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Has anyone had an Abbott spinal cord stimulator put in there back?

Posted by jnd2023 @jnd2023, Feb 12, 2024

Has anyone had an abbot spinal cord stimulator put in thee back. Has it been helpful for your pain. How long have you had it installed. I am considering putting one in. Thanks

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vincescs | @vincescs | Jun 29, 2025
In reply to @marshasacks "I’ve had mine for a month. So far I’ve gotten 2 programs. I don’t even know..." + (show)
Profile picture for marshasacks @marshasacks

I’ve had mine for a month. So far I’ve gotten 2 programs. I don’t even know how many or what the difference is between them. I can’t see any difference between program 1 and 2.
It seems I have to contact the rep as she hasn’t reached out to me. They were very attentive when they wanted to buy the device.
So, can’t really tell if it’s working or not. Still have back pain but I don’t think as much.
What’s really hurting me is the back incision near the middle of my back. That hurts worse than my lower back pain. I’ve called the doctor twice and he says it’s the healing process. Hoping that’s the case.

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marshasacks - it's still early. You will probably take you about 3 months to fully recover.

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vincescs | @vincescs | Jun 29, 2025
In reply to @ptvegas "First, thanks vincescs for the recommendations. I will do that. A little more detail. The Abbott..." + (show)
Profile picture for ptvegas @ptvegas

First, thanks vincescs for the recommendations. I will do that. A little more detail. The Abbott rep. has been very good, He meets with me regularly to make adjustments, but they don't seem to do any difference. He now has me with an "area controlled" program. I can control how much stimulation goes to my leg and my back. I had the spinal fusion because of Sciatica on my right leg, I have rods and pins put in and the fusion. But when the surgeon did the surgery, he nicked a nerve and now I have a dropped foot on both feet. I ware AFO's on both legs which is fine, I can get around good and drive with no issues. But have the back and leg pain when ever I do any labor or stand for a long time,, (more than 10 mins.) or walk any distance. I wish I could attach a picture, but the screen has the back and leg split and has an adjustment for how much stimulation goes to each area. I can have more go to the back, and less to the leg,, depending on how I feel. Anyway, still after 6 mos. I still have a lot of pain mainly in my lower back, regardless. Again the Abbott rep has been good, just can't seem to get this thing working as expected.
Thanks

PS: How often do you have to charge your device? I have to do mine about every 3 weeks,, depending on the strength it's set at.

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ptvegas - because I'm using tonic stimulation, I charge every 3 to 4 weeks. When I was using Burst mode, I was charging every 6 to 8 weeks.

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ptvegas | @ptvegas | Jun 29, 2025
In reply to @ptvegas "I had two back surgeries 13 yrs ago, and have had spinal pain over the years...." + (show)
Profile picture for ptvegas @ptvegas

I had two back surgeries 13 yrs ago, and have had spinal pain over the years. About 6 months ago I did the test implant with Abbott SCS and it seemed to work. Although during the test they told me not bend too much or lift heavy objects.
So, I had the implant done,and really have had very minimal results. :The Rep had repeatedly readjusted the device, have tried continuous, on and off , and continuous with separate area adjustments. I don't seem to see any difference. Sitting and , thank goodness, laying down in bed, no pain. But, standing , walking , and doing any labor I have substantial pain. It does seem to go away faster with the stimulator, but still have times of heavy pain. I have adjusted the paint monitor to various settings to get it to the highest I can take without getting that tingling on my side.
So, it does have a sleep timer to turn off at night and I am wondering how that affects the working of the device during the daytime when it's on. does it then reduce the effectiveness when it's on during the day? .. Anyway any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks

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Thanks,, about the same here, Not quite what the advertising says.. The adds for it all were saying 2- 3 months to recharge. I guess that's if you have it set at a 1 for strength.. 🙂
I have had mine adjusted with 5 different program settings, and still have back pain.. Only very slight relief, if any. Very disappointing. Guess I'll just have to live with it..

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artemis1886 | @artemis1886 | Jun 30, 2025
In reply to @ptvegas "I had two back surgeries 13 yrs ago, and have had spinal pain over the years...." + (show)
Profile picture for ptvegas @ptvegas

I had two back surgeries 13 yrs ago, and have had spinal pain over the years. About 6 months ago I did the test implant with Abbott SCS and it seemed to work. Although during the test they told me not bend too much or lift heavy objects.
So, I had the implant done,and really have had very minimal results. :The Rep had repeatedly readjusted the device, have tried continuous, on and off , and continuous with separate area adjustments. I don't seem to see any difference. Sitting and , thank goodness, laying down in bed, no pain. But, standing , walking , and doing any labor I have substantial pain. It does seem to go away faster with the stimulator, but still have times of heavy pain. I have adjusted the paint monitor to various settings to get it to the highest I can take without getting that tingling on my side.
So, it does have a sleep timer to turn off at night and I am wondering how that affects the working of the device during the daytime when it's on. does it then reduce the effectiveness when it's on during the day? .. Anyway any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks

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I can’t use it. I have seizures and always falll on my back. They say it can get lodged in your spinal cord and cause you to become paralyzed.

