Question re: Intrathecal Pain Pump

Yes, I do have a pump and thanks to a new PM dr a a little over a year ago that has awesome knowledge of pumps and the medications used in a pump, life is much better in the back pain dept for me. My pump is for low back pain and that is all it addresses. It is not for overall body pain. Meaning, when I am having bouts of cellultis pain in my legs and feet it does nothing for that pain. I became a candidate for the pump because I am allergic to many, many medications including pain meds. We ran out of pain medications that I could tolerate, if I wasn't allergic to them, the side effects got me. From what the drs told me the pumps are reserved for folks that run out of options for medications that work on their pain. That can be from even use of high dosages. A pump will not help nerve pain because most pain meds do not help nerve pain, you need a medication that is designed for that specific pain.

I do not think a pump would help someone with Fibro because the pain is spread out all over different areas of the body. I could be wrong I would ask the dr this question. The people I know that have pumps are people with back problems and that is what the pumps works on. I have a Medtronic pump and I think if I were you I would visit Medtronics web site, they have info there that may be worth reading. My pump is implanted in my stomach  and then an incision was made in my back and a catheter was fed around to the front to the pump. I have a constant steady drip of medication that goes into the intrathecal space and drops where the receptors are. The pumps do not come without drawbacks and serious ones. Personally speaking from my own experience with a pump, you must have a dr that is fully educated in both pumps and the medications used in pumps, it can't be one way it has to be both. Anesthesiologist turned PM drs are not in my opinion qualified or educated enough in both areas to handle a pump patient. My original pump dr was exactly this and he mismanaged me and 45 other pump patients grossly. But, we were all ignorant about pumps and we believed what he told us and we suffered terribly because of his ignorance. The other problem you may run into and they do not tell you this is, once you have a pump put in, finding another dr to take over your care is nearly impossible. It is very hard to find another dr willing to take an existing pump patient on. We were not told this either.  I do not know if it is a liability issue or if the new dr thinks the person should not have a pump or what. My current dr is a retired neurosurgeon that is just awesome. She mixes her own compounds in her office for the pumps meaning no waiting 2-3 weeks for new meds to come in if you need an increase. She does it all right there, the lady is brilliant.

If you can manage your pain with orals meds I would say stick with it. I know its tough living like that, we become clock watchers and always have to wait on the meds to kick in and start working. I still take oral pain meds with my pump because you are always going to have BT pain even with a pump. But, not all drs believe pump patients should have oral meds, thats because they are not educated enough. Even with the pump I still have back pain and always will. When I saw my new dr for the first time she was totally floored at the condition I was in. I was bent over because I could not stand up from the pain, even walking with a cane for support. My concentration dose in my pump was 15mg, and I got a little over one mg in 24 hrs which was nothing. She had a copy of my medical records that she had reviewed and she said no patient should have a constant 9 on a pain scale for 2 years like I had. She said I had been grossly under-treated as a patient and my pain had been grossly under-treated. She was shocked when she saw me. She asked me how I had managed for the past two years and my answer was "I have got use to the pain". She said you are right, a person can become use to pain. She said you don't have any kind of a life, do you, I said no, not for a very long time have I had a life.  She patted me on my shoulder and smiled real big and said " I am going to fix that", I will have you up and running with the best of them, lol. My concentration dosage in my pump went from 15mg to 37.5 mg quite a jump, and I receive now almost 9mg in 24 hrs, plus my BT meds went from 2 mg top 8mg.  And most important of all I have a very long way to go before I max out my dosage in the pump. My former dr told me that I had maxed out my dosage in the pump and could not go any higher and I believed him. So, when he retired and went back to anesthesiology, he did 45 of us patients a huge favor. He has no clue what that did for us. Now you understand why you need a dr very well educated in pumps. I thought my first one was but oh was I ever mistaking. I am getting close to time for a new pump to be installed because the batteries go out and you must replace the entire unit. I will have another one put in but it is a rough surgery, because you have two good size incisions to deal with. I cannot imagine life without a pump. Also, with Medicare and secondary coverage I pay almost $56.00 every six weeks when its refilled, its not cheap. Also my pump is a 90 day pump and my dr changes my meds every 6 weeks because she said leaving the meds in that tiny space they lose their effectiveness, other dr let me run nearly 90 days, lol.

If you have more questions ask, I will answer them if I can. Take care.

   Dear Squeaky Dog,

    I started a new topic for you in the hopes that you will get better response to your questions. Here is the link

~~~>  https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=16&m=1919521

*hugg*
  dani