Strangely my GP doctor called me at 9:30 the other night.I had seen him recently for a yearly physical and told him i was still having issues after my Gamma knife procedure.Better,but still need the horrible meds.
Anyway he seemed quite excited to tell me that the pain management group his brother works with had come up with a TN treatment that so far had been a 100% fix.If i understood him correctly,it was a adaptation from a back pain treatment that uses electic shocks you control with a switch that pulses the nerve or an area close to it.He said it was all outpatient.It sounds too good to be true.I am sorry i dont have more details.He gave me the Dr. name and foolishly i was sure i would remember it without writing it down.Does anyone know about this procedure?Is it something new?This group is in Dallas.I plan to get more info when i can.My pain is 95% gone after Gamma ,but when i cut down the meds(in the past)it returns.It's been 7 weeks now and today im trying to lighten my dose and see what happens.I wish i had heard of this earlier!
I think your doctor was talking about a peripheral nerve stimulator. I had one implanted on Aug 21 and I am very happy with it! Not really electric shock, more of a stimulation.Feel free to ask me any questions.
Christine
Yes,that sounds more like it.( : Sorry for my poor description.My Doc was saying they did a 3 or 5 day trial with it?Where was your procedure done Christine?Are you pain free?Is it an easy out patient thing?Did your insurance cover it?This thing has nearly bankrupted us the past couple of years.Even with insurance.Thanks,Don
I live in Georgia, but my NS is in NY. I traveled there to have the trial on aug 16, and had the perm on the 21. It is outpatient, under sedation. I have 3 small incisions for the leads, or wires, and one about 2 inches long on my chest for the battery. The recovery from the surgery was pretty easy. You are a little tired for the first few days, and you have to be careful about lifting anything heavier than 5 lbs for 6 to 8 weeks.
I am mostly pain free! I have bilateral ATN, and while the MVD I had on the right in January worked very well for the shocks, it did not help the burning boring TN2 pain. The PNS really controls the pain well, and I can adjust it very easily if I need more “juice”.
As far as insurance, I can only say that my insurance authorized the procedure, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will pay for it. Fingers crossed on that !
Peripheral Nerve Stimulation is an experimental treatment (the device is approved by the FDA for treatment of the back but not for the face) seems to be what you are talking about. I know that Dr. Alon Mogilner in New York, NYU, does the procedure for the face, and someone on this website mentioned she had Dr. Jeffrey Brown on Long Island do it on her, but it did not work for her even though she did the trial first. The device/procedure is known as Spinal Nerve Stimulator/Spinal Nerve Stimulation when done on the back. It is a much more problematic procedure for the face than it is for the back.
Dr. Brown did mine ,and many others, and mine was a success. It is considered experimental by some insurance companies, because it is FDA approved for the spine, but it has been used for Occipital Neuralgia for years. I am curious as to why it is considered more problematic for the face. that is not aomething i came across in the research i did before having the PNS. There is a group on Facebook called Occipital and Peripheral Nerve Stimulator that has some of the best information on the Internet. It is a closed group but if you send the admin a message she will add you.
Thanks Christine and another Don,This seems like a good option for me and perhaps others.I have a AVM that is possibly the source of my TN pain.I would need to be convinced that stimulating the nerve would not stimulate the malformed vein and cause a stroke.My GP didn't think that it would or could.Thanks again for the info!