Quote:
Originally Posted by gfknitter
I am so thankful for this thread, that is it recent and that it involves REAL people. I am seriously considering this for my fibromyalgia pain. I'm to the point of needing narcotics so we are trying to increase other meds first...Lyrica and Tramadol specifically. But after reading here, I can go into it with my eyes open and better questions.
I seriously plan to video document this if I do it. It seems like it will be helpful to others coming along behind me.
I'm still waiting to hear if my insurance will cover it/how expensive it is. That will obviously make a difference.
AGain, thanks for your transparency.
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Transparency: I found this thread while trying to figure out how people were finding my blog using only the keywords "pstim" or "p-stim"... While I still haven't solved that mystery, I figured I'd contribute with my experience RE: p-stim and fibromyalgia.
I was the first person in my former pain management practice (at NYU Langone) to try the p-stim in June of last year; it still remains the most miserable experience of my life. The electrodes were placed on my earlobe, the top of my ear on the cartilage, and on the cartilage right outside of my ear canal. Installation was horrendously painful, even though I had preemptively taken Vicodin (this is coming from someone who didn't wince when she got her tongue pierced). The second it was turned on, I sobbed. The company representative was there teaching the doctors to do the placement/installation, and he kept assuring me that I would get used to it. I did not.
The only relief I got during those three days were when the p-stim cycled off. I cried when it cycled back on because I knew the painful, stinging, zap-zap-zapping wasn't going to stop for the next however many hours. (Sorry, can't recall the cycle length anymore.) I could only sleep when it cycled off, as it woke me every time it cycled back on. I was exhausted, in pain, and noticed absolutely no benefits. I almost cried out of sheer joy when I got to remove it!
My then-pain doctor decided I was, apparently, a terrible candidate and that those were not results representative of "most patients". Though a second go had been mentioned at my first appointment, my doctor opted not to prescribe the second round.
All of that being said, my current pain doctor is not convinced in the efficacy of p-stim for chronic pain and likened the representatives to snake oil salesmen. Gout? P-stim! Depression? P-stim! Lazy eye? P-stim! Arthritis, ADHD, bipolar disorder, runny nose? P-stim! (Making up those ailments, but you get my drift.)
Hope this post helps someone! And let me know if anyone wants a picture of the p-stim "in action". I have several close up pictures that I'm willing to share, assuming that's allowed.