Back pain sufferers.....Spinal Cord Stimulation

[minimule]

I'm tired of having to take painkillers daily just to get through. When I was at the pain specialist this week, he had a brochure about SCS. It's a procedure where they actually attach leads to your spinal cord and install a "power pack" under the skin. It acts much like a pace maker in that it stimulates the nerves over-riding the pain. It basically fakes out the pain receptors before the pain signal hits the brain. They've been doing this for 30 years now with success.

Just wondering if anyone has looked into this or if they've had the procedure done. It claims if it's successful for you it can reduce the pain by 50-90%. It lets you get back to a more normal life. The downsides (if you can call that) are that you will set off the airport metal detectors (but you have a card identifing what you have), anti-theft readers (like at Walmart and other stores) might irritate you by increasing the pulse briefly, you have to have the batteries replaced every 5-10 years requiring day surgery again.

Any body heard of it? Had it done? I'm seriously considering it.........

Cost wise......Doc said if you continue on opiads, you eventually increase your dosage because you get immune to the results. Once you hit the oxycotin or stronger, you're looking at $600/month costs. It just keeps going. BUT with this thing, after 4 years you start actually saving money. Just not having to have the "help" from the little pills would be worth it for me.............

 

[gimp]

Cost wise......Doc said if you continue on opiads, you eventually increase your dosage because you get immune to the results. Once you hit the oxycotin or stronger, you're looking at $600/month costs. It just keeps going. BUT with this thing, after 4 years you start actually saving money. Just not having to have the "help" from the little pills would be worth it for me.............

I would highly suggest checking out a pain management team. I was on MS contin for 11 years...it cost me $5 month (my co-pay). Without insurance I think it might have cost around $50 tops. It completely covereed my pain and I was able to work full time. Every one is different and I hope you find what works for you; be it the SCS or meds. Whatever the choice please do yourself a huge favor and check out a pain team. They can also make recommendations as to procedures and you will also have every thing documented. Best of luck.

 

[minimule]

It's actually a pain specialist that told me about it. I function on what I have now but I'm tired of taking it. It's a controlled substance and a pain to deal with. Yes, the insurance covers it now but things will change.

 

[Katiean]

I would be interested in something like that. Mine is in the base of my neck. I have some very angry nerves. I even have a TENS unit that really only takes up a bunch of time and doesn't help. I am also on a controlled substance. With my copay I only pay $2.50 for a months supply. If I didn't have any insurance I would be paying over $100 each month just for the one prescription. I keep trying to get my DR to send me to a pain management DR with no luck. He just keeps giving me the drugs. I think it is time to insist on a pain DR. I even asked to be refered for injections and he wouldn't do that. It has been 3 years and it is time to get something done.

 

[R3]

My office co-worker tried this route. His experience with the SCS was ultimately not successful, but we all believe it was because of the 'specialist' who did the final operation not putting the device electrodes in the correct location. Prior to trying the SCS he had had two spinal surgeries and was living with constant pain. Strong medications (controlled substances) would dull the pain, but not give him relief. He also had a TENS unit that helped a little, but again, no relief.

Apparently, the protocol is to do a 'test' with the SCS system, where the electrodes are implanted, but the wires and the control unit are left external. For my co-worker, the test lasted a week and it was VERY successful, so the surgery to do the full implantion of the leads and controller was scheduled with a 'specialist' doing the surgery, not the same doctor/s that did the test.

He awoke from the final surgery with excruication 'belly' pain that was unexplained. Instead of him being sent home in about 48 hours as planned, he ended up staying about two weeks while they tried to figure out what his problem was. They did all kinds of test, but couldn't find any cause. They finally sent him home, still in pain. All the doctors involved said it 'wasn't me', and pointed their finger at the other doctors. No one was willing to 'do' anything. He was in too much pain to come to work and was out nearly three months.

Finally, he went to another doctor, who said it was 'obvious' that the surgery/implant HAD to be the problem, as the pain was not there prior to the surgery, and severe following the surgery, and there were no other physical reasons. On the new doctor's pushing, the surgeon finally saw him again, and then the next day scheduled him for surgery to remove the device.

It is believed that the SCS was stimulating his abdomical muscles, and causing a non-ending 'cramp', and that is what was causing his long term pain before they finally removed the device.

Now, he is back where he was before, no SCS, and in severe pain that is not managed well with medications. He has come back to work, but misses many days due to the pain or being incapacited due to the heavy medication. He can no longer drive himself around because of the effects of the meds.

Needless to say, he is disappointed in the outcome, but is not willing to try the SCS procedure again after all he went through. BUT, in the test stage it was GREAT ! ! ! If the final implantation has been as good as the test, he would have been extrememly happy with the results. He was finally able to sleep at night, and was feeling like a new person.

