I am lucky in that I dont have constant pain.I am a below the knee amputee and a couple times a day I do get the tingling or the sharp cramps in my stump.I still sometimes feel like my foot is there also.I dont see how anyone who isnt an amputee cannot believe in phantom pain.I think if a person hasnt lived in our position then thye have no right to judge or call us crazy or whatever.I hope you get to feeling better soon.

Man O Man my phantom pain is bad at the moment. I wish the person sticking the pin in my foot would give me a break. The worse thing is, all I want to do is hold my foot or rub it to make it feel better and I can't.

Apart from the phantom pain, which I hope to get on top of soon, I am doing fine. Only 2 weeks after my operation, I had my staples and my stitches out today.

I have alot of tingles in my leg, but I don't have serious pain. I think that I may just have a really high pain tolerance. I don't like to take pain pills because I hate being in a fog. But I have found nuerotin works really well for nerve pain without leaving the foggy feeling. I do find that I get alot of muscle cramps and it feels kind of like I have a charlie horse. Someone told me the other day that I should just wiggle my toes, I was lie oh okay!

#1 Phantom pain is NOT IN YOUR HEAD -- you do NOT DREAM it up. IT IS REAL!!!!
#2 Non-amputees will NEVER understand phantom pain.
Need I say more?
Any way, I will. :) Phantom pain is your brain sending signals to the part of your body that is not there to keep functioning, as it always had in the past. I have found there is a difference between phatom pain and phantom sensation. Phantom pain is the sharp knife stabs running down your "leg" that can come on in an instant. Phantom sensation is how I describe it, is like when your real foot starts to fall asleep and you get a tingly senation. I use to have TERRIBLE phantom pain for months after my surgery. I ended up going to a pain clinic at the univeristy hosp where my surgery was done. They tried diff. tests on my and found a medication that worked, but made me drasically gain weight. Needless to say, I weaned myself off of that ASAP. I currently do not have phantom PAIN but i believe i will ALWAYS have phantom sensation, the tingly feeling that i feel in my phantom leg. it feels like my andkle and foot are still there, kinda like they've fallen asleep. i live w/ this sensation daily, that it has become a normal part of my life that i don't even think about any more b/c it's just always been there since my surgery. I wish you the best and hope my now you've found some more help with this matter.

Your husband is way off base! Phantom pain is very real, and no know triggers seem to be expalined in any resources I have had. Not just phantom pain, but sensations in general. I get the urge to scratch an itch on my left foot, which has been gone since April of this year. I get leg cramps, in the missing part of the leg. Short of hacking off the limb of another in order to make them understand, I can't see much help. As for relieving the pains, I found that elevating the remaining part of the limb helps me. Not getting over tired also helps.

After reading LindaPoet's entry I am reminded of having "itches" that weren't there that was very annoying to try to scratch when there was nothing to scratch. One thing I was going to mention in my last entry here, was.... I know this sounds VERY WIERD and it may not work for everyone, but at times it did for me, is to sit on the couch, floor, bed, or wherever and take your hands and literally massage or scratch the empty air where your missing body part use to be and look at the area while you're doing it. Also massaging or scratching your other foot/leg/arm that's still there sometimes worked too. I know it sounds way wierd and may not work for you but I think by doing that, it's shooting messages to the brain to make that pain or itch go away. Worth a shot.....

Try Motrin. 800 mg dose. It works on the nerves and eases inflamation. Losing a limb is a tremendous insult to the nervous system, actually far worse than your body itself, if you can believe it. When I lost my leg (back in the stone ages it seems ;-)) I had a serious laceration on my stump (20" long) as well which scrambled the nerves even further. I could not sleep, as every time I relaxed the tingling creepy-crawlies would start along with steady stabs of pain. At the time, I did not know about Motrin (wish I did) but I used aspirin to a pretty good effect. I still take motrin once in a while when I get cramps or twinges (31 yrs and I still get them, occasionally) and it works really well. Tell you husband the next time he has a toothache that it is all in his head. In actuality the pain and its intensity and nature is very similar. That is my humble opinion. Two other things I used to do was I massaged my stump several times a day with a lotion, or cocoa butter, to stimulate circulation, and to soothe the nerves. I also liked to soak it in a hot bath. Additionally, I found a pressure point, ala accupressure, that instantly relieved the symptoms. It was up near my inner hip in a position opposite of your appendix (my loss was my left left). That helped also. Pain killers were and still are useless. It takes so much that I would end up loopy and ultimately fall asleep. Hang in there!

I have phantom pains everyday. www.nepknowmore.ca. not sure if this will explain it to him. I still try to rub use it and rub it . tingles. stapping...burning. tighening. twisting.itches .I rub other arm or hold remaining part tight.( has been helpful for me at times.ITS NOT IN YOUR HEAD...TELL HIM WHEN HE IS SICK OR COMPLAINS ( ITS ALL IN HIS HEAD...)

www.nepknowmore.com sry.. look there you'll find it explains alot of things.

Hey Shirley! I'm on both Neurontin and Elavil for my phantom pain. It seems to control most of the stinging that I experience during the day but when I lie down at night it seems to get worse. Sometimes it gets to the point that I can't sleep (which drives me crazy!). I sent my doc a text message and he told me to increase the Elavil (I sure hope it works because this phantom pain is wiping me out!).

boy, oh boy..... i sure remember those days or should i say nights.... of no sleep due to extreme and harsh phantom pain. i realize it may be hard to see now, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and for me the phantom pain gradually went away and all i deal w/ now is phantom sensation.

I honestly can't remember the harsh phantom pains, but I do tend to get the pin pricks when I over exert myself. I just take a few motrin when it gets too unbearable and rub my stump. I have been an amputee my entire life and I just can't imagine myself with an entire left leg, even though I had one for a hour after my birth before it was amuptated.

As the wife of an amputee I know about the phantom pain and I also know its NOT in your head. I can see the pain in my husbands face and eyes. Some days are worse than others.

Yay Robin!!! What a wonderful blessing you must be to him!

My husband got his leg in April and says that when he stands on it...he can actually feel his foot. Its amazing! He also said that that helps to better walk.