Neurostimulator

Hello tanyaspain!

Welcome to the CP forum! I think you will really enjoy the members here! While we are so sorry to hear about your health troubles, we are very glad to see that you are reaching out for help.

We have several members who use the stimulator and the pain pumps as well. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them. Please do keep checking back here, and especially during the week, as the weekends can at time be a little slow.

One thing you said that is confusing to me is RE: "By the way I have 4 bad discs in my back and they wont even consider surgery because there is nothing to fuse to because of disc degeneration."
Usually because of the degeneration of the discs, is the reason to do a fusion. Now, if the vertebrate is so badly damaged (the bone on either side of the discs) then I can see where that may be a problem. Is this the case?

Also, are you a young patient? Many surgeons do not want to do fusions on a young individual. Sorry for all the questions, but the more we know about you, the better we may be able to direct you to a better decision or path to follow.
We are not Dr's here, and we will not tell you what to do, but we can suggest a better direction for you at best, and of course, we understand what you're going through, as we all suffer from CP here.

Also have you tried some of the other medications available to you out there? It appears to me that you are on a fairly low dose of meds at this time.

Now!....from only what other members have shared here about the stimulator and the pain pumps, I myself would rather have a pain pump. However; that is what the trials are for, and one or the other may be better suited for you. I would think this would be a last resort as well. Either one will require surgery, so please do keep that in mind.

One more little question....what was the surgery for in 2003? and what did they do? Again the more you can tell us about yourself, the better we can share our own personal experiences, and maybe help shed some light at what you may, expect from such procedures.

SE

Post Edited (Screaming Eagle) : 10/17/2010 12:04:47 PM (GMT-6)

Thanks for responding. You are correct the vetebrate is in bad shape too. I had 2 fusions on my neck in 2003 and I did well. But in 2009 I was hurting again so I went to Physical therapy and did great,until a month later and I had the wreck. I have never had back pain b4 this. I had neck pain and headaches so I have been on all the meds and I am a lot hesitant to up my dosage or change meds. I am 42 yrs young and my Dr. says that I wouldnt have had problems for probably another 20 yrs on the back problem but because I was hit from behind by a vehicle that was going 70 it has made all those joints go into premature degeneration due to severe impact.

Hi Tanya,

I'm sorry to hear of your struggles with pain, no doubt chronic pain is one of the toughest things that we have to face in life. But you have found a wonderful site here full of very knowledgeable, caring, compassionate people.

Like Frances, I too have an implanted neurostimulator, which I love very much. However, unlike Frances, and other members with SCS or PNS units, I did NOT have to undergo a psych eval prior to my trial, so I cannot provide you with any feedback in regards to that. As for the procedure itself, before having the permanent system implanted, you will have a trial -- a period of 3 to 7 days, in which you are fitted with a temporary, external system. If the trial is successful (generally, a 50% or greater reduction in pain is considered successful), then the temporary system is removed and permanent system is implanted in a second surgery. If you don't like the stimulator, or it doesn't help you, you don't have to go ahead with the permanent implant & the trial electrodes can be easily removed.

The purpose of a neurostimulator is to send out electrical impulses to the nerves that are responsible for your CP, essentially overloading them & thus interfering with the normal pain signals received the brain. Instead of feeling pain, you feel a tingling sensation (or a reduced amount of pain plus the tingling).

Because everyone feels/tolerates pain & other sensations differently, stimulators are highly personal experiences. In my opinion, you really can't use another person's experience to predict what your own will be (even if they have the same condition). Basically the only way to know for sure if a stimulator will help you, is to go through the trial.

There have been many threads here in the past regarding stimulators, and it may be worth doing a quick search & reading through some old threads.

As for pain pumps, I can't help you too much there, as I don't have one, or know much about them, but they are very different from stimulators in both form and function. We do have several members with pain pumps, and hopefully one or two of them will come along & give you some feedback. In the mean time, check out this link to a previous thread, in which one member with both a stimulator & a pump, compares the two (although do remember, that each person's experience is their own)

Here it is: www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=16&m=1841598

Hope this helps!

Oh, and by the way, my neurostimulator is not an SCS (spinal cord stimulator), it is a PNS (peripheral nerve stimulator). It is the same device, only my electrodes are implanted on nerves in my face, not my back (as my pain is in my eye/face) & my battery is located in my chest, instead of my lower abdomen/buttocks. My unit is a Medtronics Restore Ultra. I did not have a choice of companies (as Medtronics is the company my surgeon works with), but I am very pleased with their device & my Medtronics Rep. Although I've only had my unit a short while (since July), I have not had any problems & my rep has been fantastic about working with me to get the most out of my stimulator & is very knowledgeable & easy to contact in regards to questions, etc.

hugs,
Skeye

Post Edited (skeye) : 10/17/2010 8:53:37 PM (GMT-6)

Similarly, "Is a drug pump right for you?" www.medtronic.com/your-health/chronic-back-and-leg-pain/getting-a-device/drug-pumps/right-for-you/index.htm

Neurostimulation Therapy vs. Drug Delivery Therapy www.tamethepain.com/learn/how-therapies-work/index.htm

Skeye

Post Edited (skeye) : 10/17/2010 8:43:29 PM (GMT-6)

Also thanks for all the research and time and effort yall have done for me. Yall are sweet!!

