Intrathecal Pain Pump

Hope many of you fellow pain pump commenters are still active on this site. I have an important question. Have you at any point experienced nausea and bouts of throwing up with your pain pump? After my trials, one with morphine and one with Dilaudid, I had violent bouts of throwing up later each evening. Now, two and a half years later, I have an occasional episode of throwing up during the day. Out of the blue I feel nauseous and have to immediately rush off to the bathroom. It began after I began having the pump's output increased to the point where I am now at 2.27 mg/daily, but no pain relief yet. I well appreciate any thoughts of experiences.

Has anyone had a medial nerve blocks? I had one today and had severe pain after the procedure. Dr. said I should get another one in few weeks. I don't think I could take it again.

Yram

In March I will receive my third pain pump. My experience has been stellar; it gave me my life back. Before the pump on oral meds, I spent my life horizontal, since oral meds are so unpredictable, I couldn't drive or do much of anything. I began with such a small dose it had to be specially ordered. Since 2012, I have had only 3 bump ups, that is usually 10 per cent of the total drug delivery. I thank the engineer who designed it every day. Also, my doctor for 21 years who offered it to me, when I became inoperable. I have a Medtronic pump. Good luck to you.

@duckski44
I{ had 7 joint replacements each done on a different joint. I have birth defects coupled with arthritis and DDD. I'm sorry you are in so much pain.

@bilt4pain Here I am again. After having my output increased many times, I am sitting at about 2,8 mg/24 hours with six boluses. I was expecting to get at least SOME relief at this point but no go. Just one crazy day about three months ago. It's as if the medication isn't quite reaching the spinal fluid. I had the pump checked out about a month ago. The pain doc told me that everything is working okay. Very odd. I'm wondering if you, or anyone with a pump, has had the catheter replaced. I have read about these things called granulomas forming at the tip of the catheter, preventing meds from reaching the intrathecal space. I am beginning to get desperate. Would appreciat any insights. Thanks to you and all those with chronic pain.

@heisenberg34
Never had a catheter replacement. You do not want a granuloma at the catheter insertion area. Under normal circumstances this should never happen. But, things happen. Let’s say they only had a 20ml refill kit available, but the med concentration is very high, it can be an irritating at the opening and the body tries to wall it off. And eventually will stop the meds from flowing. Now you have an emergency on your hand. No meds, need surgery to repair it. Many other things can make them form:
Why granulomas form

They usually develop when the immune system faces something persistent or hard to break down, such as:
• Certain infections (e.g., tuberculosis, some fungi)
• Foreign bodies (splinters, sutures)
• Inflammatory or immune conditions
• Reactions to substances like silica or beryllium

Are granulomas dangerous?
• Often benign and found incidentally (for example, on imaging)
• Can be harmless scars from a past immune response
• Sometimes signal an underlying condition that needs treatment
• Symptoms depend on where they are (lung, skin, liver, etc.)

@bilt4pain Thanks. Great info. Maybe I just need to continue going up with the output. Have seen some here with much higher outputs. I may be one of the “lucky” ones. So far the higher dosage has not been a problem.

@carolynhughes75 How did they determine you had arachnoiditis? How did you handle needing to come down from the meds before having it removed? How soon after having it removed did you start feeling better and did the arachnoiditis heal? Thanks.

Hi Lynn. You can see my arachnoiditis on MRI. It causes nerves to get
bunched together and then those nerves cannot conduct and do what they need
to do. I take Indomethacin for the arachnoiditis pain and it helps some. I
weaned my pump slowly and just had to deal with the pain. Unfortunately
arachnoiditis cannot be healed. My goal was to control the arachnoiditis
and for it to not keep advancing. Arachnoiditis can get to the point where
someone can require a wheelchair. I hope you don't have it, cause it is
very painful.
Best wishes to you.
Carolyn

Thanks Carolyn. I'm researching for my Mom. She has had a pain pump for 2-3 years now and is still in 7/8 pain. I'm just trying to figure out what may be going on so wanted to know more about this condition since I've seen a few comments of patients having it. So sorry you have this complication and thanks so much for sharing your experience.