I asked him if I could tell his story on this Forum, and he said, "Yes.". He said to mention that the implant they used was made by MEDTRONIC.

 

[minie812]

I worked for a neuro doc and he is the one that did my sx. The drugs not only need increased but destroy the liver too. I held off as long as I could till I could not work or drive and opted for the sx. My doc went thru the front and inserted two titanium screws. Going thru the front preserves the back muscles and nerves. Six months of recovery time. I have some pain left because of another bad disk and should have had it done at the same time but did not

The SCS is a good route to go but I recommend a neuro doc that specializes in backs and not a ortho doc

 

[minimule]

I've heard that some cases it doesn't work but for the most part it does. I have tests/MRIs next week so we'll see where we go from there.

I know there are 3 companies making the device, MEDTRONIC, Boston, and the other I can't remember. I trust my pain doc and the last surgeon he recommended did a good job. We'll see where it goes..........

 

[RedWagon]

My husband has a neurological disorder that causes extreme pain in both arms & legs. Two years after his diagnosis, he got the Medtronics SCS to help with the leg pain. Long story, but he eventually had to stop using that one. In 2006, he got the Advanced Bionics SCS (now Boston Scientific) to help with the arm pain. Eight days after his surgery, he was getting "High Impedance" readings on his remote so they did another surgery to replace the electrodes. He was still having problems so they did another surgery & disovered that the extension for the wires was broken & so they had to replace the wires. For these two surgeries, the tech manager from California flew in. THEN the SCS was shocking him even when it was turned off. An engineer was flown in from New York & was able to fix the problem with the computer. He hasn't had any more problems with that one.

Last year, he had the Medtronics SCS removed & another Advanced Bionics SCS put in to help with his legs. The leads shifted afterwards & he had a revision surgery in January 2010. They shifted a little again & was just in for reprogramming on Wednesday.

He has said that he is done. If anything else goes wrong, he won't have another surgery unless it's just a new IPG (battery). His case is a little extreme, though. His pain score is generally very high. The SCSs brings his score down maybe one or two points, but his disorder is very, very hard to treat.

All that being said, we also refer to all his problems as the Karpinsky Curse--if it can happen, it will happen to him.

He would tell you to try the SCS. He has received some relief & we've talked to people that it has helped tremendously. Good luck!

 

[Davie]

A neighbor friend of mine had the test done where the wires and controller are external and she got wonderful results. Went back last week and had it permanently implanted and she is doing wonderfully. Not sure what area of the back (high or low) it was but she says she has not felt this good in years.

 

[mashin]

Personally, I had good results with the SCS trial just recently. I'm having the implant done on Monday.

With my placement they are attaching a unit to the bone in the upper back-lower neck region. The actual battery pack will be in my front side under my rib cage area. The new battery packs available are really small. They said the battery last different for each person depending on where the implant is,how much stimulation you use and how the stimulation is directed through your body. They do have a rechargable battery system where you don't have the battery replaced for a long long time. They are attaching the implant to the actual bone in my spine-neck. I worked with the St Jude people during my trial and they said they would be at the perm surgery also.

I was awake-out-awake-out for the trial implant surg. They wake you while placing the leads so you can tell them where you feel the shock impulses. Once they had it directed where I specified, I was back out while they finished. So it's not like they just go in and guess where to put the leads. They put them where you tell them according to what you are feeling with the shock impulses.

The trial test with the external leads went well other then having all of the bulky wires and heavy unit to deal with. I wrapped the wire lead on more arm chairs,door knobs and handles then I can count on one hand. It took me a good 3 to 4 weeks before the pain in that test site went away. The pulling in that area along with trying to sit and lay with it made the site more uncomfortable. I was told to not drive myself around for the test period and they did say to not have the SCS turned on while operating machinery or vehicles.

The best people to talk with about the SCS is the pain management centers. I've been dealing with my RSD problem since 2004 and the regular doctors don't know alot about the SCS stuff. I've had the top rated surgeons,doctors and specialist ever since 2004 and they have all said for many years the SCS would help. My deal is different as I had a work injury which caused my issues so the MCO for the company kept appealing the SCS until they no longer could.

They didn't and still don't want to pay the cost of the SCS. The trial test for 5 days was just over $17,000.00

I'll be off work for 7 weeks initially. Could be longer depending on how everything scars in and heals. Which, it's foaling time so I don't mind being off work right now

I recommend anyone who has a chronic pain issue to look into a SCS to see if it would help control some of their pain issues. It's not a cure, it's another means of pain control which may lesson the amount of narcotics needed.

I did take 50% less of my prescribed narcotic pain killer during the 5 day trial. Once the trial was over, I was right back up to the amount I was on before the trial.