I just read this article about phantom pain,it says that between 50 and 80 percent of people who lost a limb will experience some form of phantom pain.Before all the research doctors are doing for phantom pain,amputees were considered kind of crazy for feeling this pain.Now doctors are saying this pain is connected with your central nervous system.Your brain is still receiving signals that the limb you loss is still there.So now amputees can relax you are not crazy.

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Derrick Lewis

Yes this is so true ..Thank God we are not crazy !! It is your nerve system that causes this Ive did a lot of research on this after i lost my leg cause i never was told about this before i lost my leg well they didnt had time to tell me anything before they took my leg . Some or luckier than others they dont have as bad pain or as many , they told me its according on how much pain you was in before and when you lost your leg . Its just something we will have to live with rest our lifes and make the best of it as we can . But never ever give up ! Stay Strong !

Anyone or all would you decribe your Panthom Pains and how they affect you ? and if and how it affects you in your life ? How your pain is since youve lost leg ? How below knee amputation is different than above knee ? Im A/K and A/K is not allowed to drive with amputtation above knee either we drive with other leg or get attachemnt on car . Below knee can drive cause you have your knee to control movement of , theres alot of differnce between the two amputations even with the panthom pains . I will post my dealing with when members post thank you

Hello fellow Amps! Well i'll chime in on this. I had my bk amputation back in April of this year. In the beginning I had the normal "my ankle itches" phantom pains(pp). With in a month that went away but was replaced with the "man I can feel my toes moving". Now after about 6 months I still have them daily, not as bad but there still there. I have been prescribed Gabapenton (spelling) which is used as a nerve blocker but it honestly doesn't do a thing. To be very blunt and honest I smoke pot. Yes, I know we all have our views on this subject but for me it works. No I don't have to smoke hourly, usually just at night to help me sleep where in the past I would take pain pills and wake up groggy and disoriented. Now I wake up as normal with no side effects. This works for me but not everybody. I live in Georgia in which there are no medical marijuana laws but have pondered the thought of moving to Colorado or California where I could get my meds legally. I don't drive with my new leg yet, I use a left foot accel. adapter which has been a life saver. I was able to go back to driving a month after surgery long before I received my new leg, which was very mentally helpful just being able to get myself around without help. It was a quick install (15 mins.) and has done wonders for my mental state shortly sfter surgery. Now that I have gotten accustom to the l.f. pedal I don't know if I will go back. It just comes natural after a while. Well good luck all i'll stop rambling but remember we are not crazy! Well im a little off but nothing to do with the amputation....lmao

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Ron

I lost my leg in June of 04, I have never lost the sensation, my leg feels like it was never cut off. Only injured. I have pain from my foot feeling like it has been folded in half. My toes cramp, I sprain my ankle and actually have to get off my feet because of the feeling it is injured. I have horrible nerve burning, it doesnt let up. I have resorted to a proceedure called Rhisotomy. forgive me for spelling. It is where they use a metel probe to find out what makes you jump, then when they have the right nerve the burn it. It is an uncomfortable procedure but some what effective. It last 8 to 18 months. it at least decreases the burning tingling sensation. I sincerly have no idea why they use the term "Phantom" that term makes it sound like it is not real. Im here to tell you Im on the high end of the "Phantom Pain" scale. I try to live my life like it doesnt exist but reality it wears me down after a while. It tends to rule activities. I have mostly returned to my normal life, I require pain meds to do so. I hate that fact but reluctantly accepted that I have to. I have met a few Amputees in my area but no one seems to have the pain part of it. Perhaps it is due to my leg being severed during the accident. who knows. thanks for listening, and I look forward to learning how others deal with "Phantom Pain" Red

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Red

See, I never thought I was crazy, pain is pain, regardless of whether doctors can identify the source or not.

hello all.I am new so here is my story.In jan of this year I had my left knee replaced.Toward the end of therapy it got to where I couldnt walk.I went to my dr and by the time they found the blood clot it was too late.I had already had a bypass done in the left in o6 and a blockage in the right which was fixed with meds.A surgeon tried a bypass but it was unsuccessful.A week later they removed my leg below the knee.I had alot of pain due to the attemted surgery,.He made 2 8 inch incisions on my right foot that were extremely painful.Now the pain was way worse than before.At the hospital my surgeion tried a nerve block.This was pretty sucessful.While at home during a transfer from wheelchair to bed I fell and landed on the stump.This was exremely painful.I am now going to a pain clinic.They have me on methadone-10mg,nuerontin600mg and oxycodone15mg.This works to some degree.I also have a TENS unit which I use alot and just finished my second nrve block.I feel I injured the nerve during the fall.I still have to have that knee replaced and hope that when they open it up they can fix it.As with the other guy a little marijuana helps.I smoke a lil before bed and it allows me to sleep.It seems to work better than anything else

Phantom pain what to say about this crazy hell of a sensation, it sucks and wish it would go away. I have a major of my pains at night and what a pain in the neck it is to try to sleep with the feeling someone has my toes with a pair of pliers I also get a sensation they someone has hooked up a stripped electric cord taped to my foot and plugs it in off and on all day long. I guess my phantom pain comes from my accident. I came off my motorcycle at 40 mph and did about 20 flips and ended up blowing my R ankle in 50 pieces and breaking my tib fib in a green tree fracture. I had 8 surgeries and had plates and screws first then a rod finally I had 5 infections start in the leg where they had to finally remove it from me. I was on oxys 80 mg a day for a year and a half and kicked that habit. I now use 2 meds by my pain Dr one is neurotin 300, and amytriptoline, they take about 4 hrs to finally knock me out after a warm shower. I hope to find a way to help with this pain soon.

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Kenneth Smith

My surgery to remove the right leg BK was Nov 30th 2010. Just about one month ago. I am still dealing with stump pain directly from the procedure and some Phantom pain as well. But I imagine it takes some time for the pain inflicted by the amputation itself to subside. Question? How long typically did you others go before the pain from the amputation itself subsided? I am hoping that once the stump becomes more or less "healed" that my overall pain levels will drop in the next month or so. Any experience the rest of you can add would be nice. I expect to get my leg some time very early in January.

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Kevin