Hi Tara- Think in terms of that EMG as being discomfort as opposed to outright PAIN like was the case with a discogram or epiduragram. Needles stuck here and there and waggled to develop a nerve conductivity reading for the machine to record, and before you know it, it is over! You will be OK.

One more step to diagnosing your situation, and then as KZL wrote, time to PUSH for the paddle, a part of the technology which may not have been available when first you went for the SCS!

Hopes and Prayers,
Mark56

Thank you for all the replies yesterday. Today has been bad. The EMG was really painful and it still is The needles part was not so bad it was the other stuff and I am still hurting a lot from it! Then right before that my husband called to tell me he was in an accident. It was not serious and I am so thankful for that and I was really worried and it made me think of my accident. The neuro said that my EMG did not see anything but I still have to go for a cat scan next week. I also asked him if all of this could be simply because my stim is messed up and he said it could be and he said it is hard to tell because he has none of my old records! I am so frustrated and tired of my stim doctor and I am tired of suffering and being put through all of this just because she refuses to do another surgery and blames it on everything else! I am sick of her office not following through on anything and losing my number and my records and I am just sick in general of all of this! I feel really REALLY frustrated, betrayed, upset and angry right now! I have tried to be nice and put up with all of this because I am a nice person and gave her the benefit of the doubt but when I call because I need records or need help to get a handicapped permit for school she has to give me an attitude about all of this! I don't want to lose my stim rep guy but I may have to because I am planning on getting my records and going to someone else. I hate this whole thing so much and then of course I am still dealing with my stupid lawsuit for the people that made all this happen! And I am so tired of everyone (my friends who have no clue) saying that all of my pain and this is probably due to stress and I need to find a new therapist!!!! We also had to cancel going out of town because I am feeling so bad. I am just so upset because I thought doctors were supposed to help us not treat us like we are psychos and attention getters, of course I know the truth now since dealing with her and other horrible doctors.

Hi Tara,

I have not been on board here for a couple of weeks and just read this whole thread (kudos for Mark with the Karl thing!). Anyhow, you remind me much of how I was 2 years ago. Was your chronic pain/RSD caused by an (auto) accident? Is the purpose of your EMG to find the cause for your pain (sans stim unit dysfunction)? I was in an auto accident which caused chronic nerve pain- burning, numbness, tingling, and tremors- in all four extremities; cried for over a year because every test they did could not "find" a culprit and of course, I ended up going to a shrink for severe depression. No way could I have such crippling pain and all the tests were normal??? Then I met my current PM doctor, who sent me for a test called Somasensory Evoked Potentials. This test measured the signals that were sent from a nerve to the brain. My results showed severe nerve damage ala brachial and lumbar plexopathy (I also have RSD). My doctor said I was worse than he thought and wondered how I did all I did. I felt as if a weight was lifted and my pain was validated. I went on to receive 2 stim implants and I love them so! Perhaps the Somasensory Evoked Potential is a test that can show whats going on with you (My Doc feels my nerves were damaged from being STRETCHED in the car accident).

I also know about the whole lawsuit stress. Took 2 1/2 years for us to settle. I had to take the 1st offer because we were so desperate for cash (I was the breadwinner and we had 2 small children). The guy who hit me wasn't insured for much (and neither was I apparently) and the amount received is nothing compared to what you lose ( financially, physically, and everything else). I feel your anger and your sense of loss for the person you should be for the age you are. It's a normal phase, but realize it is JUST a phase...... a chapter in your life..... and it to shall pass. The worrying will eat away at you, but worrying about things does not change situations. At some point, you will be able to accept who you are and what is to be. It can take a couple years. Now, accepting something is not the same as being able to tolerate it, as we know some pain is just not tolerable It's also true that your friends will have no clue, and I found if I wanted to keep them, I had to keep quiet about my pain (as best I could -LOL) That's what I love about this forum. We're the best vent friends we could get because we all KNOW what our lives are like.