Hi! I am a 29 year old female living in Michigan, and on Friday I get my trial stimulator. 8 weeks ago I was diagnosed with multiple chronic stress fractures in my left tibia. I have suffered stress fractures in that leg since 2001, during my time in the Marine Corps, and been able to manage the pain with just Motrin and stretching. This most recent episode forced me to go and see my PCP. She sent me for x-rays, lab work, vascular ultrasound, and an MRI. All the tests either were remarkable or had conflicting results, some saying fractures and some just showing soft tissue damage. In just a few short weeks, the pain has become so unbearable that it takes all that I have to work for 8 hours at a time. I am a Corrections Officer in my local county jail, and cannot show any weakness in front of the inmates, and also cannot take any narcotic pain medicine while on duty, so needless to say it is a very trying time. After 3 trips to the ER for severe pain, high does of Vicodin, Norco, and dilaudid my PCP referred me to a Pain Management doc. I was lucky to get in 4 days later, and after a 10 minute evaluation, he diagnosed me with RSD. We tried the sympathetic nerve blocks 3 days apart, and after 2 injections with no relief, we gave up and started prepping for the stimulator. So Friday is the big day, I am praying that this will relieve some pain so that I may get back to my life, and at least be able to enjoy time with my 5 year old son. I feel very lucky to have a pain doc who is willing to work as quickly as possible, and do whatever it takes to help my pain! Sadly throughout this whole ordeal, my family has basically turned their backs on me, telling me there is no way that I can be in the kind of pain that I describe. Three months ago, I was running 3 miles 2-3 times a week, weight lifting, and mountain biking, now I have trouble just getting out of bed. My family says that it is not possible for someone to go from being so active to having this kind of a problem. I am just looking for a little morale support, hoping that maybe someone out there has dealt with families who are doubting and non-supportive. Also, all of the forums that I read refer to the Medtronics stimulator, my doc is using the Boston Scientific Precision Plus™ SCS System, and I am curious whether anyone out there has this unit.

Thank you for your time

Hi Snel,

Welcome to HW! Best of luck with your trial Friday! The procedure for the insertion of the trial system is pretty simple. In my case they used light sedation (so I was asleep), but often they only use a local anesthetic to insert the trial electrodes (my case is a little different because my leads are in my face, not my back). The most annoying thing about the trial, is having the wires sticking out of you & having to carry around the external stimulator for the week. For me, I would have liked a little longer than a week to try it out (mostly because I got sick in the middle of my trial, so it screwed things up), but I was able to tell that it made enough of a difference in my pain for me to go ahead with the permanent implant. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the permanent system was even more effective in reducing my pain than the trial one, because I have much more settings & programs to play with.

Keep in mind that the stimulator will not take all your pain away. A 50% reduction in pain (which is what I experienced) is considered a successful trial & grounds for implantation. Your stim company's rep should be able to help you with any questions that you might have during the trial & will even meet with you if necessary to re-program your stimulator.

Best of luck to you! I sure hope you find the stim helpful!

hugs,
Skeye

WOW! What a day. I had an appointment with the PA this am and told her that I feel like the pain pump is the way I want to go. After much discussion and her telling me how proud of me she was for doing lots of research on this, she started me on ms contin 15mg along with my hydrocodone 10 and the flexerill 10 mg 3 times a day and the flector patch. I sailed through the psch exam and was cleared for the pump or the neurostimulator. So I see my PM on the 9th of Nov. The only thing holding me up right now is my decision of when to do it. I still have some money coming in from my underinsured motorist policy and my hubby and I felt like if I have a body lift it would help my back tremendously. I had gastric bypass and lost 100 pounds and have kept it off but I have no stomach muscles at all. Fat just hangs and anyone who has had 3 kids,a tubal,a hyesterectomy,gastric bypass and a bowel obstruction should understand what kind of flab I am talking about. So basically I need my settlement to go through quick, or I can finance it and get it done now, then do the pain pump b4 the end of the yr so I dont have to pay anything since I have met my out of pocket for the yr. Too bad they dont pay for cosmetic surgery on someone who could really benefit from it. I just want yall to know how much I appreciate your advice and all the incredible knowledge you all have.
Love to you all
Tanya

Hello Angie & welcome to the chronic pain forum. I have a pain pump & had to do the psych eval as they are required. I think as some one above mentioned it is to make sure you have a realistic approach as to what the unit will do & will not do for your pain. I also think this is a liability issue as well for these companies. This is strictly heresay, but I understand that back in the very early days there were lawsuits filed because the patients claimed no one told them the units would not take their pain completely away. There is no way either a pump or SCS unit can take the pain completely away.

I do believe that Boston Scientific requires the same psycho eval too. It is strictly to protect them. Is there a specific reason these tests are worrisome for you?

Also, Angie we ask all new members to make an intro post so that all members will see it & be able to give you a proper hello & welcome aboard. By posting on this old thread not many people will see it and some of these people that posted are no longer here at the forum.

Thanks....Susie