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Medtronics Spinal Cord Stimulator
I am in the middle of a "trial" spinal cord stimulator. I am trying this stimulator due to nerve pain in my left (dominant) hand caused by surgery. My first day I had nerve stimulation in BOTH my arms and very uncomfortable. I called to talk to my Dr who put it in and was told to call the MEDTRONICS tech. So I did. He said it was a good sign that I felt it in both arms, meaning the leads were placed correctly but the "prime" was too high. He talked me through how to lower the intensity. I honestly don't think this stimulator is for me. I STILL FEEL nerve pain in my left hand. Ugghh! I am glad I got to do the trial first. My question is, is it painful to get the Trial Leads removed from my spine? I am getting it removed Friday Aug 22nd in the office by my Dr's PA. That just doesn't sound right to me.
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No it’s not painful at all but the permanent one is pretty intense.
I have an Abbott stimulator for my back and leg pain and now I wish I would have passed on the permanent implant. I ended up turning mine off because I was getting nerve burning . I’m not so sure the leads were placed right. I had decent results from the trial but not the permanent one. Not telling you yes or no but it is good you are on these blogs, I wish I had been on them before I had mine. Just do your homework and ask a lot of questions.
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4 ReactionsGood day dear people
I have crps and have tried a lot of things . One medication worked for few months than I stopped it for a week and was put a new medication which I only took for one week only to return to my old medication which does not work anymore.
If there’s anyone on here with my condition ( I have the cold version after I sprained my ankle ( pretty bad) type 1 . I’m following Facebook groups but had no joy so far . Hoping to hear from someone who has experience please . Thank you ☺️
Good luck 🤞
Thank you for responding to my question. I accidentally found this blog and I am so grateful I did. As we all know, we get desperate to find relief from pain. That's why I wanted to try this avenue. It doesn't work for me. So I am back a square one. I am ecstatic to hear it does not hurt to remove it. Thank you again!
I have CRPS too. I haven't found any relief. What was the medicine you tried that worked for you?
I used nortriptyline. Minimum dose 2x a day . I could walk without crutches . In pain yes always but I could put up with that .
Smithki...I feel exactly the same as you. Didnt want device, talked into it...trial pretty much a breeze. Permanent Stimulator was horrendous, I just had it removed, with serious complications...HOW can Drs in good conscience recommend these damaging devices...they are dangerous.... Seems too many of us " trust" our Drs. too much....Im now often deemed non compliant cuz I trust my gut first.
Can you tell what complications you are having and how long have did you have it implanted?
I believe I am having nerve issues with mine to the point I shut it off. I don’t even want to talk to the pain doctors who installed it because I don’t want a song and a dance that something else caused it. I have no medical proof but as you, my gut tells me it was the cause of this unit. Thanks for responding back to me.
I had it inplanted Sept 2024. Within 6 wks I started having severe spinal instability, back spasms which affected my abdomen badly to point I cdnt eat for couple days ( I have abdominal pain so probably wdnt affect another as much as me). Also had strange jolting in my hips, lower back. Informed Drs. Got no support so switched it off before Xmas. Then my body felt like it was rejecting hardware and I had severe nerve pain in my legs/ (numbness ) and areas where hardware located. Pain so bad I became bedridden. Legs become weaker, especially right leg...Was on liquid diet for 3 months. Pain Dr disappeared , so took several months to find new team. Just before removal a bled and scar tissue found in spinal column. Needed Laminectomy....which may have been partly causitory due previous issue.
2 weeks post surgery my recovery is brutal but I had to get hardware out. I'm like you, until removal surgery worked off gut instinct but never been so sick in my entire life. I honestly think we should all band tog. and inform FDA. The one lady nearly died. These devices are imho very unsafe and Drs don't warn us. Trust your gut my friend....I regret going against mine for inplanting. Gd luck!!
PS. Removal is more difficult if one has paddles as opposed to just ' electrodes ' ( not sure exact name, ). I believe i had paddles cuz my bled was at lead paddle, which is unusual. I had MRI's that reveal none of this. This was ONLY revealed when I did MRI in surgeon's office, just prior to removal so pls also know one's MRI results only as good as Radiologist..and many are obviously lacking. I was constantly told all was well...it was not !