The area where the resurfacing was done was a total mess so I ended up with a total hip replacement. I was on so many different meds for pain including every opiate known to mankind. I required high dosages to start and they had to be continuously pushed up. I was still in agony and the meds played havoc on my mind. I voluntarily admitted myself to a detox unit and was in the hospital for 5 weeks. I will say the program at the hospital made detox a lot easier than I imagined. It was then decided to try nerve blocks at L1 & L2. I have had 4 nerve blocks in the past 8 months. The initial block did give me some relief but it was short lived (about 4 weeks). The following 3 nerve blocks were not too successful at all. My Dr. had mixed feelings on doing an ablation. He was concerned that the visibility of certain nerves would be "blocked" by the prosthetic device. He has decided to freeze the nerves (next week) as a diagnostic tool and if there is relief he will do an ablation.

In terms of the immune-mediated polyneuropathy from the cobalt, the doctor is just waiting to receive some test results back but has mentioned treating it with Acetylcysteine.

I would assume the success rates with a hip ablation or treating the polyneuropathy with Acetylcysteine vary widely but I would appreciate any info. on both.