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Spinal Cord Stimulator

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khi
khi

Has anyone had a spinal cord stimulator,it has been one suggestion for my husband who is still suffering after 4 years after his first surgery, he has had a further op two years ago and is still suffering immense pain, has weakness in his leg and finds walking difficult and now needs a stick to walk with. I am hoping someone has had a spinal cord stimulator that has had similar condition as my husband because as I understand it it is only a minor op to implant.  I think the other option is fusion which I have heard horror stories about, especially as he doesn't seem to have success with major ops.  Thanks

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  • mel77
    mel77 khi

    Posted

    Hi khi:

    I am new here so please bear with me.  Yes, I do have a spinal cord stimulator and I still suffer with a lot of pain.  The stimulator was guarantied for my legs but not my lower back.  I was told that it might work on my lower back as there were some patients that it did work.  I decided to go through with it.  I was dismayed afterwards, and really did not do the job that I was hoping would do.  I also have very bad pain in my neck, shoulders, arms, etc.  I went to a neurosurgeon who was to do the procedure.  He refused and said that I need to have a neck fusion which I already have.  My argument with him failed so I went to another doctor and he did trial and permanent placement of the nerve stimulator.  I am unhappy with it as once again it works on my legs and also is not very stable.  The buzz that I feel varies and at times I feel surges of buzzing getting stronger.  The remote looks like it was made during the year the invention of the transistor and has no modern features.  I decided myself not to have the fusion as their are risks involved and at my age it can cause problems as well as rehab being difficult.  My present pain specialist recommended that there is a new system just approved by the FDA but you do not feel the buzzing and works at a much higher frequency than the older one's which is at a very low frequency.  All the video's of patients who went through this procedure had good words to say about it.  But of course these video's are on the manufacturers site. I am going to check out you tube which is non biased and hear what other patients that have it give their opinion.  This way, I can get a better feel if it does work like it is mentioned.  Since I already have leads placed in my spine, I understand they do not have to be replaced.  By the way, the procedure is simple for the patient as you are under sedation.  Of course like any other surgery, there will be some pain because of the incision.  You can discuss this with your doctor and see how he feels about it.  If he specialized in pain control, most likely he already knows about this new stimulator.   So, good luck and hope you will not have the intense pain that you already have.

    Emis Moderator comment: I have removed product/company names as we do not allow repeated posting of these in the forums. If users wish to exchange these details please use the Private Message service.

    http://patient.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/398331-private-messages

    • adythewarrior
      adythewarrior mel77

      Posted

      Hi Mel.

      Hope your OK. Im having my SCS out on Tues coming. I need a MRI so I have to go through operation again.

      I dont even know if they are replacing the stimulator as it's a bit urgent.

      Really do hope you guys are ok

      Ady.

    • Bungle66
      Bungle66 adythewarrior

      Posted

      Hi Ady. I had my SCS removed yesterday, well most of it anyway. I had the permanent unit installed on 17th September but almost immediately started having problems. Thought initially it was just a question of the leads having moved (confirmed by X-ray and CT). I was experiencing increasing amounts of high intensity pain in my legs and life has been fairly unbearable. So, what should have been an hours surgery yesterday to simply replace my leads, turned into a 4 and a half hours experience. Two surgeons tried repeatedly to get stimulation into my lower limbs. This time they had no luck at all and could only get stimulation into my right buttock whatever they tried. Eventually they decided to call it a day and remove the wires titally (a wierd and unpleasant sensation). I was awake throughout the whole procedure, with the exception of having the staples put in at the end when the discomfort became too much. They have left the battery in place as they feel that a very new procedure a DRG stimulation 'might' possibly work for my totally dead nerves. A DRG is a Dorsal Root Ganglion stimulation, where electrodes are attached to individual nerves. Apparently this new procedure being more targeted stands a chance of working. I remain unconvinced and sitting here tonight in pain am not sure I want anyone playing with my spine again! I hope your surgery goes well. If they are taking it all out they will do under heavy sedation and you will not feel anything. If you have it replaced, I'm afraid you have to go throught the whole 'being woken up to position it' process. Good and please let us know how you get on. Take care Graham 
    • cynthia70714
      cynthia70714 Bungle66

      Posted

      Graham,

      So happy to hear from you, even though it was your worse experience. I hate this thing and want it out it is doing nothing but make me worse and now I can't even stand for long without shooting pains all in my lower back and legs. I almost started to cry in the store what an embarrassment that would of been. Please keep in contact, private message me and we can exchange E-mail addresses if you like, would like and love to keep in touch with you.

