Quote:
Originally Posted by fionab
I understand your questions about coming off pain meds. I, too, am wrestling with that issue. What doesn't help is that my surgeon who did the implants is having my PCP do pain mgmt. Unfortunately when I saw my PCP the other day, he was rather bothered by the fact that these implants haven't gotten rid of my pain 100% and started going on about how he never would have approved me getting them etc. etc. had he known I would still be in pain a month after surgery.
So, I had to explain to him, AGAIN, how the whole thing works (ie, get pain reduction but no guarantee will be 100%, the need for breakthrough meds.). He reluctantly agreed I could continue to take a dilaudid a day, if needed, but that he's still not too sure about this whole SCS thing. I told him that, for me, the jury will be out until about 6 months, what with post-surgery pain, giving the leads time to fully scar in, upcoming physical therapy etc.
What Rae said is a good idea and is what I'm tending to do...I'm watching myself not reach for the meds. quite so often. Also, trying to turn up the stimulation instead to see if that will get rid of the need of reaching for medication.
Unfortunately I'm like you in that if I turn it up too high it hurts more than helps. I was at grocery store yesterday and started having a bad muscle spasm so turned the lumbar one up and was buzzing so strongly in legs that it felt very weird to walk and was actually a little difficult to walk. So, right now, I'm not sure about turning it up to get rid of unwanted pain or if I should reach for a pain med.
Sounds like we're in the same boat...thankfully we both have one oar, so at least we won't be going around in circles  |
I know what you mean Fiona when you say that you find it difficult to walk. When I have mine up high I get the feeling in my legs similiar to the one that you would get after doing some walking on the treadmill
that feeling of nearly 'floating'. Its very weird and not very comfortable, so yes I would much rather take the meds than put up with the thumping and floating feeling. However, so far I havent dropped my meds because Im afraid of the consequences, but I know I have to at some stage, otherwise I wont know if this SCS is actually doing anything. I will say though that last night I had to recharge my battery and turned my stim off for the duration. Well the burning I had in my legs was unbelieveable. It was as bad as usual, but that gave me good hope that the SCS IS actually covering that burning when its off. I just need to sort out my lumbar region
and try to get a good balance without all the thumping
RAE not long now til you will be a 'nana' too. I bet your so excited and naturally you want to be able to spend as much time as you can with this new little being. My granddaughter was here over the weekend and she is progressing superbly. She is now 10 weeks old and is making those lovely sounds. Im conscious of the fact that I shouldnt carry heavy objects so she is getting plenty of cuddles
