Chronic Pain

I am a 29 yr old female who just had the pump implanted on Friday 3/27. I have some questions about anyone elses post-op experiences. Unfortunately they were unable to get the first catheter to work so they ended up obtaining a new one and the surgery took 6 hours. Due to the complication I got a spinal head ache and had to have a blood patch...which was the most painful thing I have ever experienced.

I keep getting sharp cramping in my upper back with radiating pain down both of my arms that changes in intensity when I move my neck. My pain problems have always been in my mid-back and down both legs with minimal neuropathy in my arms. Did anyone else expereince this? if so, when did it go away? My doc said it could be due to the changes in pressure of the spinal fluid. I guess I am wondering if the catheter may be out of place and causing the arm/neck nerve pain when I move a certain way.

My leg and back pain do not seem to have improved very much and I feel kind of drugged up, which I thought would go away since the drug is intrathecal. They started me at 100 micrograms of morphine and have increased it to 120, but with very little relief. Does this sound familiar at all to anyone? many thanks to you for your input.

Hi Blackdove,

Sorry to hear about your problems. It would appear that your neck and back pains are different issues and may need to be addressed separately. One poster on another pain thread that I started in this forum, is having two separate pumps implanted - one for her neck and once for her back! I've not heard of this before but apparently a lumbar installed pump cannot help reduce pain in the neck area.

I was fortunate, many years ago, to have my neck problem fixed by surgery. They performed laminectomies in three cervical joints that were compressing nerves which resulted in much chronic pain.

In your case, did they first do the in-hospital simulation test using morphine sulphate or other drugs to see if you would sense some pain relief before they implant the pump itself?

Post-op experiences can vary among individuals following the pump implant depending on the anesthesia medications used, the depth of anesthesia and the body's responses to these medications.

As for me, my lower back pain has been affecting my legs for the first time and the pump has no mitigating effect. This problem occurs every few days when I have to take breakthrough medication (oxycodone or percocet) to get any relief. The situation prevents me from sleeping well and performing my usual physical activities.

They always start out at a very low dose of medication being supplied by the pump and increase it in small amounts, often by 10%, until your pain is partially controlled. They say that you may never be totally free of pain although many people report that they are.

Even though the pump is supplying a fraction of the dose compared to oral medications, you can still overdose which can result in severe itching, drowsiness, and general malaise. By placing the medication directly into the spinal cord rather than metabolizing it through the body, dose can be reduced to as low as 1/300th of the oral dose.

I hope your pain will be significantly relieved after the pump is optimally adjusted.

Aloha,
Bob

Please look for the thread "Willing to share experience with intrathecal pain pump" that has many posts which might provide more information and answer your questions.