Has anyone had the Stimwave spine stimulator installed?

I am also in Florida and had a Stimwave implanted in my upper thoracic for chronic pain in my neck and back(end of 2017). Only after numerous RFAs. I left my doctor about a year later and for the most part discontinued it's use. Still being in pain I went back to using it fall of 2018. By January I began falling with no loss of consciousness. However they were also accompanied by seizure or Dystonia type activity. I am now in debilitating pain and have been told by my neuro they cannot properly test me until the Stim is removed. They have been contacted on a nearly daily basis since January 2, 2021 just to get me into a doctor that will do an x-ray to check migration; there is also an issue where anchored. They no longer work with the doctor who implanted my device. We were told it was due to "personal reasons". Please do your research to anyone reading this... I am only 43 years old and I feel like this device has stolen the last few years of my life. I would never consider having it re-implanted.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm sorry to hear that Stimwave failed and you are in pain. Hopefully with prayer, things will get better for you.

@celinec Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect, a place to give and get support.

I'm so sorry to hear about your situation. You are much to young for all of this.

It sounds like you have information and support to give.

May i ask if there is anything we can try to find that may offer you support or information?

Hello,
I know this inquiry was several years ago, but thought maybe my experience would be helpful to others who are searching this topic.

I am currently in the 3rd day of a Stimwave trial and have not yet achieved any relief. The technicians changed the program once, but it actually increased my pain, so they backed it down again. I have another 4 or 5 days of trial to go, so I’m not giving up. After 17 years of chronic lower back pain (right side only), I’ve tried just about everything.

Four years ago, I had the Nevro spinal cord stimulator implanted and was completely disappointed. We seemed to get relief for a few days in the beginning, but it went away and we’ve NEVER been able to duplicate it. The Nevro technicians have been diligent in trying new programs and settings, but with no luck.

Before the Nevro stimulator, I had a morphine pump for 8 years. It worked for 6 years before malfunctioning. It also caused severe brain fog and short term memory loss. For those reasons, I replaced it with the stimulator. I understand that some people have had good results with it, but I’ve now had several doctors tell me that they are seeing more and more people having them removed. I had high hopes for Stimwave and am not giving up yet. But I’m not going ahead with surgery unless I experience significant relief.

I had a Neuro Stimulator, made by Abbot put in on Nov 5th, after finding success in the 5 day trial...so they implanted the stimulator box beneath my skin in upper buttock.
It is for my horrible spine, having had many needed surgeries & lots of pain !! I am so happy with it, truthfully & I am a retired RN.
I can only have a myelogram with scan,, not MRI on back, however an MRI can b done on other parts of body !! It just causes too much heat, too long on the lumbar MRI.

I'm assuming you had what they call a DRG by Abbott implanted. Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm also happy to hear you got relief. Does the implanted generator cause you any problems?

My wife is looking at a SCS.
To make a long story short she has had 6 back surgeries and is fused from sacrum? to T10. She had 3 fusions in 2019/2020.
The last one was a revision and was healing well until she took a fall.
No hardware damage done but it bulged disk at T9-T10 as that is the pivot point.
Facet injection helped for a while. After trip to AZ it went down hill and Radiofrequency ablation trial with no results, Epidural for nerve root was tried with very short relief on 1 side. MRI shows lot of inflammation in joint.
Down to SCS. Been on opioids/medical marijuana for 6-7 years.
I am finding very little research on SCS relief on Thoracic.
The pain clinic that is recommended to do SCS seems to rely on Reps info and seems to give pretty vague info to me.
Would like to know if anyone has done SCS for thoracic pain?

Hello @jlssurplus and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Your wife and certainly been through quite a lot with regard to her six surgeries.

You will notice I have moved your post into an existing discussion on SCSs to allow you to better connect with this group of members already discussing the topic. Recent members discussing their experiences include @texasaviatrix @1mepnurse @martyk and @celinec.

While we wait for members to join, you mention the pain clinic providing limited information to you. What have they shared? What haven't they shared that you are looking to learn more about?

Hello jslsurplus, you are not alone I to was hoping to hear different opinions on SCS Looks like that is the only road left for me. I am trying one more injection, if the results aren’t good then it’s on to SCS , which scares me to death but the pain just is to much

The best info I can suggest is to get a second or even third opinion before your wife decides to have this surgery. Also make sure they, the doctor not rep, can answer any specific questions you both have. Also ask about adverse effects of the device. I have a stim in my upper thoracic that now needs to be removed. They do seem to work for some people, so again just be sure you trust the doctor and he answers any and all questions.