going to a consult about getting a spinal cord stimulator

im nervous about it. i am just about to enter the consult phase. if the pain doc thinks i should have it i have to get cleared via a psych consult. if i am cleared then it is up to me.
im on the fence about it.

it would be nice to come off the oxycontin, roxicodone, and lyrica but i am super nervous about having this installed.

anyone have any experience with it

My husband just had the trial this week. He decided to go ahead with the implant.

The trial was a little scary with leads coming out his back. But he followed instructions carefully and it went really well.

It cut his pain quite a bit, from hydrocodone pain to tylenol pain.

Once they get it adjusted just right, he may not even need the tylenol.

They woke him up after putting in the leads and made adjustments, the technician was fantastic. After 3 days the tech made additional programming adjustments and decided that the leads needed to be lower to get the most relief for him.
So the leads will be put in lower and again they will wake him up on the table to ask if it is properly adjusted.

He had no pain during the "awake" times in surgery.

The leads came out and he started having pain again right away. Back to the old pain which let him know how much it really did help. Under the huge bandage which covered his entire back were 2 tiny puncture holes that looked like a vampire bite. No incision. However, he was told there will be an incision for the real thing.

He said when it was working it felt to him like a limb does when it falls asleep, a little numb and tingly. He said it doesn't hurt at all and is way better to deal with than the pain.

Hope this helps you.

a reply to: grandmakdw

thanks a lot.
i dont know too much about it save for the few articles i have read.

it sucks hurting all the time so there would have to be a real good reason not to get it.
just have to get the consults out of the way.


i can absolutely handle tylenol level pain cause what i have now sucks something awful

originally posted by: CardiffGiant
a reply to: grandmakdw

thanks a lot.
i dont know too much about it save for the few articles i have read.

it sucks hurting all the time so there would have to be a real good reason not to get it.
just have to get the consults out of the way.


i can absolutely handle tylenol level pain cause what i have now sucks something awful

That's what my husband said when he decided to go ahead with the trial. He was really nervous too about having wires up his spinal cord. But it turned out to decrease the pain quite a bit.

He did stay home during the whole trial, and the Doc gave him a brace to wear to help keep the leads in place. The brace and no shower or bath during the trial were the worst parts according to him.

He did have a little pain at the "vampire bites" but no more than you would from getting a little cut.

Today he is back on hydrocodone, waiting to hear when his surgery will be scheduled to get the implant. He took zero drugs during the trial so he could judge the pain. He said a time or two that a tylenol would be great, but none of the "I need something strong".

Hope that answers your questions.

a reply to: CardiffGiant

My dad was rear ended extremely bad over a decade ago. He suffered badly with multiple herniated and bulging discs. After many years of cortisone shots, traction, horrible pain killers, patches, fusing, the whole nine yards. This procedure was brought up to him about five years ago, and after over a year of battling with the insurance company they approved a "48 hour trial period". They put the leads in to the problem areas in the lower back and my dad said he's never felt so pain free in years and years. Unfortunately we all know how crappy insurance companies are, so they would not approve the correct procedure. However they approved the leads to a different area which did absolutely nothing. I hope you give this a try and I hope it can work for you. I just hope you are ready to get the run around from insurance companies. My dad does not have the stimulator because of how shady insurance companies are. He is in his early 40's and after walking a mile his legs shake from the pain. It kills me to see how much it has ruined his life. I used to play basketball with my dad growing up, he could dunk like shaq, swat like kemp, and run like mike. I'm trying to save up to give him another chance though. You just gotta have faith. Good luck with your venture and never give up!

I am 26 and a paraplegic as of 2010 from having one car smacking me into the path of a suv, snapping my spine in half at the t11-t12 area.

A naturopathic doctor who i was consulting with about some wound infections was telling me about this spinal cord stimulator he can try on me for my next treatment (did not go back to him, too expensive). He said that it can possibly revitalize the signals in your spinal cord, and get my lower body to maybe move a little. Maybe some sensation. I can be confusing the device he was talking about for this one though.

Thing is, that is a BIG no no for me. I have not treated my body well since my accident, and have been very clumsy and inattentive with my lower body. I have broken all of my toes from smashing them into steps, curbs and walls, wondering what is impeding my progress. Muscles and ankles in both ankles are both warped from feet getting caught in sidewalk cracks when rolling at high speed. Twisted the crap out of my legs several times without noticing when it slipped off of footrest and shoe was stuck on the pavement rocks while pushing forward. Broke my right femur in February when i didn't have my seatbelt buckled aboard ambulette van and idiot with his face glued to ipad crossed the street at the green and caused the driver to mash the brakes, sending me falling out of my chair with my right leg still bent under my 265+ body. Muscles and ligaments in ankle for that leg was destroyed also when my but sat squarely ontop of that foot. Doctors recommended no surgury done because it will be too much of a risk for my leg. My left knee has lost cartilage and ligament size from not exercising the knee joint.

