Pain Management Community

Thaks for the response, from what i just read on St. Jude's Eon Mini & Regular Eon Rechargable's, the batteries last around 10 years, and on high frequency all the time require recharging about every 6 days for approx 3 hours to charge which is absoulutely great in my mind. I guess i just want something that will really reduce my pain. But everyone is different. Lots of mixed reviews here, some help, some dont.

i think the trial is definitely in my future though!

Thanks for your input!

I've had discectomy surgery, which helped briefly. I also had a number of epidural injections and injections of saline in my disks. I was going to a pain specialist for about 3 years while he did everything he could to prevent me from having to have surgery. I was taking Vicodin, which helped, but was difficult for me to take because I did a lot of driving. I also did physical therapy, and the water therapy really helped a lot. I was also using a TENS machine, which helped for awhile, but then lost effectiveness. Finally, my doctor told me that he regretted it very much, but that I was probably going to have to have back surgery to fuse my the lumbar area disks/vertabrae. I consulted a spine surgeon with a good reputation, and he looked at my records, did another set of x-rays, and then showed me what had to be done. It's been awhile (I think 4 years now (?) but he had to put wires in my spine and then fused the area by filling in the wire "boxes" with bone material. I'm not sure whether it was successful or not. I know that sounds strange, but medications caused me to put on a lot of weight, I came down with some infection in the hospital that caused them to come and draw blood every a.m. around 4:00 a.m. while I was in the rehabilitation department. I suppose there was some success, because when I look back on how I was so immobile before the surgery, compared to now, there is some improvement. But the surgery did have its problems: I had to have transfusion of 2 units of blood, which took an entire day. In the rehabilitation unit, they ran it like a real "boot camp". I was exhausted most of the time! But they changed my medication. The hospital I was at was in the process of developing its own specialty pain center. The doctor in charge spoke with my pain specialist, and they coordinated my pain meds. They put me on Soma, because I was have horrible spasms; I also was given both morphine sulfate immediate release, and morphine sulfate sustained release. These were not very high doses, but once I finally was discharged (after 15 days!) I was on the oral meds, along with a muscle relaxant. But now, I'm considering a spinal cord stimulator. I did a "trial run" of four days, where they implanted the wires in my spine, and had the battery (described as being the size of an Oreo cookie, which is pretty accurate) in a little flannel "purse" held around my waist with an elastic and velcro strip. It also had a remote control with programmable modalities. Now, I'm considering having the permanent unit put into my back, with the battery beneath the skin below my waist. My main concern was that during the trial, one of the wires in my spine "slipped" and changed location. If I'm going to do something like this, I don't want there to be any problems. I wish you the best of luck, Jonathan, and hope whatever your choices, that you get relief from your pain so you can "get on with your life".

I had 3 surgeries and after the last one, I've had no further pain and I take no drugs. The Doctor that did my last surgery is in Las Vegas on 6th St. I don't have his name right now but I'll look it up. This Doctor is marvelous and I know that most of his patients are extremely happy. The two prior surgeries were horrible. I was in constant pain and had to be in a hot bathtub at least 5 hours a day. Cordially

Please give the stimulator more time. Mine has been in for 2.5 yrs. I have one that is rechargeable and I do it approx every 6 weeks. It is a medtronic also and I have 3 different programs to switch to. You can change the rate also. It is not unusual for me to turn rate and frequency up to the point that my legs don't feel a part of me, maybe for 15 min., then I turn it off. It is amazing as my pain will be almost gone. There is a lerning curve, get back with the stimulator representive. Mine is an Rn and adjusted me several times. This is something they have to do. I now take an ocassional lortab and muscle relaxer. Still on neurotin 2 times daily. I have reduced my intake of meds by at least 60% or more.

Hey Johnathan, I have a similar story though mine is injury related. I have been through 4 Lumbar Spinal Fusions and have a SCS. You should go through the least invasive surgery as possible ie Microdisk and Laminotomy. The reason being is once you fuse you cant go back. My 4th fusion was for disk failure above the fusion which is the most common reason for repeat surgery and believe me it gets harder every time. I also have a SCS. which treated a persistant S1 generated Lateral leg pain. It really helped. Narcotics are not the root of all evil if you take them as prescribed and they help you live your life. Try Cymbalta if you havent tried it yet, and it is worth taking a pain management course on how to deal w/ pain. Avoid getting Obese, believe me i know its easier said than done but the more overweight you get, the more you will suffer, everything becomes more hazardous especially surgery if your obese. Finally, keep walking, stretching and working on core strength, the stronger you are going into surgery, the stronger you will be coming out. Let me know if I can be of further assistance and good luck to you. I am sorry that you are going through daily pain, it really sucks and thats a fact.