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ptvegas | @ptvegas | Feb 1 3:03pm
In reply to @ptvegas "I had two back surgeries 13 yrs ago, and have had spinal pain over the years...." + (show)
Profile picture for ptvegas @ptvegas

I had two back surgeries 13 yrs ago, and have had spinal pain over the years. About 6 months ago I did the test implant with Abbott SCS and it seemed to work. Although during the test they told me not bend too much or lift heavy objects.
So, I had the implant done,and really have had very minimal results. :The Rep had repeatedly readjusted the device, have tried continuous, on and off , and continuous with separate area adjustments. I don't seem to see any difference. Sitting and , thank goodness, laying down in bed, no pain. But, standing , walking , and doing any labor I have substantial pain. It does seem to go away faster with the stimulator, but still have times of heavy pain. I have adjusted the paint monitor to various settings to get it to the highest I can take without getting that tingling on my side.
So, it does have a sleep timer to turn off at night and I am wondering how that affects the working of the device during the daytime when it's on. does it then reduce the effectiveness when it's on during the day? .. Anyway any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks

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Well, sorry, but it doesn't seem to work for me I had two back surgeries over the last 10 yrs. and still have back pain. I had a laminectomy and a spinal fusion surgery. I went in for sciatic nerve issues on my right leg, and came out of surgery with a drop foot on my left leg! After many trials and tribulations, figured out that the surgeon knicked a nerve during surgery and that did it. I now have drop foot on both legs, and ware AFO's on both legs. Luckily I can still get around and drive with no issues,,,,, other than the back pain. I tried the Abbott spinal burst stimulator, and it never really seemed to help. The Abbott rep has been very cooperative with trying to adjust it on many occasions, to no avail. The charging rate is not good. When it's on the Burst settings, ( on and off at intervals) it last about 6 weeks,, But, when it's on continuous , which is what the rep tried with me,, it only lasts about 3 to 4 weeks.. A real pain to charge as it takes about 2 + hours to charge. So, I really don't recommend it myself.
They put you on a trial,, which I did, but during the trail ,, when it's attached externally, they tell you not to bend, or lift anything more than 5 lbs.. Which is not a really good trial.. As, my back pain is mostly when I am bending and lifting,, so I really never had a chance to really try it out.. Luckily my insurance paid for the whole, (very expensive) process, so I have it now set for just the Burst ,, on and off, settings to see if it even helps a little.
Picture attached showing it in my back.. The hardware is from the earlier surgery. You'll see the simulator and the thin wires that are attached to my spin... Cool, right?

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vac1979 | @vac1979 | May 18 2:13pm

I have suffered from chronic back pain for almost 9 years, after many failed injections, ablations and scans we did a trial for a spinal cord stimulator with Abbott as the device company. The 7 day trial went great, 6 of 7 nights sleep and felt normal again so proceeded with the actual device and it never helped at all, not even with reps helping adjust settings and playing around, I got absolutely no relief. My battery site ran super hot to the touch numerous times throughout the day and every appt I brought it up with my pain dr and the reps and they were never concerned or would look into it. I was then told that the trial stimulator and the actual are NOT the same and had I known that I would have never put myself through this without it knowing it was going to help. The reps quit responding to me once I inquired about removal because it wasn’t helping and running super hot. I just had it removed last week finally and still have not heard a word. The dr that installed the device wouldn’t take it out because it hurts success rates so I was referred to another dr who took it out for me and also informed me that they are increasingly seeing little to no success with the Abbott device for much of the same reasons I experienced. I just causation anyone interested in getting one that if it’s an Abbott and the trial works for you be sure it’s the same your getting or your taking a risk it won’t work.

