| Michelle: Fibromyalgia, back pain (post trial) |
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After 15 years of fibromyalgia and lower back pain, Michelle experienced a 70% reduction in pain during her month-long occipital neuromodulation trial period. She is now looking forward to her permanent implant. Michelle: I have pain in my hips, all my joints, and in my lower spine. I get fibromyalgia headaches. I have pain everywhere. Dr. Greenspan: How many years have you been having this pain? Michelle: Over 15 years. Dr. Greenspan: Anything that triggered the pain originally? Michelle: Not that I know of, other than ruptured discs -- I'm not even sure how those happened... in the lower spine, L5, S1. Dr. Greenspan: And over the years you've seen a lot of different doctors? Michelle: I've tried many different doctors and tried many different things. Dr. Greenspan: When I started talking to you about occipital neuromodulation, were you skeptical at first? Michelle: I was scared, you know. Wires in my head sounded a little spooky. Dr. Greenspan: Were you doubtful that it would be effective for you, because everything else had failed? Michelle: I was a little doubtful. I had my hopes that it would work, but I wasn't going to hold my breath. Dr. Greenspan: How did the trial procedure itself go? Michelle: It did go well. I was able to keep the wires in almost a full month. And I really knew it was working, because I woke up ad I do in the middle of the night in pain. And got up ready to do what I usually do - sleep in the chair, take a pain pill. And then I remembered the battery pack... the battery had worn down. The machine was off. I put the battery in, turned on the machine, and within 10 minutes I was asleep - the pain had gone. Dr. Greenspan: How much pain relief did the device give you? Michelle: 70%, if not more. Dr. Greenspan: What would you say to somebody who was skeptical about the procedure? ... that you had a placebo response."Michelle: "I would say with everything I've been through, and all the years I've been through it, ... my body just would not respond to a placebo." Dr. Greenspan: What advice would you give someone who is sitting on the fence? Michelle: Having the wires put in is probably one of the simplest procedures... It's not a big, drawn-out procedure, it's not a painful procedure. It's just an easy, easy thing to go through, and very much worth trying. Dr. Greenspan: And are you looking forward to the implant, then? Michelle: Yes, I'm still nervous of course, it's still surgery, but I wouldn't not have it. Dr. Greenspan: How does the pain impact your life? Michelle: It impacts every part of my life. I can't walk for any length of time, can't go to a mall..., can't sit in the car for any length of time, I have interrupted sleep every night, I'm fatigued most of the time. It impacts my emotional well-being, it puts me in depression when I can't do what I feel I should be able to do for a woman of my age.
This procedure is performed by Dr. Joshua Greenspan at our Somersworth facility. For more information, read Promising new treatment: Occipital Neuromodulation. |
