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I had my pump implanted just over two years ago after a very successful trial by injection with Dilaudid. They started the pump at the lowest setting. I had numerous increases over the next year with no help. I decided to have the settings decreased so I could have the pump removed. However, I decided to reverse course on the advice of my pain doc. He said that where i had stopped wasn't all that high, so I am in the process of having the output increased again in hopes of getting the relief that I had gotten with the trial(8 down to a 2).
How much pain relief do you get from your pump> And, what drug is in your pump. Hope it continues to help you.
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I to have a pump with Morphine being the doctors choice. I had been on oral morphine for at least 10 years and being older wanted relief without worrying about addiction and stomach problems. I too have had many adjustments, but remain lower than the tabs I had taken. I think I really started doing much better when I realized that my back pain was being addressed, which is why I originally wanted this pump. I expected all body pains to being addressed, but that is not the case. It was installed so that the spinal cord is sprayed with the measured amount of morphine, and because the back pain is controlled through the spinal cord, and the pain center, it really helps. Other pain, not back, I handle with 600 mg Tylenol. I hope I didn't sound like I was trying to sound like an expert on these pumps, just trying to say, mine works beautifully.
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I have a Medtronic pump with Morphine. The pain clinic I go to you have to refill every 3 months. So, the first thing they do is drain the morphine left in the pump which is 50% of the total and then refill it with 20 whatevers and we start again. I know you fear addiction and don't want to increase it, but it's better than pain killers by mouth, where all you do is sleep. They don't give out targeted drug delivery to just anyone, so I suspect your pain is pretty bad. I've had about 4 or 5 bump ups since 2012 and I'm still in the low dose amount. I hope things get better for you.