Hello Dee, I am also dealing with severe nerve pain. There are alot of different meds that deal with nerves right now I am on neurotin and when it works it is great. But it also takes along time to start working. I am in the process of getting my dose increased. As far as information about prosthetics I went to all the different ones in my area and gathered all the papers I could get before I decided who I was going to have building my leg.

I have had nerve blocks before and they work great once they are in. If you get a good person who knows what to look for its not bad. They do work. Its just when they put the needle in your neck 20 times to find the right nerve. But the guy that was doing mine was new at it I hope your person is better than mine. Another thing is that was about 10 yrs ago maybe things have advanced. Good luck

As far as phantom pain you can just rub your arm with a warm clothe It helped me to use a sheep skin clothe.

I hope this helps you. Just keep your head up and stay positive it will get better. It just takes time........Dave

Hello Dee, I have to agree with sir Dave. I know for me many different types of fabrics work well. I have Bobbi (wife) rub my stump with them and wow it helps for that moment. I had nerve blocks done in my lower bak and they didn't help at all. But eveyone is differnt, it may for u. Phantom pain is very difficult to grasp. I still get it and get it a lot. Not sure if it will ever go away. I wish it wud. Let me know what works for u, maybe it will help me. Take care

hey Dee,

I totally understand the Phantom pain. Some stay it is for life but it reduces with time. Like when I got amputated - oh was it a HELL? now i still get it but its not so much. What works for me is, btw am a right aka. I would just try and calm my left leg and wherever the pain was in the right phantom leg. Surprisingly it worked. Like if my right missin knee hurts, I would just try and massage my left (fully-there..lol) knee. and within minutes am at ease. Pain medications never worked for me. my be it was sycological, but I felt more pain after the medication. thats just me, cuz i sweat when it snows... LOL. you know what else, dont "THINK" about the pain so much. stay busy and distracted. the more youre idle and thinkin abt it, they more you feel ure getting it - and guess what, then u get it. Well I hope ure pain goes away sooner than you think. Good luck with everything and God bless. Hugs and kisses back atcha... Much love,

Hi Dee:

Phantom pain...uggh. I recall it being quite bothersome in the beginning and believe it or not after 29 years if I overdo it (walking non-stop for 8 hours when I work with my hubby) the phantom sensation makes it difficult to sleep sometimes.

Whoever said, rub the other leg/foot was right...it works.

I never used a stump shrinker...only ace bandages. If the shrinker/ace bandage is too tight...your stump might throb and/or get numb and tingly. Re-wrap it loser. Likewise, new stumps like to feel secure so if your bandage/shrinker is too lose...make it a little snugger.

When I was still in the rehab hospital this is what I started to help me get to sleep. First off, I sleep on my stomach 99% of the time. So, I would lay on my stomach and gently life my good leg up slightly from the knee down and let it fall to the bed repeatedly. Put me to sleep everytime and got my mind off of the phantom sensations.

Another thing that I do almost nightly is I simply rock my good foot back and forth...this too interferes with and covers up any phantom sensations so that I can fall asleep easily.

The more you handle your stump, the quicker it will become desensitized and that too should help with reducing phantom pains.

Its been 29 years for me and I still have phantom sensation that my limb is whole and I'm glad about that. I can only recall feeling like my lower leg was missing once and it felt really creepy.

Just in case this applies: Smoking marijuana increases phantom pain/throbbing! Booze or pills will numb it but they are no good for your body. =)

Do you know why a dentist pinches and shakes your cheek when he is going to give you an injection in your gums? Because the pinching and shaking gets to the brain faster than a little needle prick and thus you don't even feel the needle prick. Ah...the mind can be tricked! =)

hi dee,
i became a bilateral aka on 6/6/6 fairly recently...had a lot of problems with phantom pains until fairly recently..
may God give u the strength to deal with your pain.
but more to come about that later...
for my PLP i was prescribed cybmalta, but due to its ill effects, and potential for long term need, i switched over to Neurontin (im not sure i spelled that right). it started at 100mg 4 times daily, and gradually went up o 600mg 4 times. i started freaking out at this point cuz i was nearing the maximum allowable dosage for it. I started skipping doses in an attempt to weaned myself off the drug and got severe restlessness. at one point i went 4 days without any rest...but eventually i started improving...ive stopped taking it completely for the last 6 months. i do get bouts of PLP occasionally but for the most part i am free of it. i had several side effects, but am not sure which were caused by what drug. For 18 months i was pumped up with a variety of stuff. But it is all behind me now. I'm sure you will not have to deal with it much longer. stay strong and try to occupy ur self with anything else when u feel the pain coming on.
may God be with u.
ps the active ingredients name is gaba-pentyn