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Anyone tried Spinal Cord Stimulation for Chronic Pain?

Neuropathy | Last Active: Jan 31 9:35pm | Replies (410)

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@cbrackle

Hi,
Yes, I have a regular Stimulator (5 years ago) and a DRG (Dorsal Root Ganglion) Stimulator (3 years ago) .
I know many people that say that they get life changing results with the stimulators.
Unfortunately I was not one of them.

My trials were amazing, but when the leads healed into place they did not provide much help for me.

I just had a Medtronic Pain pump put in ~2 weeks ago and it is working very well so far (they are still titrating up the dosage).

2 pieces of advice.
1) Find out ALL your possible alternatives so you can make an informed decision (many Dr.s only work with one brand and so do not offer the others as options).
2) Be sure you get all the background on the Dr. putting it in as they may not actually be the best. (my first Stim unit was revised 3 times. then I moved to another state and I found out there was a way that they could have placed it correctly but since it takes 45 more min on the table they did not, so they did it again)

When I was advised to do the Stim units that is all I was told there were - and I may still have tried them.
However, since over the years the only med that helped was dilaudid, it would have been nice to know that there was an alternative out there that could be as or more effective.

Again, this is my story. Lots of others out there.

I am not trying to discourage you, but for the stim units it really depends on what position the leads finally heal into place and your personal nerve quirks.

I wish you the best.
Carl

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Replies to "Hi, Yes, I have a regular Stimulator (5 years ago) and a DRG (Dorsal Root Ganglion)..."

Thank you! I’ll talk more to the Dr.

@cbrackle

I haven't heard from you for a while. How is your pain pump doing? I mentioned it to my pain specialist and he said that they aren't done much anymore, and he wouldn't recommend it. He didn't think they're very effective. I have an appointment with the neurospecialist on the 26th to discuss my options going forward. My SCS has stopped giving me any pain relief, so I need to figure out where to go next. We're going to talk about a DRG, but I don't know if that will be any more helpful than the SCS. I'm so tired of the pain in my feet and ankles and up to mid-calf.

I remember another man has a pump and loves it, but I haven't heard anything about it for a while.

Jim