Can't get up and going that easily."
Another pointed out: "To be fair to your previous medical providers, you have a herniated disc causing your sciatica."
And one advised Shelby: "If you are heavy, lose weight. Get into a good PT routine to strengthen your core muscles".
And when she revealed that she was down to 240 pounds from 325, comments flooded in from people celebrating her "incredible" achievement.
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