First time with sciatica - wanted some suggestions

Firstly I want to say i really feel for people who have chronic sciatica, this is by far the worst thing ive gone through and i've had plenty of other injuries and sickness before.

I have mixed emotions with my sciatica at the moment, my background is as follows:

Very active but no longer young (45M). I've had sciatica for 4 weeks now. The initial symptoms were bad, I couldn't really do much other than lie down for the first 3-4 days with constant Level 9-10 pain. Fast forward to 4 weeks and I can sit with level 1 pain, sleeping is around level 3-4 pain but i can mostly sleep all night. However walking is still around level 6-7 pain, but probably no more than 100-150 metres at a time.

On the one hand I'm glad i've improved especially hearing in this sub of the amount of suffering some ppl go through. However on the other hand I'm so frustrated that I can't do most things i used to i.e. play sport, gym, play with my kids, any slightly physical housework etc etc. I have improved but 4 weeks already and wondering if i will ever go back to my old self? Is my experience showing good progress or does it look more like long term issues? At what level of pain should i go back to the gym etc? Interested to hear people's thoughts.

PS I'm doing physio, trying to be as active as possible without pushing too hard, also completely off the pain meds for the last week.