Re: Spinal Cord Stimulator

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On 2/12/08, britt wrote:
> I have been watching this board regarding all the nightmares
> regarding SCS. I also have an Advanced Bionics SCS. This was
> the worst decision I have ever made to have this implanted.
> I have been having nothing but problems. Mine does not work
> right. It has been reprogrammed and still does not work
> right. My pain is ALOT worse now than it was before I had
> this implanted.
> I am in the process of changing Doc's right now because of
> this. I am also really concerned because the new Doc's do
> not use Advanced Bionic..... They use Medtronics!!!
>
> briterztoyou@gmail.com if you have any questions....
>
>
>
>
> n 2/11/08, Sue wrote:
>> I also have a spinal cord stimulator but mine is an
> Advanced
>> Bionics brand. While a lot of these posts discuss the ANS
>> or Medtronic units, I'm wondering if anyone has experience
>> with the Advanced Bionics systems.
>>
>> My stimulator is currently working fine. I had to have 2
>> surgeries though. The leads used in the first surgery
> moved
>> so I had to have an additional surgery to implant "paddle
>> leads". I am still having the same pain, and actually it
>> feels like it's increased.
>>
>> Anyone else want to share experiences about their Advanced
>> Bionics equipment?
>> It is just terrible reading about others experiences with
>> the ANS and Medtronic products!
i have a medtronic scs and i am having problems with the
stimulator and yes, it was the worst decision i ever made. it
worked at first but i had so many problems with the implant
that i didnt know what should be happening and what shouldnt
be. so, of course i trusted my pain dr. in his opionion. i got
staph infection of the worst kind.i was home on iv therapy for
3 months. the machine was taken out,washed and placed back in.
the infection was going into my spine.we only had 3
antibiotics that my staph wasnt resistent to and i had a
severe allergic reaction to 2 of them. and during all of this,
my mom was in the hospital and was passing on. so i was so
heavily medicated and so ill that i didnt pay attention to the
problem i was having with the stimulator.after a bit of time,
i was ok and knew that somthing had gone wrong. my back pain
was so severe that it over rides the pain in my legs from my
rsd.that was one problem in itself.i now have spinal canal
stenosis at moderate level which i didnt have as far as the
mri showed one week before the surgery.5 months later i have
it.at mderate level.they fail to tell you about the pain it
creates on your back and most people i know that have had this
placement are on stronger pain meds then before and this is to
relieve their pain so they dont realize the mess with the
surgery.also, my stimulator is doing things that i know it
shouldnt do and that is to cause me pain. excessive shocking
to a point where i feel like i stuck my finger in a light
socket frequently and my legs go numb like they are asleep and
i can feel the claminess sensation but its not visable or
touchable to others or myself. i just feel it like it is on
the inside. told my doctor it was the machine and that i could
feel pain in my stomach around my battery pack and next thing
you knw he lost my last 3 medical records from my visit in
which i complained in detail the machine problem and
discharged me from care. my neurosurgeon wont see me as a
patient again either because i had a co-pay balance of $40.00
that i was never aware of because i always paid on each visit
when they told me to. i was there 2-3 times a week. so scs
patients, be aware of your symptoms. it is your body and if
your feeling it,somthing is there. no one will touch me to
take the scs out because of the staph risk. so,i am screw#@!
(lol)and they are richer. good luck to all of you. some people
do have good relief with the scs,but few without the meds.