Re: Question on DBS STN generator implant

[Dick Swindler <DSwind2940@xxxxxxx>]

Jane -

Another question for you.  Can you always tell for sure whether the
stimulator is off or on?  Dick had bilateral pallidal stimulations, and like
many other pallidal stim patients, couldn't always tell whether he'd gotten
his stimulator turned off or on.  I didn't know whether it would be more
noticeable with the STN or not.

One hint we picked up from the first patient in the US to have the pallidal
stim (Dick was the third) was to buy a cheap transistor radio.  By turning
the sound down as far as it will go and holding it up to his stimulators, he
can tell by the static whether he's turned off or on.  The static is much
louder when the stimulator is on.  If STN recipients also have trouble with
this, the radio is an el-cheapo aid.

For those who wonder what good DBS does if one can't tell if the stimulator
is on - it just takes some time for the symptoms to show up when the
stimulator is off.  Also, some-thing about having the electrodes in the brain
keeps his symptoms from ever getting as bad as they were pre-surgery, even
without meds and with the stimulator off.

Margie Swindler