How long have you had yours? I had to have one placed after my lung collapsed and I had dropped down to about 79lbs. (!). I hated every moment of it. It was placed last August, and I had it removed last month. I just couldn't stand being "healthy" and having to deal with that thing. It stained my clothes, I was kinda allergic to the plastic, and you know about all the burning and itching. And it really affected the way I felt about myself. I was very shy about it ( I've never been shy in my life!) and didn't want to explain it to any guy that might see me w/ my shirt off. The feedings were awful too. I tried night times and was always bloated and never hungry until late the next afternoon. I tried bolus doses and it took so long that I stopped doing them. Finally I told my docs, "Look, I think it was a good idea at the time when I was sick, but I think I'm too healthy now for it to be doing any good b/c I'm just not using it".
I don't know what your specific situation is, but I do understand how bad they suck. Do they give you anything to take the edge off when you have it changed? A Vicoden or Vallium did the trick for me when I had stuff done to mine.
