Had pain pump implanted. No relief. Anyone have similar experience?

My morphine pumps have failed a few times resulting in withdrawal. When It was removed I went into full blown withdrawal. Several on this forum have had similar experiences. Thats because the pump was my only source of narcotic. So, in my situation some did go systemic. That only makes sense since the pain receptors are are in the brain and other areas that might not be where the pain is issuing from. So the narcotic has to eventually reach those receptors areas from the pain producing area to be effective and that means traveling to those receptor areas. Those receptors become greedy for the constant supply of morphine and when it is stopped that is when withdrawal sets in. Overly simplified and in layman's term, but I believe you get the point. Also, many anesthesiologists know this delivery system can result in dependence.

Do you know there is a test that evaluates how your body metabolizes all medications?
Doctors are so afraid of giving pain meds. Tell your doctor you need more, increase a little at a time to make them happy. Or go in and cry about the pain, they don't listen unless you make a big deal about it and not having a life.

Hi my sister did not get any relief as well. She has had the pump for 5 years. Now she is in the process of lowering it and getting on oral meds. The doctor just turned it down 20 percent. He gave her 15 mlg but she is petrified of overdosing. So far she isn’t taking them but next week it gets turned down another 20 percent. I’m scared for her.

@heisenberg34 your supposed to have a beginning trial and error period so the doctor can determine which drug best works for your pain. Give them a chance and keep letting them know how you feel. You're correct the success rate is high. From the limited studies I found virtually zero failures and the small number of those were due to patient non-compliance in some way. Good luck with your pain relief.

@jenatsky I had the trial with morphine(did not help) and Dilaudid(helped a lot). This was by injection. So i had the permanent implant with Dilaudid. After two and a half years, I have had ONE DAY of relief. I just went yesterday for a dye test of the pump. Doc says that all is well. Pump is delivering the med to the intrathecal space as it should. So I said, "Why am I not getting any relief"? He was at loss. Said he would present my case at some kind of symposium of his peers. Great! So, I say, what am I to do until then. I'm getting no relief from this thing or may pain meds. He tells me that he doesn't like to prescribe opioids for pain. Wonderful. So, am left to fend for myself. I think that I will try a little weed to see if that helps.

Sorry to hear that she has not gotten any relief after five years. Yes, twenty percent in one fell swoop is a lot. What medication is she getting? Morphine was a no go for me, so the trial ultimately used hydromorphone, which gave me good relief. I had the pump turned UP by twenty percent last year. Left me very woozy and disoriented. Took a while to adjust.
Hey, did they do a dye test to confirm that the med was getting into the intrathecal space? Please keep us up to date.

@heisenberg34 I don’t have a pump and hopefully I will never need one. I am currently doing PT, MFR and massage for my back pain. I have OA, OP, and PN and I exercise 2x daily and walk 2 miles a day. I have a buprenorphine patch that I change every week. I have breakthrough Percocet but rarely use it. Here is an article to share with your doctor and you might give it a try. With the current cap on our out of pocket it’s affordable. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4675640/,
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/back-pain/in-depth/chronic-pain-medication-decisions/art-20360371,

@heisenberg34 I'm not on the pump...I just had spinal cord stimulator implant surgery for my neck and spine and my case is inoperable.