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Use of the fentanyl dermal patch.
Chronic Pain | Last Active: 2 days ago | Replies (54)Comment receiving replies
any information about pain pump for SEVERE adhesive arachnoiditis? Pain management is a farce. I am fused from C3 thru my sacrum. was paralyzed with MRSA meningitis Have tethered cord in C6 & sacral. Have permanent supra pubic catheter, from paralysis So drug resistant, i have to go on IV antibiotics for UTI's Can't do most of DR Tennant's recommendations. Can't get a decent specialist for treatment. Severe shortage of specialists in Phoenix area. Finally got a neurology appointment....said no treatment except steroids. He gave me several Medrol dose packs & valium Was doing ok for a long while, but now pain, severe disability, can't sleep. can hardly walk with a walker. I do use 5 lb weights & do squats (when i can) Have evaluation next week for pain pump. No one wants to treat me, which i understand. Now experiencing severe depression & hopelessness. Don't really want the pump, but don't see any alternatives. Does anybody get relief with the pump? DEA controls oral meds so severely, i don't see any other options. I'm basically bed ridden for 20 hours a day
Replies to "any information about pain pump for SEVERE adhesive arachnoiditis? Pain management is a farce. I am..."
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Ive had a pump for about ten years. I've seen some improvement from its use but nothing like we hoped. In my case the pump seems to help with the body nerve pain but not enough. I don't ask for increases as my all the time head pain with frequent stabbing seems to worsen whenever we increase the pump dosage.
I am on my 2nd as they need to be replaced every 7yrs. The initial installation wasn't as traumatic as I feared. The replacement had some extra nerve pain but only was significantly higher than my normal issues for about a entire day. So, far less of a pain increase issue than I'd imagined.
The medicine inside the pump MUST be replaced on a regular basis, in my case every 4 wks. It can be increased, decreased, and even mixed with others, like nausea medicine. I've probably had the cocktail in mine swapped completely twice. So, once implanted there is still some flexibility.
The negatives, 1) I cannot miss an appointment. Too long of a delay will now cause my body to loudly beep (though, I've yet to experience this). 2) Any change in medicine takes at least a full month to do anything about. So trying something different that is less effective leads to at least a worse month, or longer If I don't contact the office with enough time prior to my appointment to order the original cocktail. 3) Tests like MRIs become much more difficult to get approved and scheduled. Even with 3 specialist and a GP all wanting it done doing so took 2.5yrs. A portion of which was a tech who "knew better" than my surgeon and insurance about IF an MRI was even possible. (finally had it done, the pump automatically shuts down, it was very painful and MRI showed nothing...) 4) Insurance changes are absolutely to be feared. Ive possibly had God on my side, so far, through several changes. Original Dr was dropped from our insurance but another good Dr in the same practice is still listed, etc. so could even be seen by both. I don't look forward to trying to find a different practice if this one is dropped.