If i am to ever walk again, i will need to fix all that first. I do get lower back pain, but not enough to take any meds for, yet. it comes sporadically, and goes away. But when it is there, it sucks bad.

I will get back to you tomorrow about this as I have one implanted for the past 7 years.

Kindest respects

Rodinus

Also look at "Bonati" and/or "Spine Center Research" in Flori-Duh.. Both My back and neck are broken and thus far no surgery is warranted. Luckily through meditation and yoga, I'm on a lower dose of Rx. meds than when I started 13 years ago and I was able to get rid of 5 Rx. meds from hypertension to PTSD..

Best of Luck

First of all, I consider myself an expert on chronic pain and back [problems. It all started with a massive exploding herniation at L4-L5 level for me. I had major back surgery in 1999. I never recovered from it because it done massive nerve damage. Since the first injury, or disease, I have lived with high levels of chronic pain and serious back problems. Soon after the first surgery, deterioration set in. More discs ruptured. More bulged.

I was sent to many, and I mean many "specialists". Every last one of them had different money-scam procedures that they wanted to do. At the time, I didn't know what the hell to do. All I knew was that I was in serious pain and was trying everything I could to get it under control. At first, I tried the injections, I tried physical therapy, -I tried it all. Nothing worked. At this point, I wouldn't take pain meds. I never would take any meds for anything.

Some specialists that I was sent to wanted to do fusion.
*I done a lot of research on it. I also talked with many people who've had it done(I think WV has more bad backs than any other state in the US). 99% of the people I talked to about fusion, said NOT to have it done. They didn't benefit from it at all. Only a couple people said it worked for them. I didn't like the odds I was seeing.

So next, I was sent to Cleveland Clinic. They wanted to insert rods and fuse from L-2 down to S-1. It would be a brutal surgery and many months to recover. That's even if, I survived the surgery. I done my research, and again, came up with the same, sad results. No way was I taking this risk, only to come out no better, or worse.

Then, that's when I don'e all the facet-bloc injections, acupuncture, etc., etc.. This only gave temporary relief, and sometimes did nothing at all.

So then, I started taking pain meds. A tens unit became my best friend. I was using gallons of muscle rub(equate version of Ben Gay--it works). But the pain meds that I was started on was mild and only provided a little relief. It wasn't working, but I remained on it for a few years. At this point, I was exhausted and felt hopeless.

So then, I was sent for a consult to a doc who does electrical stim implants into the spine. I never liked the idea of having a foreign object planted into my body because the body will never accept it. I did do much research on stim implants and found that not many who I talked to, who had it done, had relief from pain. This doc came off as a business man. This was his product, and he was pushing it hard. I decided not to have it done and am glad that I didn't after hearing many testimonials on the internet about it. The doc seemed mad that I wouldn't have it done.

Not long after this, I was sent to a doc to talk about a pain-pump. Essentially, it is a pump that is put inside your body and it distributes a very dangerous pain drug. I knew right away that my decision was a 'NO', but I still did my research. This was about the time when many of these pumps malfunctioned and OD'd the patients and killed them. I thought that maybe the gov was trying to get rid of the wounded leeches since they had no use for them any more. It was a no from me.

I had another back surgery this time last year. L3-L4 exploded and cut my spinal chord and damaged more nerves. The neuroscience team at Saint Marys told me straight up that there wasn't anything that I could do. They said that I was not a candidate for fusion and they were glad that I never had it done. They said that all they can do is work on the problems that will arise. So, in other words, I am screwed. I live with chronic pain. I have good days and I have bad. If you saw me out on the street, you would never know that I have a bad back. I hide it well. But there are days when I can barely walk.

I still cut the grass, do all the other stuff that needs done. And I pay for it every time, but I refuse to lie down and die. I constantly have muscles straining/spraining in my back. I just take it day by day. There is no easy way out.

My advice to you is: Do your research. Talk to as many people as you can who've had the procedure done. The way to do this is to go to a doc's office who does this particular procedure and sit down and start talking to the patients who fill up and swamp the waiting room. Then, do more research. This is a serious procedure. You need to determine if the benefits will be worth the risks. *Make sure that you make your decision with a clear mind.

a reply to: Fylgje

im trying to research... i had a spinal fusion done 16 years ago. when i had it done it was a cutting edge procedure. i had a consult at the cleveland clinic as well. they did the fusion through my belly. i have a cadaver bone and a piece of bone from my hip fused to a titanium disc. i did get relief from it.

this consult is not because of back pain. i have crps in my hand. thats why my doc suggested this. 19 months ago i had an accident and lost a my ring finger and tore up my middle finger.

now i have extreme pain all the time.

along with the meds i mentioned i also have this cream. i had to have it made up from some place in georgia and sent here because they compounded it. it has ketamine in it. its topical...

after all the meds and the cream im still in pain.

i will research some more and try to talk to some people.

thing is i trust my doctor. i have known her for more than 10 years as i saw her back then for another issue.
i have been to a lot of doctors in my life. i know that some of them are med pushers and dont always have the best interest of the patient in mind. the doc i have now is not like that and i trust her 100%

the only reason i am even thinking about the surgery is because she suggested it to me. had it been another doctor i probably would have shut down the idea right away

I can tell you for sure my husbands doctor never mentioned it to him as an option.

