Pain Pumps

Everything I read on this site is from 2008. Are there any current members that have any brand of pain pump? Please let em know before I start writing about my experience without anyone who can relate. Thanks

I'm not a regular poster these days, but just noticed your message...I've had an intrathecal pump (baclofen & morphine for me) since 2008.

Had the Medtronic pump put in 2010, only getting about 50% relief of pain and still need oral meds daily. Bad choice for me, especially after hearing about all the recalls a year AFTER my pump was implanted. The pump trial was great, one shot of morphine into my spine and I couldn't get the pump implanted fast enough. What wasn't explained to me was that the slowwwwww drip I would get 24/7 from the pump was nothing like the trial injection.
So 4 years in and I'm not happy at all. Tell me pro's and con's on the Codman. BTW my pump had Morphine the 1st year and since it has been Dilaudid, Bubificaine, and Clonadine mixed. Doc want's to go to methadone next, but I'm hesitant. Thanks for reading

Gmed, it sounds like perhaps the dosages of the meds in your pump are not strong enough. That is a problem with a lot of these pump drs is they are not educated enough about the medication & dosages in these pumps. My first pump dr told me how much better my pain would be managed with a pump. Well, he lied, one year later I was no better off with the pump than before. It was horrible & I finally got mad one day & when I saw him for an appt I told him I wanted it out & I told him why I wanted it out. I told him he had lied to me about the pump & that nothing had changed. He had stopped the increases in the pump months before & I told him I was not going to live this way. He started increasing my pump again, little by little. Then he decided to go back into anesthesiology & that was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. He referred me & 45 other patients to another pump dr..

She was my saving grace believe me. She could not believe the shape we patients were in, she said not only was our pain not managed but as chronic pain patients we were extremely under treated. She made major changes in my pump over several months & got me back to a decent functioning level. Out of 46 of his patients, 45 had to have big changes in their pumps. I treated with her for 4 years & then last December she retired & it just made me sick. It is difficult getting another dr to take over a pump patient but she found drs for us.

I have Dilaudid & Clonodine in my pump. The new dr took out the Fentanyl & Sufentanil. He has left my dose alone but every month he clucks his tongue & shakes his head at the dose I am on. He makes comments about how expensive Dilaudid is especially at such a high dose. My comeback is, as a result of this dose I now have a life where before I did not. I keep my fingers crossed that he does not mess with the dose.

This new dr hates the Codman pumps because they are not computerized. Medtronics pumps are & if a person needs a change in their pump all they have to do is use the magnet & the change is made. With a Codman they have to pull all of the drugs out of the pump to make any kind of a change. Codmans do not have a battery either, they run off of a gas within the unit. My prior dr put Codmans in all of her patients that were stable & had been stable for at least a year, meaning not having to increase the dosage of the pump. With your pain not managed a Codman would not be a good choice for you.

Do you have a PTM so you can give yourself a bolus? I know not all drs let their patients use these devices but they should because they come with the pumps these days.

They normally do not set the flow rate high because that is what uses up the life of the battery. I can tell you honestly, the success of the pump all depends on the dr that is managing it. If that dr is not educated about the drugs used in them & the dosages then things will not go well for that pump patient. What mg is your medication in your pump? My Dilaudid is 37.5mg & I get less than 5mg in 24 hours. Now you know why these drs roll their eyes when they see that dose, that is a lot. The dr that implanted the Codman for my dr, clucked his tongue & shook his head on my dose. That dr & his partner have over 300 pump patients they manage.

I will be honest, I have not heard of Methadone being used in the pumps, that is a first for me. I do not blame you for not wanting it in a pump & I think I would do some research on this, not just any drug can be used in pumps.

My Medtronics pump had 3 recalls on it. However, my pump always seem to be working fine. How they know if the pump is working correctly or not is when they refill your pump they measure how much medication is still in the pump. You should always have some left in there, if you have too much or too little repeatedly that would be an indicator of a problem with the pump. Also, when they recall a certain model number it doesn't always apply to every pump with that model number.

I am sorry that you are having such a miserable time.

Hi Lisallyn & welcome to the forum. We've has some members post here over the years about different codes popping up.

How many days in between refills does your pump last? Your medication will last depending on the flow rate that it is set, plus how ever many bolus' you are allowed per day.

When you get your pump refilled do you request a printout that shows the medication & the dosage, if not you should. You should always carry a current copy of this with you at all times in the event of something happening to you.

I've contacted Medtronic when I have had a code come up & they would tell me what it meant. Some drs do not know what the codes mean, this is why I called Medtronic.

Perhaps you may want to consider finding a different dr to maintain your pump.

Take care.