Has anyone had a abbot spinal cord stimulator put in?

I had the Abbott Eterna implanted in March of last year. It works great and helps manage my chronic back pain. Battery life is impressive and only requires charging every 6 or 8 weeks.

Thank you for your feedback! So glad it is helping you.

I have the Abbott Eterna. The Abbott Burst was implanted 2/23, but the battery was too big. 7/22, it was removed and the Eterna was implanted. It took five programs to find the correct setting to relieve the pain. I am happy with it.

I had the Abbot stimulator installed in February 2024.
Have not had good results on a daily basis. What is the average strength you set on your generator?

@mayran24 - I have my program strength set at 10, but I don't think you can compare across patients or implanted devices since there are so many variables. And you may still be recovering from the implant surgery.

It took me a few sessions with the device rep to get my settings right. He recommended increasing the program strength by only one number at a time and waiting several days to evaluate the impact on pain relief before increasing again. Apparently, many people increase the strength too quickly and overstimulate the nerves, which can cause irritation and more pain.

The other tip I can offer is to check your patient controller app from time to time to confirm nothing has changed. My device kept shutting itself off due to magnetic interference until the device rep disabled the magnet pairing function.

Thank you for your helpful advise. Did you have any physical therapy sessions after your implant?

No PT after the surgery. Just followed the activity restrictions for about 6 weeks and then resumed normal activities.

I had the Abbott Spinal Cord Stimulator System implanted and Mass. Gen'l two years ago. Nothing but problems, have been back to the hospital numerous occassions and it still does not work.
I have tried to contact the Abbott Representative in Maine on numerous occassions with no success. I would not recommend either this device nor this company. Just a bad investment.

I had an Abbott Burst stimulator implanted in 2017 for pain in my feet and ankles from CIDP. It was wonderful to have 80% pain relief for a year. Over the next 3 years it gradually reduced its effectiveness. I still have it in and turned on, but I can't feel any improvement at all by now. A tech suggested an option of extending the leads to reach closer to my feet but I haven't heard anything from him about it for many months. I'd have it removed, but I'm concerned that if they can't get the leads completely out it might interfere with having an MRI.

I've heard that stimulators have been more effective for things such as back pain, less so for extremities.

You'll have a trial that should give you an idea if or how much it will help.

Jim

I had an Abbott stimulator implanted about 8 weeks ago for severe leg nerve pain. I went through the trial implant and I got one day of relief from both back and leg pain before one of the leads came loose. I was very hopeful to have the permanent one implanted but unfortunately haven't gotten any relief. I wasn't told that it can take several programming visits to get it going. Unfortunately the rep that I have is a nice guy but has very poor response time. At one point they had me turn it off to see if the pain got worse without it. I didn't see a difference and went for two weeks without any communication as what to do next. I finally heard back from my rep and was told to turn it back on. I turned it back on but I can't increase the power as the rep has me locked out as I reached the limit he put on it until we speak again. The only problem is that I don't know when that will be. I have a tele visit with my pain doctor today and will discuss the issues I am having with my rep. I don't feel it is my job to constantly contact the rep for additional steps. Right now the stimulator is just sitting in back doing nothing. The worst part is I want relief from leg pain without living on pain meds. Like you I have had several back surgeries with a build up of scar tissue along with a pinched nerve after the opening at the bottom of the spine. I have decided to meet with a new surgeon who is up to date with less invasive surgeries and he sending me for an EMG to confirm what he feels is the nerve from my L4 which he says is so pinched. My last 3 surgeries were done the old way of making large incisions which leave a lot of scar tissue along with my back looking like I have a zipper running up my spine. I go for the EMG next week to see if it is my L4 nerve. If it is I am going to take a chance with another surgery hoping for a positive outcome. I tried all the nerve blocks, ablations and epidurals with no relief. I hope this rambling has helped. Just remember the treatments from your pain doctor are only temporary at best if they work at all. Please keep us posted of your decision.