I know botox shots don't fall under the heading of "SCS & Pain pumps" but wanted to pass on an update for those of you who, like me, want to be educated as much as possible about all pain relieving possibilities and treatments. Forgive me if I repeat myself from prior posts...you know how getting older can work on your memory (and not to mention the rum one consumes...oh, oh...here I go again)

While I do have the 2 SCS's, there's still pain in my shoulders and upper back that the units just can't cover. So my dr. has started giving me trigger point shots in the painful areas, using a combination of Kenalog (a steroid) and lidocaine. While they do help, it's only temporary, so we are proceeding with Botox.

Insurance has approved it and my botox shots are set up for mid Nov., after I come back from vacation (will have to be on pain meds. for vacation but am sooo looking forward to getting away!)

I'm only getting a couple of shots to see how I tolerate the botox as I'm allergic to so many meds. and don't want to get all the shots I really need and then wish I'd just tested with a couple of shots if it doesn't go well. So will get some shots one week and if all goes well, will go back in following week for rest of shots. The dr. will be ordering two vials, each holds 100 units of botox. I had to make sure he didn't order one vial of 200 units, because once opened it has to all be used within 3-4 hrs. I think each 100 units will give me two shots, not sure.

I asked the dr. "where" I'd be getting the shots and he said "wherever you hurt...it tends to spread out some, so will cover more than just the area where you get the shots." May take up to 3 weeks to get full affect but is supposed to gradually affect the nerves so when the muscle tries to go into a spasm, it can't. Hopefully it'll work and last the 3 to 4 months it's supposed to. Don't know yet what the cost will be, but probably around $1500-$2000 for all the shots. Don't know yet what my out of pocket will be, but if it helps for that long then I think it'll be worth paying.

If you want to hear how the botox journey goes, let me know (esp. you Rae, since you're the top dog here), since it really isn't a "SCS & Pain Pump" issue and I'm wondering if I can discuss it on this forum

Fiona