Hilary, I am so sorry to hear about your worsening pain. pole on the lack of sleep and I can totally understand your frustration. I hope you get some answers tomorrow and they are the kind that can be dealt with on a prompt fashion.  The waiting and worrying is sometes harder than the pain. Hang in there!

redrum, does your local school district have a pool? Before joining the Y I would swim at HS pool for very cheap. The only issue was the hours of operation were very limited.

Hmmm..interesting bit about the school pool.  Maybe my alma matter.  I'm sure they'd sympathize. (yes, sarcasm intended.  This is California, they only want tax money.  Your carcass is simply collateral damage) 

Hilary......Do hang tough!!  I know it sucks, but I'm guessing a lot of this weight is on the Boston side of your brain too, no??  Obviously easier said than done, but try to relax your mind about it.  Heck, take some Xanax if you need to.  (And, no, I'm not kidding).

In the meantime, I have a question for you........What does your physiatrist do??  (I thought earlier you were saying "psychiatrist" which, believe it or not, might not be a bad idea if you feel like you're going crazy).  Is that like a sports shrink??

And lastly.....Is your bed comfortable enough??  Can you sleep somewhere more comfortable??  I know my bed has trashed my back before.  Most often it doesn't but at times it can.  I still haven't bought the new mattress I promised myself, but that's on a list of shoulda' woulda' coulda's.

Thank you redrum. LOL. Physiatry is similar to psychiatry in terms of spelling only. I just want to be pain free!! My ass is ridiculously sore right now. It is between my ass and hip. I'm thinking some sort-of bursitis aggravated by the massage!! GRRRRRR. Will never get a deep tissue massage again. Here is a definition of what a physiatrist is: 
http://www.spine-health.com/glossary/physiatrist

Love the t-shirts!!

Hilary, sorry to hear that. For piriformis or sciatica, it hurt most when I woke up in the morning (if you still think it is that).  One other thing: according to my chiro, massages can move bones out of place and I usually get adjusted right after a massage if the massage leaves me sore or pain.

Thank you. I'm still a bit uncertain what this is. Its all in the butt and hip. I can point to where it hurts so hopefully that will help the doctor help me some. 1pm can't come fast enough. I just want some answers to know what I'm dealing with.

Hilary, hope you're doing a bit better today.

I went to my GP today. She is clearly not a runner. She told me I should've gotten checked before starting a running regimen (?!) and that a PT would help me alter my gait. Nope. They better not. Anyway, she palpated my knees and bent them and said there's nothing obviously wrong and that sports medicine/PT was the next step. DUH. Whatever, that's what I'll do. Meanwhile the pace bunny keeps at it. Dammit.

Ouch... if this does not work by Monday, I will have an si joint injection and I will be changing over to physical therapists that treat athletes.

Just to share my experience, I opted against the SI Block (injection).  Basically, if the pain goes away after the injection, it confirms you have an SI joint issue, but it may not tell you what.  You will likely still need to work with a PT to determine its severity and what type of SI issue you have, meaning you are not actually healing during that time.

This is just food for thought, but there is a battery of tests (seven I think) they perform in about an hour that rules out every other back ailment and what remains is that it is indeed an SI joint issue.  The only difference here is that they can get to the root cause of the problem much quicker since there is not a period of a week or two where you have no discomfort due to the injection.

I am just putting that out there because you can never be under armed with info when you speak with those people.

Joint issues suck.    I hope it's not that, Hilary.