Severe lumbar nerve pain

My stimulator is from Abbott. I've only had it for 3 weeks. The first week when the rep was dialing it in I never felt any stimulation where my pain is. I just started dialing it up 3 numbers every 3 days. Today I think I have a little relief but I'm not sure it's the stimulator or the fact that I spent 2 days in bed from the pain. Everyone keeps telling me to give it time. Will keep you posted.

I sympathize with you since I have similar problems.
Unfortunately, I have found in my own experience, that lower back cortisone injections only gave me costly brief relief. A specialist advised against surgery.
So I have to depend on daily pain medication. Since I am in my 90s, my active life has been reduced considerably by both the medication and immobility. However, I have become an avid reader and am still able to take care of myself under the watchful eye of a close relative.
Sometimes it is wiser to direct our attention gratefully to what we can do rather than what we can't do.

Seems like you should have received some pain relif by now. Three weeks is quite a long time. Did you have a trial, and, did it provide any pain mitigation?

I did do the trial and had 1 day of relief before the leads came off. I just started upping the stimulator 3 points every 3 days. The pain is letting up in some spots and starts hurting in others.

I am 84 years old and I have been told that the surgery I would need is too risky for someone my age. I’m in severe pain every day from the nerve root in my lower spine. I have seen four specialist in the last year, and they all say the same thing. My spine is a mess. I’m going through rhyzotomy (spelling?)treatment and I’m praying that that will alleviate this pain.

Hopefully, you will find the right combination to help your overall pain. Your rep should be helping you with the programming. That's what they get paid for! Good luck.

@heisenberg34 I have had 2 didn't help

I have the same problems. My spine is very curved with a lot of pain in my lower back.

I did a couple sessions with PT and that did not help. For the past 5 years I had the steroid shots in the back and that eased the pain a lot. This last year my spine has gotten worse and the steroid shots did not work. Last month I had the nerves burnt (not sure of the medical term). That has worked very well and relieved the pain. This will last only about 6-9 months.

I spoke to the spine surgeon several times for surgery to straighten out the spine. Because of other medical conditions the surgeon has said they cannot do it. None of my specialist doctors would give me clearance to do the surgery. The last few weeks all my specialists have cleared me to proceed with the surgery. They all want to speak to the surgeon before I have the surgery. I have appointment in a couple weeks with the surgeon.

@kburt911 I’m really curious how you got the stimulator approved by insurance. I am in the process of appealing their denial

@peter51f

The burning was likely RF Radio Frequency ablation.