My pain medication has reach a new high. I was in the hospital for the last 2 weeks and the pain nurse said I should have a pump to get better results and have a better quality of life. Has anybody ever heard of anybody having a morphine or an other type of pump when orals fail. Joseph
Posted by MBB3 (Member # 13459) on :
Hello:
Yes, I have read extensively about this and noted varying reviews.
I guess it depends of what type and placement of pain you have?
There are 3 ways this is done: SCS (Spinal Cord Stimulation), Intrathecal Pump (Pain pump as you describe) and something called DBS (Deep Brain Stimulation)
For SCS, there's basically a device is implanted with electrodes within the spinal column to 'block' the pain signal.
For Pain pump, an implanted reservoir holds and dispenses meds (Morphine or MANY other combos) into the Intrathecal Sac of the spine to mask the pain - this allows much lower doses of meds to be used and prevent side effects.
DBS is often used for those with Parkinsons to control tremor, dystonia etc and for those with CENTRAL Pain from a stroke, RSD CRPS etc.
This is all very fascinating but extreme measures! However they hold great promise (I hope) for those in pain...I too have pain (neuropathy) from Lyme/Bart, but perhaps not as bad as others describe.
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