I had sciatica for the 2nd time in my life this past December. Absolute agony. I did the heat packs, cold packs, prescription pain meds, Tylenol, Aleve, stretching. Nothing helped. Finally, in mid February, the doctor said "let's try a few days of prednisone" and that worked. By the 3rd day (of 5 days of prednisone) the pain was easing away.