My son has a spinal cord injury and a Baclofen pump. He has been having trouble with spacticity. Please help
12 yrs ago he received a C6,C7 incomplete injury. He has had a Baclofen pump for a few years. He just received a new one because the old one malfunctioned. A couple of months ago he began having spasms and "weird itching" all over his body. The doctor tried increasing the Baclofen the pump was putting out, but it didn't help. Then he even tried adding Baclofen pills, but the doctor theorized the pump would ebb and then surge. My son took one of the pills as instructed and at the same time the pump surged. He got an overdose and nearly died. He stopped taking the pills (it frightened him), but the pump malfunctioned again, and stopped breathing again. So, they replaced the pump a few weeks ago. The first couple of weeks his spasms were under control, but now they have started again. He is about at the end of his rope. They keep upping the dosage. He got the pump plus the tube that goes to the spinal cord replaced. They did an MRI on his neck, but no abnormalities. Pleas help
Answers:
I'm a bit confused about the timeline here. It sounds like he has a bad pump, so are you saying he just had that replaced and it's still happening, or that it was happening and since then, you had the pump replaced?
The ebb and surge of the pump might indicate that it's not working right. I'd have it looked at by another doctor, possibly in another city, if you haven't already.
Baclofen pumps are usually a temporary solution until physical therapy or another solution presents itself. Is he undergoing any other treatment at this time?
FWIW, Injuries above T-7 increase the likelihood of side effects, so I wouldn't worry about the itching--it's a known side effect of the drug, and completely normal. ANNOYING AS HELL, but normal.
Hi mountaindew25,
To be honest I don't know anything about Baclofen pump but thought you might try http://www.webmd.com/. I lost my 12 year old son almost 9 years ago so I know what your going through. Good Luck to you and your family: Blueladybug :-)
P.S. Please over look this_is_a_du. He's a 13 year old boy who likes to use Yahoo as a toy. God Bless
My little sister has hersprung's disease and hydrocephalus. (her intestines are 6inches and she has water on the brain) I really dont have much advise for what your going through. but I just want to let you know that everything will be okay. Shes 13yrs. old and has 15 surgeries. 11 of them the first year of her life. but give him a squeeze for me and no matter what happens, God will be there for you!
I would suggest that he see a neurologist. If he has had surgery on his spine it could very well be pinched nerves of some sort. Is he having any kind of physical therapy? He should be.
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