My pain doctor who is prescribing me my tramadol and Lyrica is considering a spinal cord stimulator as a possible way to control this. Does anybody know anything about using a spinal cord stimulator for RLS? I tried doing a search on here but nothing came up.
Spinal cord stimulator for RLS? - Restless Legs Syn...
Spinal cord stimulator for RLS?
Hi there was a member some years ago who I think has now left had one, she was from Sweden. If I remember correctly it was implanted to help severe back pain but as a bonus it helped her RLS. It isn't a generally accepted treatment for RLS. I guess you would be having it implanted for a spinal problem not specifically for RLS. If it is purely for RLS I would contact Dr Buchfuhrer for his opinion. He can be reached by email by going to rlshelp.org and tapping the small yellow box on the left hand side of the page. He is a RLS expert so would know if there's been any studies etc on this butI very much doubt it. Good luck xCORRECTION THE LADY I AM REFERRING TO HAD A MORPHINE PUMP NOT A SPINAL CORD STIMULATOR
Hi I have had a spinal neuro stimulator for a bladder condition for the last 10 years and it hasn’t improved my RLS, sorry to say. At one time I contacted my surgeon re the possibility of a connection but she was unaware of this
Hello bugsycat, i have a bladder condition which means I cannot empty my bladder without a catheter, no one can tell me why.
Hi there,
The research looks promising and here is a link to that person. It seems to be called a spinal morphine pump.
nationalpainreport.com/stor...
Very small research study:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/1...
Thank you Ureshi!
No I haven’t. Curious to know if it works as I have low back pain too
Another distractor, but invasive, with possible side effects? A pity that more doctors don't look for the cause, rather than find different solutions for the symptoms.
I have one and it does nothing for my rls.
I bought a small, consumer grade TENS (Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) unit. These are commonly used to help with pain and they can work well for some uses. I bought it for my restless leg condition.
The results were interesting. They did control, to a small extent, the uncomfortable feeling of restless legs. But after a short time the jerking, the restlessness and even the uncomfortable sensation came back, redoubled or triple.
I'm not sure on what principle this spinal units work. But if it is anything like the then it will just be working with the symptoms.
I read that the tens machine stimulates the endorphins...then your body shuts down
its natural endorphin system...and things get worse.
I tried a TENS unit for RLS . The first night I was convinced I found the silver bullet. Whenever it was "ON" there were no problems, and when it timed out after an hour they returned (and woke me up). Small price to pay I thought. So the next night I tried it again, and guess what,. It didn't work at all and made the symptoms worse. Go figure.
I have a lumbar spinal cord stimulator for neuropathic pain in my legs following two spinal fusions. I have the burstDR technology that hit the market in August 2016. It is the one where you do not have paresthia (tingling feeling). It has helped some. When I have mild attacks, I only feel the RLS in my arms. Prior to the SCS I never had a single episode where I feel it in my arms only. However, when I get my full body RLS attacks where I feel like I want life to end, I then feel it in my legs too. I had one last night. It didn’t occur to me to switch the setting to the tonic mode (where you feel the tingling). Next time it happens, I will try it and report here. The cost of a SCS is $100,000 (in the US). I can’t imagine getting insurance to cover for RLS. There are risks involved with the SCS and with the modest improvement, I wouldn’t recommend. Hope this helps. If I find significant relief on tonic setting, I will let you know.