Nevro HF10 spinal cord stimulator charging / battery issues tips and tricks
Posted , 54 users are following.
I had a Nevro HF10 stimulator implanted a few weeks ago (and scheduled for a second stimulator to be installed in 30 days). I am amazed how little tech support is available on this product LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of sales data.... but no FAQS about how this or that works....or what to do if... Found some unhappy people, but no tips and tricks to using so thought i would start a topic and ask some questions from others.I was not aware before surgery how much changing and programing there would be to find the right settings after surgery was over (I thought that was what the trial is for).So I have a million newby questions that I cant seem to find online answers about.I'll start with three, and maybe others will have things to share or add re: best practices. 1) I didnt charge for last few days (bad boy). I was hurting worse today than usual, and wondered if i had let my battery go dead. My remote showed 1 blinking battery bar. Does that mean it was dead? Or just close to dead? 2) is there any logic that if it was extra low (but not dead) that is was working not as well as it does when fully charged? (or is it an all or nothing benefit)3) before I charged when it was deadly low, it felt like the battery/transmitter box implanted was burning me. Is it possible that when low and working extra hard to produce power that it can get hot (like maybe a cellphone would? )
6 likes, 73 replies
TreasureNurse mark69155
Posted
If you experience your stimulator getting hot and burning, then it is a defective stimulator. I just had my second stimulator removed for that reason. Go online and look up defective spinal cord stimulators. Also look up lawsuits regarding spinal cord stimulators. Google problems with your specific stimulator. I discovered the FDA has a list they have posted requesting those with any of the symptoms on their list to contact them. The manufacturers of these stimulators have released damaged stimulators into the selling market and will never own up to it so you have to take it in your own hands to protect yourself from the harmful effects of the damaged stimulator causing you symptoms you never had before it was implanted. I kept reporting to the company that made mine but they denied the stimulator could cause any symptoms. After mine was removed, the symptoms stopped, so I know it was the damaged stimulator at the root cause.
clinton46986 mark69155
Posted
If you been having issues with your nevero spinal cord stimulator. you have been in more pain since installation, having problems with the charger or battery I need to talk with you. Clinton 760 9784444 or 916 5843967
teresa46737 clinton46986
Posted
I have had my stimulator for a little over two months and it seems that as soon as I think its working and my pain is gone, I wake up in more pain than before I had it installed. My rep has all but disappeared and I have no idea what I need to do other than keep taking pain medication and learn to live with it.
mark69155
Posted
I thought I would post an update to my NEVRO HF10 spinal cord stimulators, since some use this site for research. I had a second unit installed 6 weeks ago. (have 1 unit for lumbar placement - and 2nd unit for cervical support. battery/transmitter installed just below my belt line on opposite sides).
It has taken some adjustments and reprogrammings/etc, but I am very satisfied with results of both units and would absolutely do them again.Some learnings to share:
Good luck to anyone going through this stimulator journey. It's not a magic wand and didn't CURE or solve all my pain issues, but it certainly helps and is another pain management tool in the arsenal. I hope you get the same great results I have.
Trop mark69155
Posted
I am about 6 weeks with the HF10 It didn't work on the first 2 settings but they put in on program 2 +2 after a couple days started to take pain away, fell in pit 15 yrs ago among other accidents this unit is unreal it really works hope to get a cervical one installed The only problem I do have is a pain on left side like and air pocket a lot of gas like it is pressing against ribs hopefully it will go away.. Good Luck They just got approval for cervical and they are both fully MRI Safe I was told.
Seafarer123 Trop
Posted
Hi Trop,
Glad you are feeling some relief with your HF10. I've had mine about 18 months now. A couple of comments about what you said that hopefully will be helpful to you:
(1) The "Air-Bubble" by your Ribs - You don't actually have an air bubble by your ribs, or anything else tangible. You are suffering from what the Nevro folks call "over-stimulation" (I prefer to call it "phantom pain" but the doctors don't like to refer to it as "pain" so they call it over-stimulation). About 30% of all people who get the HF10 experience over-stimulation and of those who do (and I am one of them), discomfort up under your lowest ribs is probably the most common area (I get it a lot. I sometimes describe it as "someone trying to pick me up by their fingertips by lifting me right at my lowest ribs). It's a weird feeling. It is PURELY a nerve-related pain and is not anything physical. The electrical power from your stimulator can build up an irritation effect in certain nerve areas. While sometimes this overstimulation can go away on its own it often does not. And if it does not, the irritation only builds and builds, and causes more pain. The only solution to this pain is to turn the stimulator down or even to turn it off. The amount of time it takes for the pain to subside appears to be in direct proportion to how long you let yourself suffer the pain - generally it takes anywhere from 1 to 4 days for the overstimulation pain to go away. My advice - as soon as you feel the pain, turn your stimulator down a few notches and leave it that way for a few hours. If the pain doesn't subside, turn the stimulator off and leave it off for a couple of days. Whatever you do, do NOT turn the stimulator up in a vain effort to get the stimulator to reduce the pain - you will only make matters worse. Oh and another thing about over-stimulation - sometimes it occurs in areas that are obviously due to over-stimulation, like a pain in your ribs or in your shoulder blades (that should have nothing to do, ostensibly, with a spinal stimulator trying to control lower back pain). But other times the over-stimulation occurs where you naturally are feeling pain, such as your lower back, which can be confusing (and can lead you to turn up the stimulator to fight the pain, which is the worst thing you can do). If you have been getting relief from your stimulator and suddenly some of your usual pain starts to return, the Nevro techs typically advise that you turn the stimulator DOWN rather than up to deal with it, because it isn't the Nevro starting to fail, it is the Nevro causing over-stimulation.