Hi CT Beth, did you get a Medtronics unit? I have a rechargable unit and it was fantastic for my S1 radic. I now unfortunately have terrible SI pain, thats what I get for 4 levels fused. I am considering Radiofreq ablation vs the new Minimally invasive SI Joint fusion system. I am worried about the work impact though. R U a rad tech? just wondering where CT came from. I am a PA and love it. I just wanted to say Hi and tell you that your advice in your previous posts were excellent, You would make a good PA. Happy Holidays, Dave

I have suffered from back, neck and leg pain from injuries from an automobile accident 30 years ago. I get such strong pain in my neck it makes me vomit. In the past year in addition to taking Percocet. Motrin 800 and Lyrica my Dr. prescribed Fentora which helps manage my neck pain to the point that I only vomit a few times a month instead of every few days.

The success rate for SCS is about 40% for patients with prior spine surgery and about 50-60% for those who have never had spine surgery (http://www.painphysicianjournal.com/2009/july/2009;12;699-802.pdf ). The Intrathecal Infusion Pump has a similar record of success (perhaps "failure" is a more approrpiate term).

Note that you can try out the SCS with a "trial unit" worn outside the body, with leads that penetrate to the nerve roots first. If it helps, then you can consider having the permament unit surgically implanted. The trial unit makes a great deal of sense, since surgery is required to implant and to remove the SCS; and all surgery entails morbidity. The risks are not particularly severe, but the benefits are not typically great, either.

The SCS and the Intrathecal Infusion Pump are considered last resort options for people who have tried all major options and who cannot obtain benefit from pain medication, or for those who experience very severe reactions to pain medication.

Spine surgery has a similar success rate (read the article in the above paragraph for significant detail). Despite years of siginifcant advances in medicine, spine surgery ranks as a poor option. I've had four failed spine surgeries and I wish that I had never started down that path. Now, I have chronic pain from degenerative disc disease, plus advanced osteoarthritis and significant, dense fibrosis resulting from the failed surgical procedures, including multiple discectomies and multilevel fusion.

I had back surgery and was in more pain afterwards than before the surgery. I have the SCS and it take 50 - 60 percent of the pain away. I still take pain meds but not near what I did take. Best of luck to you.

I think the only thing you can't have after having SCS is a MRI which you definately can't have afterwards.

I forgot to add that I have the Medtronics unit. It's supposed to be good for up to nine years if I don't let the battery go dead three times. They said if I let the battery go dead three times, it would have to be replaced. I was also on Lyerica which I'm off of with the SCS. I take less than half the pain meds that I took before the SCS. I usually top my battery off every few days or so. It doesn't take long to re-charge it. I don't think I could ever deal with the pain I had before the SCS. You definately will never be able to have a MRI after getting the SCS.

I have had my SCS for 4 months now and I'm still not satisfied with the surgeon, the unit or the programmer. My battery shifted and ended up on my spine. I have enough pain with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. In short, that is Nerve Dystrophy; comparable to Muscular Dystrophy. The SCS is supposed to help with the pain but won't stop the symptoms nor advancement of the disease. So within 2 months of placement, the battery had moved and the doctor argued that was where he had put it. It was also up against my skin, no cushioning. This is not a St. Jude's type. After 2 more months, I told him to either move the battery or remove the stimulator. He moved it 3 weeks ago. I had a different programmer who came in during surgery and changed my setup. Now it's all messed up and I can't control it with my remote. So my pain level is screaming high, my attitude and mood is low, and I'm tired of going to the doctor's office. My SCS is not working right and I may have infection starting in the incision. I would suggest that anyone considering this surgery to do a trial (mine was only 3 days) and most importantly... talk to others in your area. Turns out he wasn't the only surgeon who could have done it.

My Dr just told me on Friday that he uses Medtronix and St. Judes. He wants to impalnt one into my L3 for RSD. I do know the pain you speak of, it is almost unbearable. But I just wanted to say that there is indeed a St.Judes types of SCS. I've actually heard it was one of the best out there.

Hi Dave,
I hadn't been online for a few days.

I have a St Judes's unit and it is not re-chargeable. I also have 5 levels fused and get pretty good coverage. The battery died a few days ago and I am miserable right now. St Jude's crunched the numbers for me as I require annual battery changes. It was determined that I'd have to recharge 1-2 times per day at my level settings, so I opted for the non-rechargeable. Sadly, the battery must be 100% DEAD before my insurance company will not authorize the surgical battery change. The rationale is that these are considered 5-7 yr batteries, so..

I live in a historic town to the north of New Haven.

Thank you for the kind compliment; I am an RN.

Tell me what the recharging procedure is like, although I know I probably will not go for it, but I'd like to know. This time with my battery dead is tremendously horrible.

Happy Holiday,
Beth

and airports are a pain in the ass.