Pain pump trial success!

Hello Chelet, I was wondering how your trial went. I have to ask, are you sensitive to Morphine, if so, why in the world did the dr use Morphine for the trial? I mean there are other meds he could have used.

I know most PM drs like to use Morphine in the pumps, mainly because its cheap. If Morphine is a problem for you make sure with the dr before agreeing to it being implanted that he will use a different medication. I have Dilaudid in mine & according to my dr its expensive. These drs use an outside pharmacy that knows how to mix compounds. Where my expense comes is the markup my PM dr bills Medicare. I am talking a hugely padded bill & he has to be flagged by every private insurance out there. Medicare has a set amount they will pay & they pay nothing more regardless of what he bills them.

Now that the trial is out of the way he should resume your pain medication & I would certainly keep after him about it. There is no reason to withhold meds until the implant time.

It would probably be best to let your drs office handle the insurance about getting you approved. They will need to provide documentation about your trial & then his recommendation for implant. Many times the drs think the problem lies with the insurance company when its his staff dragging their feet doing their job.

Keep us posted.

Chelet, I do hope your dr explained that once you do get your pump put in that you will probably be on a lower dose of meds in the pump than you took orally. The reason for this is the medications used in the pumps is in concentrated form, much stronger. It has taken less than a week both times for me to be approved to have a pump implanted. I would keep after whoever gets this done in his office. Take care.

Thanks for sharing CheleL! I am having a neuro-stim trial on Friday, which will help my pelvic pain but not everything else. If that doesn't work, my next option is the pain pump. I'm curious, besides the itching did you have any other side effects? Did the meds make you feel funny or weird at all, or did you feel normal?

Anyway, happy to hear that you were approved and that this helped you!

Louise

I too would like to hear how your pain pump goes as I think it may be an option for me. How was they trial? Was the trial surgery painful? Best wishes for you.

The itching was the only side effect I experienced. You can have a side effect which affects your bladder. So I had to pee before I left the hospital.

Honestly, I couldn't say with 100% accuracy if it worked right away. The anesthesia made me a little loopy. about an hour and a half when it wore off I knew that the morphine completely controlled my pain. I didn't feel strange or "high". I felt normal.

I know that we will starting at a low dose but I have hope that this is the answer for me. I'm 44 and my DDD is rapidly progressing. This is the long term pain mgmt choice for me.

I haven't been on pain meds since March. My doctor wanted my system clean before the trial. He wanted it to remain clean until my surgery July 10, so I'm still without pain meds. Many, many tough days but I'm a warrior.

I had a stim too and it worked for a couple of years. Let me know how your surgery goes!