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Had pain pump implanted. No relief. Anyone have similar experience?
After virtually every med, procedure I could imagine to ease the pain in my lower back, buttocks, and feet after a ski fall 7 years ago, I finally had the Medtronics pain pump implanted in April of 2023. After more adjustments than I can remember, there is still no pain relief. I am going back in a week to see about having another med added to the hydromorphone (morphine did not work during the trial. I had 80% pain reduction with hydromprphone). The pain pump is supposed to have a success rate of 94%. Anyone else out there have a similar experience?
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@heisenberg34 How was the pump implanted as an outpatient or with a hospital stay ?
@rwdixon4 The trial was done as an injection in the doctor's office. The permanent implant was done in the hospital by a neurosurgeon.
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1 Reaction@heisenberg34 did you go home the same day ?
@rwdixon4 After an hour or so, I went home. It wasn’t too bad.
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2 ReactionsBe careful. I had the complication of arachnoiditis due to my Medtronic pain pump. It is an inflammatory disease of the lining of the spine. There is no treatment and it is progressive.
@melby6069 ----so sorry to hear that....your post over a year ago i hope relief was found since then....i am going in for trial for pain pump October 29, 2025....i am paraplegic with both legs amputated.....i have herniated disc in neck and not sure what level........i have phantom pain from amputations.....and last week after that electrical test they do...now i have severe carpel tunnel in both arms and wrists and hands that cramp and cannot close hands....my hips are pretty much frozen and my hips hurt a lot.....i have also both rotator cuff tendons in both shoulders full-width tears ( torn and separated tendons that are inoperable )....they had me for years on Suboxone for chronic pain....biggest mistake ever....the affinity rate or half life of this wicked drug can take up to a year to get off of...and puts strangle hold on Mu opiate receptors so i went `15 years ago from like 4-6 Norco a day....to a minimum of 150 mg of both Oxycontin and instant release Oxycodone....and that is not enough....i dont drug seek and i do not get a Eurphoric feeling from these meds....it will be useless if they start lowest med level to begin journey on pain pump...i get so depressed because even 150 mg of Oxy is not effective...but because of new laws....their doctor oath of "do no harm"....should be changed to do no harm to thy medical license....sorry if i sounded negative....i am very depressed
@butlerr Wow! Compared to you, I have little to complain about. Very sorry to learn of your ongoing issues. I truly hope and pray that a pain pump will give you some relief. Let me just add...make sure that during your trial(it will likely be by injection, but it might be a temporary pump worn on the outside), if they start with morphine, and it does not provide much relief, be sure to ask that they use hydromorphone in a second trial. It is about 5X as powerful as morphine(right?!). My initial trial with morphine did nothing. The second trial, about two weeks later, dropped my pain from about a 7 down to a 2. It was great. Here I am, more than two years later still fiddling around with my pump. It was increased a number of times with no help. So, last year I got fed up and was going to have it removed. But, I soldiered on and am in the process of having it increased again. I had ONE DAY of good pain relief last month. So, back to having it increased again. The point is, don't give up. It may take quite an output from the pump to give you any relief. Check on this blog for other posts from fellow pump users. A number of them are on a really high output. I am praying that the pump with give you pain relief s well. You deserve it. God really does love you and wants what's best for you.
Guys. Pain control is no longer offered by doctors. I even had one tell me that. My pain has been uncontrolled for two years. Yes, the meager 40mg per day for two years is not enough to keep me out of the ER. Been using kratom @ $2.50 per dose. They want to ban that. THEY ARE PUSHING US INTO STEET DRUGS!
@maricopajoe2 I hear you…loud and clear! I leave my PM doc’s office with the same pain I came in with. It’s been going on like this for two years as well. And, now my pain is getting worse but no help from him. I wish there was a way those of us in severe pain could do in order to give us some help. I wish you well.
@cbrackle Duragesic (fentanyl) transdermal patch, 50 mcg/hour is a game changer friend, but good luck finding a doc to prescribe it. Used it for twenty years, life was great, minimal pain...