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Had pain pump implanted. No relief. Anyone have similar experience?
After virtually every med, procedure I could imagine to ease the pain in my lower back, buttocks, and feet after a ski fall 7 years ago, I finally had the Medtronics pain pump implanted in April of 2023. After more adjustments than I can remember, there is still no pain relief. I am going back in a week to see about having another med added to the hydromorphone (morphine did not work during the trial. I had 80% pain reduction with hydromprphone). The pain pump is supposed to have a success rate of 94%. Anyone else out there have a similar experience?
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Hi @heisenberg34 - I moved your most recent post about your pain pump issues and combined it with your previous post "Had pain pump implanted. No relief. Anyone have similar experience?" - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/had-pain-pump-implanted-no-relief-anyone-have-similar-experience/. I did this so members you connected with, like @lauracox12 and @cbrackle could see your update.
I'd also like to invite @gcranor and @ibmaxine to this discussion as well to share some updates on their pain pump journey.
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2 ReactionsSounds good. Thanks. Hard to keep track of all my posts...along with all my doc appointments! lol.
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2 ReactionsSo sorry that you are in so much pain after trying so many things. I had the pain pump put in after having the stimulators for 9 years. After going through 4 different medications and 2 years of adjustments I had it turned off. It did not help me. I still have it implanted because I did not want another surgery to take it out, they just put salines in the pump. Now I just wear a fentanyl patch and take Percocet as needed. One thing I want to add. When I did try fentanyl in my pain pump they had turned it up too high and the first night at home when I got up around 2 am to use the bathroom I fell face first with no bracing and hit the hardwood floor straight on and slit my head wide open 19 stitches. So be careful if you try fentanyl in your pump. It does not effect me using the 50 mcg patch.
Man, that's terrible. Can't imagine such a painful experience. It seems that every time they adjust my pump another notch, I get a little relief for a short period of time, then it seems to regress back to where I was. Next appointment coming uo in March, doc is going to add some kind of anesthetic to the hydromorphone to see if that helps. Ha! We'll see. How does the fentynyl patch work in reducing your pain level?
Thanks for reaching out. Appreciate it. Have a blessed day.
The patch is working well for me having the continuous flow of medication. Then I take 2-10 mg of Percocet a day for break through pain seems to help a lot. But I think what’s helped a lot is taking 3 mg of Tizanidine (a muscle relaxer) at bedtime. This has helped a lot both with pain and sleep. Hope that helps. I have been on this journey now for 25 years. 12 spine surgeries so I’ve endured a lot of pain over the years and tried almost everything possible.
That's a lot of surgeries! Did any of them help? I had spinal fusion of L5-S1 back in 2017 that did nothing to help my pain level. If I could go back in time, I don't hink I would have the surgery again.
If I could go back in time I would not of had my first one that created a domino effect. I was a marathon runner and have not ran since. My biggest problem now is scare tissue. Even though I have two more disc blown I’m not planning on another surgery. No to answer your question none of them helped just created more complicated issues. Best of luck to you finding something that will relieve your pain and a better quality of life. Pain is no fun and depressing at times!
OMG. Do sorry for you.
I always thought this was the Holly grail for pain.
Believe it or not, I became a cripple after my Prostate was removed.
Walked my usual 10 miles (I am retired) the day before the operation. Have a very difficult time even walking to grocery shop now.
I was thinking about this as a way to get back to doing some sort of exercises.
Well, it certainly seems to work for a lot of people. I would recommend doing the trial to see how well the meds work to relieve your pain. They do either:
1. An injection into the intrathecal space. Or,
2. Have you wear an external pump with a temporary catheter implaned in that space.
I did the injection route. First injection was morphine... no pain relief. Second injection two weeks later was hydromorphone. Within 5 minutes, I could actually feel the pain draining out of my lower body. It dropped my pain level at least 80%.
I opted to have the permanent pump implanted back last April. No relief at first, since they had to start at lowest pump setting. I had the setting increased about every two weeks. In May, I had one week in which I felt pretty good. Then, wham, back to very little relief. Like I said, I am not sure if this thing will ever do much good, but I will continue to try. "My hope is in the Lord...".
Just got mine June 28th and it's actually added new pain to the old pain. So I'm sitting around waisting my days wanting someone to agree to remove the damn thing. It's been a nightmare!