Hello,I am new to this site,but not new to the insane pain that I have endured since 2005. I was injured in a industrial accident in Missouri and was denied surgery for over three years .When I finally received surgery in 08 much of the pain was relieved,they removed two discs and put in rods and plates and screws and bridged my spine...ever since i have had major nerve damage and just insane pain in my lower back as well as numbness in my legs and this huge knot at the top of my right buttocks about the size of a softball that is excruciatingly painful and the pain goes down my leg to my foot..cant sit to long cant stand to long cant bend over or lift......what a pain in the ***..lol..but my drs cant seem to do anything for me ....tried every drug known from hydrocodone to morophine,nurontin,percocet,the patches,multiple spinal injections,spinal stimulator which failed in the trial...and i am at my ropes end ,,,,the drugs just made me loopy and I would still hurt just couldnt drive or havemuch of a life,so i took myself off of the drugs,,,now that the pain has increased and i considered drugs again the damn drs. wont give em to me...something about new policy got to go thru the pain clinic....so i went,the dr. there wouldnt give me pain meds either but suggested the pain pump and was recommending it to be scheduled when the only Dr that did these in there system resigned and flew back to Austria....REALLY...So they left me hanging to do my own research and find my own help....Damn what a world of help...Any one know about pain pumps or someone I can talk to?

Rae, I am new to the site but my very reason for joining is to get information about the pump OR stim unit. I am to the point of having to choose and all I have is the info from my doctors.

My name is Wayne,new to this site. My date for the pain pump is JAN. 7th, I wish I could talk to someone that already has one. Thanks for every ones help. Wayne

I had a spinal cord stimulator implanted in 2006 and had it removed in 2011. Quite honestly for me it probably should have been removed a lot sooner then it was. I think I was kidding myself that it was working or having some affect on my pain.

I finally made the decision to have it removed because MRI's were not allowed with the implant and I felt the MRI was the best diagnostic test for me. CT scans didn't seem to give the same quality as the MRI's and for my health reasons contrast could NOT be used .

So I am now in the process of going for the Intrathecal Pain Pump. I had the trial portion done on 12/10/12 thru 12/13/12 and was happy with the results. I am not going for the permanent implant on 1/11/13.

In addition I was able to hook up with someone that had the permanent pain pump already done and was extremely happy with the results. The pain pump for the woman I spoke to was the last chance for her to find some sort of relief. So I was glad to hook up with for a few minutes to speak to her and know someone where it was successful.

Hi all:

I just saw a dr regarding the St Jude Spinal stimulator and am quite concerned what I am reading. I have had multiple neck and back surgeries and find that pain medication no longer works. I have tried and done just about everything over 15 plus years including steriod injections, physical therapy and multiple surgeries...

I am overwhelmed and would love to hear from other members.

I too have the exact same questions here....I'm confused.

im here re implant too

Wayne:

I saw that you are having the pain pump on Jan. 7. I go in Jan. 11 for mine. But mine is the Medtronic unit.

I know Medtronic has what is called an Ambassador Program I believe is what it is called. If I understood it correctly you can hook up with people that have already been the route and can give feed back on their experiences.

After my trial was done, I hooked up with someone that had the permanent implant, not sure how long before, but she swore by it. She was at the end of her rope as to the pain and if the pump didn't work I don't know what she would have done. But in here case she swore by.

In the other posts it seems there are some that have concerns specifically in posts about St. Jude. What are your concerns? Can you clarify what you are concerned about?

I have been thru the SCS and now the trial end of the Intrathecal Pain pump. Would be glad to address any concerns. My SCS was a Medtronic as will be the Pain Pump. I dont know much about St Jude Medical outside of the fact that the manufacture the devices.

Hi I'm new to this so please forgive me if I've posted in the wrong place. I'm having a spinal cord stimulator implanted in march and I am a bit unsure if I should go through with it. I have failed back surgery syndrome from two michrodiscectomys , I have been on a lot of different pain medication combinations and at the moment I am taking 6 x 50 tramadol 8 paracetamol and 600 pregabalin and 20 amatriptaline daily which only just takes the edge of my pain. I have been on a 16 day pain management program which I found very helpful but I still suffer with a lot of sciatic pain in mostly my left leg but also my right, and also lower back pain. I am 40 in march of this year and I feel I can't continue on the amount of pain meds I take for the rest of my life. I had the SCS trial in dec 12 and it was successful it was a bit of a strange sensation but one which I could learn to live with, the best part was the fact that I had a full 6 hours sleep without being woke up in pain. I have read some information on the SCS implant but I am worried about complications etc and I would be grateful if there is anybody who can tell me of their experiences with it, like the op itself, the recovery period, the battery life and anything else you feel would help me with my decision. I live in lancashire England. Thank you for reading my post I appreciate any replies Janeydon

Thanks for this info....my mom has severe spinal stenosis and I am so happy there are new alternate aids for back pain