Monday, July 13, 2009 MSinColorado asks

Q: I have MS and Trigeminal Neuralgia and am in constant pain. Should I try a pain pump?

I have Multiple Sclerosis and Trigeminal Neuralgia (from the MS) and am in EXTREME Pain 24/7. I have had two Gamma Knife surgeries and currently have a PNS implanted in my face but am still in pain. My left eye feels like someone is stabbing me in the eye with a needle thousands of times per second and I'm looking for a way to reduce or remove the pain. I currently take oral dilaudid and opana with frequent trips to the ER for IV pain meds. My question is should i consider a morphine pain pump or are there alternative therapies that I could try. At this point i'll do anything...

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Answers (2)

Karen Lee Richards, Health Guide

7/17/09 4:47am

I can't say whether a pain pump is appropriate for you, but it would certainly be worth talking with your doctor about it. We have an excellent discussion on pain pumps in our forum. That's where everyone gathers to discuss anything to do with intrathecal pain pumps. There is a very good ongoing thread entitled “Willing to share experience with intrathecal morphine pump implant” that was started and is maintained by Bob Englebardt. You might read through some of the posts and see if anyone else has similar pain issues. If you don’t find any already there, just click on the last page and and ask about it. Here is a link to this thread on the forum:
http://forums.healthcentral.com/discussion/chronic-pain/forums/a/tpc/f/7251032/m/8491036

(Note: If you've never been to the forum before, you'll have to register separately from your registration here on ChronicPainConnection. You can, however, use the same e-mail address and password if you like to make it easier to remember.)

As for alternative treatments, you might consider acupuncture. It can be quite effective for pain relief. Here's more info: Treating Pain With Acupuncture

I hope you find something that helps soon.

Hopeless In Pain

3/ 7/10 3:08am

I have a Medtronics 8627l-18 implanted in Feb. 2004 which worked great in my lower back for major back pain as I could not take oral pain medicaitons. However the pump was recalled by Medtronics and neither my Doctor or Medtronics failed to notify me and I started having problems w/ pump failure and After Constant requests & MRI's & eventually a 2nd opinion...I discover the problems are related to the recalled pain pump and also other matters my previous doctors failed to inform me of. I can say that the pain relief is great and is equilivant to 1/16th of the pain medication you would have to take orally...for instance I would have to take 120 mg of morphine sulfate daily or 1 mg daily using the pain pump at the site of the pain...that's at 10% concentration...currently I'm at 3 mg daily & this trigeminal is "The Worst Pain Known to Man"...as I just recently started experiencing the pain & it's associated w/ nerve drugs like lyrica, neuroglocical drugs like neurotin and over doses of zinc and/or magnesisum. Any help or advice you can give me to deal with this pain would be greatly appreciated. The pain just started and I plan to get to the doctor asap. Thank God I have a Great Dentist who did extensive x-rays (digital) and w/ several exams diagnosed it as trigeminale rather than pulling the tooth or doing a root canal which is usually the case. It seems to be worse w/ cold air / drinks and when it comes on full blast, I cannot stand, drink, talk and can barely take medication...20 mg valium which puts me to sleep within 15 minutes. I don't know if this is recommended as a treatement but it's the only way I have to cope before I can get an appt. with a doctor knowledgable with trigeminal after examing me.

Thanks Again for all your help,

GaryInPain

Q: I have MS and Trigeminal Neuralgia and am in constant pain. Should I try a pain pump?

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