"Last February, I got a brand new spinal cord stimulator that offers me a huge amount of pain relief. I could suddenly work all day. I could go to my kid's graduation. I could feel the outsides of my feet! But in my heart of hearts, what I really wanted was to stop seeing my pain doc. Before I go on, I want to acknowledge two things:"
"1) It took years to find a pain doc who trusts me as a reporter of my own experience, and it was mostly luck that got me there; and 2) even though I found a good provider, I hated having to haul myself to the clinic every 28 days to pee in a cup and be reminded that the synthetic opioid I took had the potential to be extremely addictive."
"But I digress. The point is that the minute I realized my stimulator helped, I began weaning myself off the meds and never looked back, thrilled with my results. Prior to the stimulator, even on the meds, I was living daily life between a pain level of 5-6. After the stimulator, most days were more like a 3-4; I could use ibuprofen and ice to control the pain, and I felt incredibly free. Drug-free, clinic-free, doctor-free."
A person received a spinal cord stimulator that produced substantial pain relief, enabling daily work, attending events, and feeling normal sensations in the feet. The stimulator allowed tapering off opioids and reduced typical pain levels from 5–6 to 3–4, with occasional use of ibuprofen and ice. Frequent monthly clinic visits for opioid monitoring caused resentment and medical trauma. Despite believing opioids require caution, the person notes clinically supervised users face lower risk than illicit users. After being contacted by the device company for follow-up, the person avoided clinic return while acknowledging the need for periodic device adjustments and the complexity of care.
Read at Psychology Today
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