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Anyone had an Abbott SCS put in? BurstDR strength setting?
Spine Health | Last Active: Oct 8, 2023 | Replies (81)Comment receiving replies
Well I got the Abbott implant in 4 weeks ago. They only gave me 2 settings, one with a burst and one with tonic. Here is my positive and negatives.
1. I believe I am getting results mostly helping my leg pain. I can say before the implant when the leg pain came it was terrible, that has subsided.
2. My lower back and butt pain comes and goes but not as bad as it was before surgery, so that is a slight positive. Maybe I am to close out from the surgery and have given it enough time, not sure.
3. Here are some negatives
A. They did not tell me before surgery that I was not getting a rechargeable battery. Everything I read was about the rechargeable battery but after surgery they told me the battery can last 5 years or less depending on how I use it, that was a disappointment for me.
B. The rep set only 2 settings and gave me very little education on how to navigate the settings, just told me not to set it to high, well I found out what was to high when I put it on the tonic setting at about 35 or so and went to the store and the back of my leg was on fire. I had to turn it farely high to feel it and boy I felt it.
3. Another negative is the connection to the generator is extremely slow and most often takes two tries to find connection. I tried it on my iphone and lost all connection and so I had the rep put it on the phone they gave me, still connection is a turtle.
4. Here was my instructions for follow up after my second post opt.” Call us if you have any issues “ Wouldn’t you think that a company would follow the people who purchased a critical medical device like this. I liked my rep a lot but not sure if that is Abbotts policy or not but that does not seem right to me that the pain clinic/ Abbott would not at least have scheduled follow ups, even yearly would be better than none.
Time will tell if this was worth the pain of surgery and 6 weeks of basically doing no bending, lifting, twisting. My question is, how do you not do some of those things, unless you have someone do everything for you.
I really am a bit upset that they did not give me a choice of the type of battery, I don’t relish going back in to have surgery to replace a battery.
Replies to "Well I got the Abbott implant in 4 weeks ago. They only gave me 2 settings,..."
Your last statement regarding the choice of battery is the fault of the doctor and the rep. For you to go back in to have it replaced after suffering through the pain and inconvenience without flexibility is tough. I had the Burst replaced due to the size of it. It extended out from my lower slight frame, with people coming up to me and asking what this was sticking out. I had it replaced five months later with the Eterna. (I can't recall if it was the other way around, Eterna then Burst?; I had mine removed in March after discovering the unit was off for three weeks without my knowledge)
The replaced Unit was tough to recharge. I would spend countless time finding the "sweet spot" to charge it.
I knew about The Abbott SCS since 2018, but wasn't ready to try it. There are still bugs in it to have it a success.
I agree with everything you said. The rep kept texting to see if I wanted the implant. After receiving my permanent implant , no word from my rep. I had to keep calling and texting her for questions about settings etc. I wasn’t aware that it would take so long to heal from the surgery. I’m still not sure my setting is the best. When I do get ahold of the rep she tells me I’m still healing from the surgery.
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@smithki - sorry you didn't get the battery you preferred. This should have been agreed with your doctor before the surgery. If it is any consolation, surgery for battery replacement is less invasive and the recovery will be quicker than for the full system implantation. And you don't have to deal with recharging in the meantime, which some people find tedious and time consuming. Any follow up visits are typically with your physician. The Abbott rep is there for you when you have programming needs or device connection issues.
Setting the optimal strength level for Burst stimulation can be challenging since there isn't a lot of feedback. With tonic stimulation, I usually set the strength just below the point where I feel the stimulation. I prefer tonic and use it 100% of the time. The only downside is it uses more energy, so I have to charge more frequently. I don't know if this would also impact battery life for a non-rechargeable.
I agree the discharge instructions and activity limitations are difficult. I wasn't sure what no bending, twisting, or reaching really meant so I had my rep demonstrate what was okay and what wasn't okay, which was very helpful. I was able to do more during my recovery period than I initially thought.