I'm having problems getting the programming/options on this thing figured out. Saturday I felt fantastic. Didn't have the stimulator on all day. It was the best I've felt since I've had the thing in. But Sunday I woke up with a headache and couldn't get it to go away. It was painful enough to lay me out for a good part of the day and make me nauseous. I was really frustrated. I finally got the programming tweaked properly and started feeling better around 6:30 pm...just in time for the day to be over. I went to bed with the stimulator turned on, and feeling decent, but then was awoken by the pain at about 2 am. I tried to tweak the settings as much as I could but I just couldn't seem to get it right. I ended up having to get up for about an hour in the middle of the night to play with it and whatnot because the pain was too bad to just lay there. The pain lessened for a little while from 3:30 until 4:30, then I had to change the programming again. Got back to sleep, but was awakened around 6:30 (time to get up anyway) with pain. I got up and changed settings one more time. I guess I finally got it right because then the pain started to ease up (slowly) and I was able to get to work, albeit a few hours late. And as of right now, I'm pretty much pain free. Go figure.I haven't figured out what types/levels/locations of pain call for which settings yet. I didn't realize this stimulator would be so complicated. But, the good news is that when you do get it right, it does work. It just takes some figuring out, which is frustrating.
The other thing I'm grumpy about today is that my battery incision site has been hurting the last couple days. Not a lot, but more than it did last week, for whatever reason. It's not infected or anything like that, just a bit sensitive. And the hematomas by my head incisions are still there. I think they are a bit smaller but I'm not really sure. I think I'll give them another week and if they are still there I'll go to my GP and see what he has to say. Maybe if I'm really lucky he'll stick a needle in them and suck all the blood out. *shudder*
Hey there Banner. How are you feeling today? I wish I had checked in with your blog earlier because I didn't know you had already had your surgery! The incision looks like it's healing up well..though I completely understand your frustration over it hurting. Unfortunately, it takes awhile for that to go away (mine still hurts when pressed)...plus it looks like your battery is in a tender spot.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with you..the stimulator can be a lot of work. I tend to be lazy in that I don't use all of my settings. I'm sure if I did, I'd have better pain relief. My Medtronic rep. suggested that I power down the whole system and then power up each program to figure out what parts of my legs and back are stimulated by each program. One of these days I'll actually do it because it is a good idea.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I'm thinking about you...
That's interesting that you don't use all your programs. I am constantly changing mine around becuase I have issues if I overstimulate one area. Also, I have to change the pulse rate a lot...I have to have it low to get rid of tough pain, but if I leave it on that low "thumping" setting for too long, I have the overstimulation problem and have to turn the pulse rate up. So mine requires constant tweaking. It's interesting to learn how everyone uses theirs!
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