Spinal cord stimulation please help
Posted , 4 users are following.
My friend is a female cancer patient with uncontrollable pain. She is considering a spinal cord stimulator? I've researched for her. Folks I feel like this is just too much a hit and miss proposition. Almost every review I've read have had people express PROBLEMS with the stimulator system. She is at wit's end in pain. She has had too many surgeries. But all this stuff about batteries running low; many problems with the stimulator, it just seems like the technology isn't there yet. She is 60. She is frail. What should she do, folks? You could say try the trial, but I've read reviews that said it worked during the trial and then didn't work after being implanted. Do u recommend spinal cord stimulators? What should my friend do?? Thank u
0 likes, 3 replies
Carolineq8 greg68362
Posted
Ah I'm so sorry your friend is suffering, I totally understand your frustrations as I to have researched scs and found mixed reviews, have you researched CBD oil she might get some pain relief from this 😊
Yukonjak greg68362
Posted
I had a Medtronic SCS trial 2 years ago. The pain from it was worse than the pain coming from my feet with peripheral neuropathy, so I stopped the trial after 2 days, rather than the usual 3 days. Now, the neurosurgeon wants to try a newer SCS that operates at higher frequencies than the previous one. Not sure whether it'll be the Nevro or St Jude SCS models.
?Like you, the more I read on this Forum, the more I'm inclined to learn to live with the pains, and not go forward with the second trial SCS. That means taking some meds that have bad long term effects (Gabapentin and Amitriptyline). Taking meds that are primarily intended to "cure" depression scares me because I am not depressed at all. Disappointed with my health condition?-Yes. But that's a far cry from being depressed. When I read on this Forum about other peoples' problems, particularly when back pain prevents their getting a good night's sleep, and your friend's pains, I know my pains could be a lot worse. Whenever I've tried getting off those 2 meds, I invariably come back to using them, so they are somewhat lessening the pains, but at what cost?
?I've also used 1% Valtoren Gel, as a result of a hip replacement 4 years ago that has resulted in my walking with a pronounced limp called Trendelenburg Gait. That gel was applied to the skin outside the replaced hip, to reduce the pains I get when walking any distance. Somehow, it's absorbed through the skin to bring some relief to the gluteus muscles that were damaged during/by the hip surgery. I don't know if this gel would provide any relief to your friend. I also don't know if it comes in higher strengths than my 1% version.
?Most of the reports I've read on this website and others give me the impression that SCS work best for folks with spinal problems. In my own case, I have never had any back pains (thankfully), so maybe that's why my first SCS trial didn't work. I don't recall ever seeing any reports of using a SCS for cancer related pains. Be sure that the procedure will; be covered by whatever insurance your friend has. If the proposed SCS isn't approved by the FDA (or Medicare) to treat cancer related pain, your friend may have to foot the bill by herself, even though she's not of Medicare age. A lot of insurance companies won't pay for "experimental" use of devices/ procedures, so she absolutely should confirm that it has been approved by the federal agencies for reimbursement by insurers.
Hope these comments are of help, and that your friend gets relief from her pains soon.
greg68362 Yukonjak
Posted
Thanks very much. My friend has dehabilitating pain from the cancer treatments, wrecked her neuro system. Hope you are doing better. Thank u. Not sure what my friend will do. I don't like what I've been reading on these spinal implants.