I wish the best for you at this difficult time, and hope the light at the end of this turmoiled tunnel is close for you.

God bless you!!! Vanna

Vanna, Thank you so much for your reply and I appreciate you sharing your experiences with me. I am so sorry that you went through all of that and had to suffer in pain too My accident was involved with a school bus rear ending me and then two other cars hit me (one on the side) and another car hit me in back too and took off. I am extremely angry because I was doing really good and had just gone done recovering from a partial herniated disk surgery (that was the result of a separate car accident) and I was back to normal which to me that was working and going to school and not being in pain. It makes me even more mad at this whole legal system and how the first judge said it was basically my fault for all this happening and that made me sad and angry. I am still terrified to drive and I am not a fan of being in the car at all. And that accident definitely caused my pain in my back and legs and I only found relief after my stim implant but then that was short lived because leads moved so that is also why I am angry and sad. It is just so frustrating because I know and we saw the x-ray of my leads that it is not working right, my stim rep said that I would have to have it repaired and that should have happened but my doctor said no since she already did a revision on me last year. She acts like this is all my fault because I fell and she always acts like I am bothering her and that I need to just be quiet about all of it and live with it this way. She does not even want me telling people my leads moved and I had to have the revision either she tells me all the time not to say that it was her surgery that had to be fixed. I guess the main thing I am trying to say is I was fine and at peace with things being different when my stim was working right, I had a productive life again and I feel that since my stim is definitely a problem that it is not fair that I cannot get it fixed and that is what caused me to be so depressed. I am also on antidepressants and in therapy and my therapist also thinks my doctor does not treat me right ever since I had to have a revision. I spent yesterday crying a lot and my husband got so mad he called and left a message for my stim rep but I doubt that will do anything. Besides my stim rep will probably be on her side too, I just think it is silly for me to trust any of them anymore.

That is just AWFUL!!! I do not understand how a doctor/ stim rep would not do everything in their power to make a patient happy and pain-free. That is absolutely absurd! That doctor should not be performing those procedures if she does not know how to handle the problems/mishaps that go with it (nor the rep!). But, you are probably right with the rep siding with the doc since that are probably 'buddies'. They may feel they made their $ off you and do not want to deal with the tweaking. Very egotistical. And the real urking part is that the stim provided you much relief!!! UGH!! The whole switching doctors and records transferring is a nightmare itself, but you definitely need someone more compassionate to your needs. Getting this pain under control has got to be taken care of. I'm gonna kiss my PM doctor and stim reps next time I see them (God knows I'm constantly hugging them for all the support they've given me).

I can also relate to being in that accident after healing. I also had a herniated disk from my second pregnancy and had to wait until the baby was born to get it treated. Lots of time, money, and rehabilitation, I finally felt great for the first time in over a year. That lasted about 1 month. When the baby was 6 months old, I had my first car accident (full speed head on collision). Fourteen months after that, another full speed collision (after all the therapy and time to heal from first!!!). Neither accidents my fault. I hear ya on that whole being afraid to even be in a car anymore

I would go over the Dr. and rep's head and contact the company that has their SCS in your body and talk to upper management until they satisfy you fully.

This company owes you full comfort regardless of what the doctor says. You may have moved and changed doctors or just change doctors because ypu no longer like your treatment from her office. People change drs. all the time. No matter the company that has the name on your SCS need to take care of you. You need to make it clear that you also want a new rep to help with your care and needs. Let them know that with the internet the word gets around very fast as to how you have been treated if they don't take care of you.

Did your insurance co. help pay for your SCS if so let the scs company know that you will be letting them know how you are being treated.

Get firm with them and don't back down.

I like this option, take your husband. Get in their face about what is going wrong and what should be going right. Show them you are invested in this process with united strength and not about to back off. That is one reason my wife went to ALL of my appointments, to make sure the patient in pain wasn't a carpet for cleaning shoes, but one to be respected. Thanks to her I am on the road to recovery..... I hope.

Mark56