occipital nerve stimulators

Anyone have expierence with occipital nerve stimulaters. My doctor wants to give it a shot. He says it is a completely reversible process, and for the first week it will not be implatned to see if it works. I'm desperate right now and the doctor could tell me to eat cat poop and that would probably excite me right now. Ant suggestions goods/and evils, of the stimulator?

finnosian,

your post made me laugh. Please stay away from the cat poop. I am pretty sure it won’t help.
No I never had an occipital nerve stimulate implanted, but I had occipital nerve block injections. The injections didn't do anything for me, but I had moderate success with the surgical removal of the frowning muscle.

Keep us posted how you are getting on with the stimulator.

P.

Hi,

I have an occipital nerve stimulator. It was originally implanted in 2OO4 and has been revised three times- 2OO5, 2OO7, 2O1O. Still, it works wonders for me.

There is usually a trial where the leads are implanted temporarily for about a week to see if it will help you. If you get good benefit from it, then the permanent device will be implanted about a month later.

The device consists of two wires or leads just under the skin and ablove the occipital nerve. Mine are located at the just below the crown of my head. The leads have several electrodes- my new one has eight on each wire, but the older ones had four. These electrodes send signals to the nerve to try and block the pain signal. The leads then run down the back of my head to a battery in my hip. Some doctors implant the battery in the chest, but I opted for the hip. My battery is rechargeable- you basically put a magnet like thing over it and charge it with a device. you can also change the stimulation as needed.
Here is the link to Medtronic
http://www.medtronic.com/our-therapies/neurostimulators-pain-conditions/index.htm
Headaches aren't on the list because it is not yet approved by the FDA. Mine was implanted between clinical trials.

The biggest problem for me has been the occasional broken lead. Recently, I had to have the whole thing replaced.

However, to me it is completely worth it. My quality of life is infinitely better than it was before the stimulator. Now it is possible to break a headache with medication, which was impossible before. I am not on as much medication and no longer need long acting opitates.

I hope this information helps. I would be more than happy to give you any more info. Let me know if I can help in any way.
Pain free days,
sailingm

I'm sorry to see your post. I feel for you.

Some doctors do occipital nerve blocks first, as a trial. Is your doctor going to do that?

I would be a bit hesitant to do the surgical trial, if blocks didn't help.

Anna never responded enough to blocks to even consider it. The surgeon who is offering to do the intrathecal pain pump also does stimulators, but he never even mentioned trying it...I think because the occipital blocks done at their pain clinic did nothing this last go around.

If all of this doesn't pan out for you, maybe you would consider an intrathecal pain pump? I know of the doctor in your city who does them. My friend's daughter got one last year with him, and my friend says he is very committed to her--trying to get her out of pain.

Cheryl

yeah the battle continues. I got short tram relief from the radiofreuancy surgry, and nerve blocks seem to give me temporary rlief. It seems that every time er lay around that occipital nerve i get a decent response. . What i like is that this surgry is reversibe with no damgae to the nerves. And hey is worth a shot, because i get to give it a trial run before implating it. What is the nake of the dr that does interthecal pain pumps.. i want to look into thar also.

Hi,

I had a temporary device implanted before the permanent system was put it. It wasn't bad- they implant the leads and wires come out and attach to an external battery pack. The only drag was not being able to wash my hair for several days.

If you responed well to radiofrequency and nerve blocks, the stimulator is derfrinitely worth a shot. In fact, that was one of the criteria for the trial and implantation. I would certainly look into both therapies. I'll be glad to give you more info, if you would like.

Pain free days,
sailing

Hello, all. I'm trying to gather the names of the doctors around the country who are doing occipital nerve stimulator implantation and that patients have had good experiences with. Would you be willing to private message or email (somebodyhealme at dianalee dot net) me the name & contact info of the doctor who did your surgery, sailingmuffin? Thank you so much!