I live in a rural area and there are few places to swim here or get any exercise if your limited as I am due to disability. The same is true for medication, if your local medical center restricts pain medicine you may not have any other place to go for help, the same is true if your state government put restrictions on. Please consider lobbing your elected officials to make them aware of your needs and the difficulty you are having getting them met.

I've tried an epidural for my neck problems, unfortunately it didn't help, however I've known others who have benefitted a great deal from the procedure.

I did try shots in the spine for awhile, but they did not help when I needed them so I stopped.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Sent from Windows Mail

With epidurals, I think, it's just luck, hopefully hitting the right area. I've had fusions and epidurals. Fusions made it worse and the epidurals did nothing (I guess that's good--they could have done what the surgery did). I went to mayo and they are suggesting nervous spinal stimulator, which sounds like a good option.

I have had epidurals for years Not steadily They help with my<br />
medacations for a while. This is what both pain clinics have for me I used<br />
to go to one in Syracuse then I moved to Adirondacks and I'm very happy<br />
with the one I'm in now. I am not very functional but my goal is less<br />
pain and more function. I think maybe skill of the Dr doing the epidural<br />
might be a factor. In Syracuse that is what he did epidurals. He did them<br />
right in his office. The one I see now does everything he's a very good Dr<br />
he does it in hospital across the street. He's great. I really like him<br />
and trust him. I never had any problems.<br />

The spinal did not help me enough to off set the pain of the shot. I did get shock treatment for phantom pain and it did stop the pain for awhile, but since I had to keep getting the ECT and it only lasted a few months to a year plus the side effects were pretty strong and I did not like them so I stopped taking the ECT. It was sort of experimental at Mayo’s, but I am glad I tried, I really think you have to try all the alternative methods you can to fight the pain. 19lin<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Sent from Windows Mail

Hi there,<br />
I'm in a somewhat similar situation RE: the fusions and epidurals/facet<br />
injections. I would just like to caution you about the Spinal Cord<br />
Stimulator. They DO NOT WORK (in my opinion, and I'm on my 2nd). Unless<br />
you are comfortable being "shocked" similar to a T.E.N.S. Unit constantly,<br />
24 hrs a day. And when you move a certain way or lye down you get an extra<br />
"jolt", which is always fun. Consider also that you will under go a<br />
laminectomy or discetomy at the T7-9 area, which is a quick recovery, but<br />
the point remains that you are still undergoing back surgery.<br />
Good Luck and best wishes in your recovery, or search there of<br />
Sincerely,<br />
Brandon<br />

I, too, have had spinal fusions, epidurals, and neural stimulator of<br />
which none work for my chronic back pain. Cannot take meds - have bad<br />
reactions to all pain relievers. It seems some of us are stuck just<br />
bearing the pain. My last pain management dr said nothing can be done<br />
- just exercise - but I am mostly on the bed otherwise 8 to 9 pain.<br />

@marieh

I have had a neurostimulator for about 5 years now. It works wonders for me. The only drawback to it is that it only works for the area it has been placed for. If you have L-1 to L-5 pain and it is placed for those discs it will not work for your neck area unless you have another one implanted. Mine can be adjusted to work more on one side than the other if my pain is radiating more on one side. I can do that myself. I have also had the programmer adjust the area slightly with her device when I had hip surgery. But there are limits to what the adjustments are and they can't make it go up or down a disc. I believe it has kept my med use at the same dose for the past 5 years instead of having to have it increased. It it a gentle massaging type vibration and can be programmed with several different types of massage feelings. I can turn between them if I need a stronger one on a day where the pain is worse. It has to be programmed by the nurse who was there during my implant or a rep from the company. I just see her once a year, she loads up my controls with the ones I want and I'm set. If I wish to change anything all I have to do is call her and meet her at my Pain Mgmt office. I only wish my body would stop falling apart disc wise because I could use another one for my neck now. As far as fatigue as others have talked about, gabapenten will cause fatigue in me but the medication does help me. My Vit D level was extremely low because I'm not outside a lot. Taking a dose of that my Dr has prescribed has started to help some. It's not all perfect now but most days more than not, my pain is more manageable with the stimulator and my medication. I hope this helps some. Thank you for this site to talk and thank you for reading. ❤️

@bekie Welcome to Connect! We are so happy to have you here and i'm thrilled to see you are already finding the community useful. Thanks for joining us and sharing your experiences!