      Take care, heal my friend, I have been thinking of you.

      Cindy xo

    • mel77
      mel77 adythewarrior

      Posted

      Hi Ady:

      I didn't know that you contacted me back 2 months ago. This forum is so crowded that it is hard to believe that others such as yourself trying to make contact. I try very hard to answer messages. Sometimes it is not easy to find them. Usually I get a email but even that is cumbersome. But anyway I am glad we are in touch. About your stimulator and I wonder how an MRI can be done beforehand removal. I was told that any metal in your body prohibit you to have a MRI or you suffer major consequences. The strong magnetic field of the unit would probably tear out the SCS from your body leaving a gaping hole, excessive bleeding and urgent surgery. Not a good picture. Then again you might have a unit that is made of another material that is not prone to the magnetic field. If I am making errors while typing this, I am unable to see what I am typing because of the sentences not wrapping around. I am using a tablet to do all this on and is really slow and cumbersome. I don't have my real computer as it has been in for repairs for over two months now and unable to contact them. I think I was scammed out of a computer. I thought that by bringing it in to a reputable dealer I would have no problems. I think they must gone out of business. Now I will have to wait for a while until I get another one. Anything would be better than this. Enough said. How did it go as far as the removal of the SCS is concerned? Did you replace it or are you getting different one? Please let me know what you did. Meanwhile hoping you are not in much pain and take care and be well.

      mel

    • lindagkelly
      lindagkelly mel77

      Posted

      FYI, ADY, I was told that my new Neurostimulator was MRI compatible.  So, my doctor ordered one. I went to get it, but the tech insisted on checking my medtronic card. He called them and after a lengthy discussion found out that the neurostimulator was indeed MRI compatible, BUT the leads were not.  I would have been BADLY burned.  So check.  I got a CT scan instead.
    • kilee
      kilee mel77

      Posted

      You might want to research the nevro HF10 SCS. It is high frequency and the buzzing tingling little shocking feelings does not happen with this unit. It is also designed to work on both back and leg pain.

      KILEE

    • kilee
      kilee lindagkelly

      Posted

      WOW!! hello Linda, had the nevro put in yesterday. Really really hurting right now due to surgical stuff. We'll talk laterlater, kilee
    • kilee
      kilee mel77

      Posted

      I have been told that the NEVRO HF10 helps with BOTH back and leg pain.

      Kilee

  • lisa_77285
    lisa_77285 khi

    Posted

    My husband had the Nevro Stimulator implanted 3 weeks ago and has not had any success. So far it has made the pain worse. He went to the ER 4 days post op and was told by his doctor to turn it off. The battery gets so hot under his skin that it burns. Has anyone else had this experince? This device has cost over $100,000 and is doing nothing, but making things worse.
    • cynthia70714
      cynthia70714 lisa_77285

      Posted

      Hi lisa77285,

      I had mine put in September and when I charge it gets all hot, but my I'm worse off than before, I can't even walk for more than 5 minutes. And almost unbearable to get out of bed on days, so I can relate to what hes going through.

      I hope he feels better.

      Cindy

    • lindagkelly
      lindagkelly lisa_77285

      Posted

      How is your husband doing today? Is it true you have to recharge the Nevro battery every day?

       

    • kilee
      kilee lisa_77285

      Posted

      Lisa I have been told that the NEVRO HF10 SCS has a temperature control to where it will turn off before it gets too hot. I believe that temperature is 100.5 degrees. Have you talked with the Rep about this issue? Kilee
    • lisa_77285
      lisa_77285 kilee

      Posted

      Hi Kilee,

      The temperature is not an issue anymore. The placement of the battery is (above left buttock). My husband is scheduled Friday to have the battery moved to another location. He has had nothing but pain in the area.

  • dina_43525
    dina_43525 khi

    Posted

    Hi I'm in the trial of SCS , today is my 3rd day, I feel not much difference in my pain, the only thing good since de 1st day is I can sleep more, the pain is less, but today ,I feel in my back like I have a lot of needles pinching my back the program I have now is 3 with 5 green lights, someone has this issue during the trial? Thank you for the response.
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