I had my implant turned on on 3/15/07. My MD and I are still working to find the right settings for me and we are moving slowly and gradually forward. Often when we increase one of the settings, I experience pain or shortness of breath. I can put up with the shortness of breath, but wonder how much pain I should try to endure. If putting up with the pain will help with my TRD, then I think I could put up with a lot. But sometimes it is a bit much to tolerate. The pain is usually in the middle-to-left-side of my throat and feels like a lot of pressure or someone trying to strangle me. The pain only lasts for the length of the stimulation. Any ideas? How much is too much?
Thank you so much for any info you can provide.

:Welcome: lambay

You should not be experiancing any pain. The VNS has several adjustable settings, sometimes lowering the pulse width will make stimulation more comfortable. Often it is set @ 500 but it can be set as low as 130. From my own personal experiance, I was never able to go over 1.25 even with the pulse width at the lowest settings.

Your doctor should consult Cyberonics for more input about making your settings more comfortable. If you are in pain now, I would suggest you contact your doctor as soon as possible to make these adjustments.

Have you downloaded the Physician and Patient Manuals yet? They are an invaluable tool to have on hand.