We did a lot of research. They started doing these 20 years ago and now have an 80% success rate.
Best of all, unlike spinal operations, if it doesn't work for you, it can be "undone".

My husband brought it up to his pain doc, who said yes, he does them and that my husband would be a perfect candidate.

We are so glad he is getting it in, today he had a lot of pain and can really tell the difference of having/versus not having the stimulator. We are more than ready to get the whole thing permanently implanted.

If you go on the internet, remember, the people it didn't work for are the loudest complainers, and the ones it worked for are happy and don't always go around talking about it. We had to search it out and once we found out about it ask the Doctor to get it done.

Hi CG.

Sorry for the late reply.

I had a couple of back problems about 10 years ago that led to a first op for slipped disks in the lower lombar region which followed up with extreme pain unabling me to walk correctly.

After doing the whole course of pain medication which nearly buggered up my liver, I ended up going to see a specialised "pain" doctor who prescribed having a neuro stimulator implanted.

All I can say is that since I have this stimulator implanted my life has completely changed as no more pain whatsoever...

The first hint of pain and all I have to do is just flick a switch and the whole lower half of my body just tingles away "Tingle" is the only word I can describe...

If your Psy and pain doc reckons that you deserve it then go for it mate...

Many GPs think that pain is psychosomatic, but they can believe what they want... pain is a real thing and can cause such misery and can handicap your whole life as well as those around you...

My personal advice is just go for it...

Normally I should be having mine taken out next year as time and patience has given my body the chance to heal itself...

Kindest respects

Rodinus

a reply to: Rodinus

how does it charge?
do you have to have some sort of battery pack on you at all times?
do you have to have ongoing visits for adjustments or anything like that?

i go see my pain doc tomorrow and thats when i am going to get my appt for the consult. it took a while to get it approved through comp

originally posted by: CardiffGiant
a reply to: Rodinus

how does it charge?
do you have to have some sort of battery pack on you at all times?
do you have to have ongoing visits for adjustments or anything like that?

i go see my pain doc tomorrow and thats when i am going to get my appt for the consult. it took a while to get it approved through comp

Charging is not a problem as the stimulator has an internal battery and lasts between 5 to 10 years fully charged depending on how much you use it.

A couple of visits right at the very beginning to adjust things (this was all done by remote control)

Erm... extra information... orgasms are multiplied by at least 3 when you have the stimulator switched on... *cough cough*

Kindest respects

Rodinus

originally posted by: Rodinus


Charging is not a problem as the stimulator has an internal battery and lasts between 5 to 10 years fully charged depending on how much you use it.

A couple of visits right at the very beginning to adjust things (this was all done by remote control)

Erm... extra information... orgasms are multiplied by at least 3 when you have the stimulator switched on... *cough cough*

Kindest respects

Rodinus

the extra info is a super plus. i wonder if the placement of the leads have anything to do with it.

im still confused at how these are set up.
are there wires coming out of your back that attach to some sort of control box?

can you just give me a rundown on how it works?
thanks

a reply to: CardiffGiant
The neurostimulaor is implanted either in the abdomen (subcutaneous) or in the higher part of one of you bum cheeks under general anesthesia, wiring will be done at the same time or a couple of days after in order to get them located next to your spinal cord. Additional last minute verification of wire set up will be performed under Xray and local anesthesia.

No wires or bits and bobs sticking out of your body to worry about.

Kindest respects

Rodinus

went to my doc today...
i made an appt with the doc that will be doing the implant.
i go see him october 21t. from there i have to do the psych consult and then its onto the trial.
trial lasts about 5-7 days and then its full implant.

my doc gave me a big info packet with a dvd so im going to check that out.

after thinking about it some more and doing a bit more research i am leaning towards getting it. seems like its worth the risk. if this thing can get me off the meds that will be good.

originally posted by: Rodinus


Erm... extra information... orgasms are multiplied by at least 3 when you have the stimulator switched on... *cough cough*

Kindest respects

Rodinus

I showed your post to my husband, he is excited! Ha ha

Says we should check and see if you are right after it's put in permanently.