I have turned it up quite a bit over the past 50 days and it has been at a consistent 4.0 for about 2 weeks now. I could feel it a bit but it did not hurt so I went with it. My doctor put me on a low dose of meds to try and help control the OAB even better but the meds did not help. I am totally happy with the InterStim as I am about 70% better then I was before the surgery but of course I am looking for 100%.
I got out of the shower and had this annoying urge to have a bowel movement. It was weird, it was a pressure that was a little uncomfortable and I thought it was weird because I had had a couple already today. It did not feel right when I tried and I could feel the pulsating of the InterStim more than usual and I just felt like I needed to turn it off while I tried to use the restroom. I turned it off and after about 30 seconds the sensation went away. I turned it back on and the sensation to have a BM came back and so did the pulsating so I turned it off again.
I called my doctor and they lead me to the Medtronic rep who had me turn my InterStim down from 4.0 to 1.0. He said that it was most likely up to high and it was making my nerves go all funky. He told me that one of 3 things would happen. I would have the same outcome as I did no 4.0 or it would be worse, or it will be better….duh! Isn’t there always 3 options, seriously!
Well anyway, it has been about 5 hours since I turned it down and I have been pretty much the same as I was earlier today minus the uncomfortable feeling. The rep told me that if I need to turn it up .5 to wait it least 48 hours to do so to give my body a break. He also talked me through the 4 different programs that are on my InterStim remote so if this program does not work before 4.0 I can switch to any other program and check it out til I find the perfect one for me.
Interstim Therapy for Urinary Control : Educational Video for Patients (Dvd)
I am still happy with my interStim as it is working great but can’t wait to see if it can work AWESOME!