(2) MRI Approval - In the United States, the HF10 is not yet approved for use in an MRI, under any settings. Your doctor will need to order a CT scan as an alternative to an MRI. Outside the United States, regulators HAVE approved the HF10 for use in an MRI, under reduced power settings - so it matters where you live. Also the US FDA is reviewing the HF10 and it may someday be okay to use in MRI machines, just not yet.
(3) Your Program and Power Settings - You mentioned that your tech had you on Program 2, power level 2. I wasn't sure if you knew this, but the settings you have on your remote can be reprogrammed by your tech - into thousands of different combinations. Your Program 2/Power 2, for example, is most likely different from my Program 2/Power 2, because I have had my remote control reprogrammed many times. Your tech guy may change all of your settings completely to see if another set of settings work better. I didn't know if you knew this or not so I thought I would mention it.
Trop mark69155
Posted
Mark thanks going to lower setting soon as I get done. that really helped it really felt good to feel no pain even for a couple days
about the MRI I am sure the tech said fully MRI able and cervical was also just approved not that I will need one.
The techs haven't said what to expect so thank you do they answer the phone on weekends.
Thanks. John
rachelle813 mark69155
Edited
I totally just forgot to charge my H10 every day or every other. what happens if it goes dead?
Seafarer123 rachelle813
Posted
Rachelle,
It doesn't harm the unit to let the battery drain out all its energy - the result for you will be the same as if you turned off your stimulator with your remote, you just won't feel any pain relief. Just put the paddle on your body and start the recharging process.
A couple of things about charging your HF10 though:
(1) The lower you let the battery run down, the longer it will take for your unit to recharge. If you have let the battery drain down to nothing it could take 1-2 hours (or more) to recharge it to full.
(2) I've been told by the Nevro tech that even if the battery light on your remote is blinking at "one light," you essentially have no power, it's the same as if it was zero. Don't let the power lights on the remote go below two lights.
(3) The battery runs down more slowly when you have the power level down low (at 1, 2 or 3), and it runs down faster when the power level is set higher (5, 6 or 7).
(4) The best thing to do is to charge your battery once a day - it minimizes the amount of time it takes to charge it. And if you tend to feel discomfort or burning when you are charging, you are less likely to feel it when you re-charge daily because the charging period will always be short. And of course remember - you have to recharge the battery inside you regularly AND you have to recharge the recharger - it too can run out of power. Just keep the recharger plugged into the wall all the time.
Hope that helps...
mark69155 rachelle813
Posted
doesnt hurt the unit....but remember you have to "wash" back in, which means when you charge your relief might not be instant. might take a day or two to get the effect/relief you were getting when it was charged last.
Best to never let it go that low. I make charging a routine. I charge when I go to bed while reading or watching the news.
Wsquared58 rachelle813
Posted
According to my rep, the Stimulator goes in to what he called HIBERNATE mode so that you don't lose all your programming and that it can remain like that for quite some time so that you can subsequently charge the battery and not have to get it reprogrammed.
snekline Wsquared58
Edited
I am learning a lot from reading the postings, and particularly those from Seafarer123. I've had the HF10 installed permanently for a month now and doing pretty well (though hoping for better - still in the adjustment period). One thing I've just learned, but haven't notice anybody mention it: I had quite a bit of trouble getting my charger to be placed correctly, losing the connection several times, having to not move much for the 30 minutes or more it took to fully charge. Now I discovered that I can use the elastic wrap I needed during the first month to help. I put it on with the top just above the implant location, then put the blue circle over a tee shirt, but under the wrap. Now it stays in position with no trouble, while I walk around, eat breakfast, etc., then beeps after I've forgotten it's there. Great help for me!
snekline
Posted
I might add, after reading about people forgetting to charge (which I've also done): Now I will always charge while fixing/eating breakfast, and will soon notice that breakfast isn't the same if I'm not charging.
Seafarer123 snekline
Posted
Ha! You are so right - I've never mentioned that in any of my posts but it is certainly one of the minor annoyances of the HF10. I tend to recharge at night, at bedtime while my wife and I watch a half-hour or so of TV. My wife giggles sometimes at how often I have trouble just getting the blue charging pad onto the right spot (it is never where I think it should go, i.e. right on top of the battery. It seems to need to be slightly above the unit). And then of course, unless I lie still, if I shift my position even a little the alarm goes off (broken connection) and I have to repeat the search, which definitely gets my wife laughing even more.
I should mention that my HF10 unit was implanted in my upper right butt cheek - sounds like yours is implanted above your waist? I must say, I like it being implanted in my butt cheek. Generally my underwear holds it pretty tightly in place and since a butt cheek curves outward, if I am sitting or laying down, my butt does a pretty good job of holding the recharging pad in place. But it is amazing how often I feel the need to fidget in bed, which can easily disrupt the connection no matter how hard my butt cheek is pushing on the paddle.
Wsquared58 snekline
Posted
What works for me is to charge every night when I get in bed. I read for an hour or two every night and have an adjustable bed so adjust up bed to my reading position, place charging pad appropriately commence reading. Most days I will get up right before lights out & put charger back on its connection. Occasionally I'll be sleepy enough that I put on nightstand and plug it back up in morning.