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2 replies
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bilt4pain | @bilt4pain | May 19 6:54am
In reply to @vac1979 "I have suffered from chronic back pain for almost 9 years, after many failed injections, ablations..." + (show)
Profile picture for vac1979 @vac1979

I have suffered from chronic back pain for almost 9 years, after many failed injections, ablations and scans we did a trial for a spinal cord stimulator with Abbott as the device company. The 7 day trial went great, 6 of 7 nights sleep and felt normal again so proceeded with the actual device and it never helped at all, not even with reps helping adjust settings and playing around, I got absolutely no relief. My battery site ran super hot to the touch numerous times throughout the day and every appt I brought it up with my pain dr and the reps and they were never concerned or would look into it. I was then told that the trial stimulator and the actual are NOT the same and had I known that I would have never put myself through this without it knowing it was going to help. The reps quit responding to me once I inquired about removal because it wasn’t helping and running super hot. I just had it removed last week finally and still have not heard a word. The dr that installed the device wouldn’t take it out because it hurts success rates so I was referred to another dr who took it out for me and also informed me that they are increasingly seeing little to no success with the Abbott device for much of the same reasons I experienced. I just causation anyone interested in getting one that if it’s an Abbott and the trial works for you be sure it’s the same your getting or your taking a risk it won’t work.

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@vac1979 I have my second St. Jude/Abbott SCS. The first was a nightmare having to be recharged every 2-3 weeks. The second one has an 8 year battery. When I got the first one it seemed to help, but I was so preoccupied with the battery I never really paid attention. Now on my second one, I get zero relief from the SCS while in Burst mode. 30 seconds on, 90 seconds off, repeat. I don’t get it. However, I have discovered Tingle mode. And it’s a whole new world. It’s like having a full (well, half) body TENS unit. From my belt line to my toes vibrates inside and I get tremendous relief. I use it at its highest level (40). The only issue is I need to be stationary. It’s not for walking around during the day. But for after dinner to help ease the pain enough to get to sleep. A highly sought after commodity for chronic pain sufferers. Good luck.

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Moderator
Lisa Lucier, Moderator | @lisalucier | May 19 10:32am
In reply to @vac1979 "I have suffered from chronic back pain for almost 9 years, after many failed injections, ablations..." + (show)
Profile picture for vac1979 @vac1979

I have suffered from chronic back pain for almost 9 years, after many failed injections, ablations and scans we did a trial for a spinal cord stimulator with Abbott as the device company. The 7 day trial went great, 6 of 7 nights sleep and felt normal again so proceeded with the actual device and it never helped at all, not even with reps helping adjust settings and playing around, I got absolutely no relief. My battery site ran super hot to the touch numerous times throughout the day and every appt I brought it up with my pain dr and the reps and they were never concerned or would look into it. I was then told that the trial stimulator and the actual are NOT the same and had I known that I would have never put myself through this without it knowing it was going to help. The reps quit responding to me once I inquired about removal because it wasn’t helping and running super hot. I just had it removed last week finally and still have not heard a word. The dr that installed the device wouldn’t take it out because it hurts success rates so I was referred to another dr who took it out for me and also informed me that they are increasingly seeing little to no success with the Abbott device for much of the same reasons I experienced. I just causation anyone interested in getting one that if it’s an Abbott and the trial works for you be sure it’s the same your getting or your taking a risk it won’t work.

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Hi @vac1979 - welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I wanted you to know I moved your post here to this discussion where others were talking about the Abbott spinal cord stimulator:

- Has anyone had an Abbott spinal cord stimulator put in there back? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/has-anyone-had-an-abbott-spinal-cord-stimulator-put-in-there-back-has/?

Perhaps here you will also encounter others who have been part of the same clinic trial you mentioned and who can comment on the Abbott device in general or any differences between the trial stimulator and the actual one.

Please meet @ptvegas @artemis1886 @vincescs @jnd2023 and others, who may have thoughts for you.

Glad you've also connected with @bilt4pain.

What are your next steps to manage your back pain, then, vac1979?

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1 reply
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heisenberg34 | @heisenberg34 | May 19 10:58am

I am sad to learn of so many people having a good trial but no success with the permanent implant. How can the trial be different from the permanent implant?

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ptvegas | @ptvegas | May 19 1:37pm

As I noted in the earlier post, I have the SMS Abbott stimulator. The first problem with the trial is that when they put that in/on,, they tell you not to do any heavy lifting or extreme bending. Well,, that's when I have the back pain is when I am doing some manual labor! .. So the trial then seems like it's working , but then after the implant is in and healed,, then I still have pain. The Abbott rep has tried to reprogram many times, but still doesn't seem to do much , if any, help. I had it on the burst ,, on/off program which definitely did nothing. I now and back to the continuous on cycle set at 17, and I still don't know if it's doing any good. I have to turn it down at night to 5 otherwise I get "tingles" when I lay down flat. So, I do have to recharge 3-4 weeks, but that's the way it is. I was offered the long term no rechargeable one, but the rep said depending on the usage it will need replacement in 5 to 7 yrs. I didn't want that because it will require a whole new surgery and don't want to go through that when I'm in my 80's.
Anyway,, would strongly recommend anyone considering it to really test the trial out for longer than 10 days, and do some labor that requires some strain on the back to see if it really works.

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