Any one Numb from the neck down?

[Heidi]

I had an epi during labour and then they topped me up with a spinal for my c-section, i was numb from my neck down and couldn't move my arms or feel my chest rising i actually thought i wasn't breathing and panicked!

Has anyone else had this? I still dont know why i was numbed from so high up, they were making me squeeze their hand to see if it was taking effect.

 

[_jellybean_]

I only had a spinal, from the stomach down I believe. That is awful! I'm so sorry you went through that!

 

[Heidi]

Thanks, its just makes me wonder why it differs from person to person, i definitely didn't expect it

 

[KellyC75]

Oh my gosh What did the anaesthetist say??

That sounds awful ~ Sorry you had this happen

 

[missZOEEx]

yep I had that problem too!
I was numb all the way up to my neck. It was a horrible feeling...
Plus I coughed & was being sick and it was just eugh. Horrible memory!
I would honestly prefer to be completely put to sleep if I had another section. :/

 

[Heidi]

Oh my gosh What did the anaesthetist say??

That sounds awful ~ Sorry you had this happen

When i told them i couldnt breath properly they just told me i was fine and tried to give me oxygen to calm me down but it made me sick. I was breathing fine it was just no being able to feel my chest rise that made me think i wasn't,i wasn't prepared for it at all!

 

[Heidi]

yep I had that problem too!
I was numb all the way up to my neck. It was a horrible feeling...
Plus I coughed & was being sick and it was just eugh. Horrible memory!
I would honestly prefer to be completely put to sleep if I had another section. :/

Do you know why they numbed you from so high up? Sorry you had this experience too, i wish they told me what would happen!

 

[KellyC75]

Oh my gosh What did the anaesthetist say??

That sounds awful ~ Sorry you had this happen

When i told them i couldnt breath properly they just told me i was fine and tried to give me oxygen to calm me down but it made me sick. I was breathing fine it was just no being able to feel my chest rise that made me think i wasn't,i wasn't prepared for it at all!

Oh my gosh! This is really scary

Did they tell you after why/how that happened?

 

[Heidi]

^^ nope i didnt realise at the time it wasn't as common as i thought, when we finally have a 2nd child its going to be on the top of my list of questions thats for sure!

 

[tricky nicky]

you shouldnt be numbed that high up as it can affect the breathing etc. they did the spray test with me to see how high the numbing stuff was working and that it hadnt gone too high
x

 

[Squiggy]

Now see, this scares me because I have panic disorder and I always go into panic attacks that I can't breathe even when I'm breathing perfectly fine.
Telling doctors this doesn't always do anything. They often say "uh-huh..." and do what they're going to do anyway. They're very callous about everything in my opinion. At least all the ones I've come across.

I'm very sorry you went through that. That wasn't fair. This is the first I've heard it.

 

[maratobe]

I was also numb from the neck down, I didnt know that it wasn't normal. I thought that was how a spinal was done, I was having trouble breathing an was made worse by the mask, my husband was holding my hand the whole time but I couldn't feel it... It was the most disgusting feeling ever!! I never want to feel like that again!!

 

[Heidi]

I wasn't aware it wasn't normal either. It comes up on google a few times so maybe it varies on the person/situation im not sure

 

[maratobe]

Yeah I'm not sure, in my mothers group there were 6 c-sections put of 8 babies... No one else had it done like that! I would rather go under then feel it again!

 

[lawyer81]

I had a similar experience. I could fee my arms but began to think I was having difficulty breathing because the spinal had risen to my neck and throat area. The anaesthetist said at the time that I may have been given to much of the spinal drug and gave me something else to counter-act the effect. Looking back, I should have raised my concerns afterwards, particularly as she said that if the drug rises from the point of insertion to the brain then it can cause extremely serious problems!! My neck really isn't that far from my brain so really began to panic! No explanation was given to me either xxx

 

[missZOEEx]

yep I had that problem too!
I was numb all the way up to my neck. It was a horrible feeling...
Plus I coughed & was being sick and it was just eugh. Horrible memory!
I would honestly prefer to be completely put to sleep if I had another section. :/

Do you know why they numbed you from so high up? Sorry you had this experience too, i wish they told me what would happen!

No idea! I also thought that it might have just been normal for a spinal to go so high up.. but from reading this obviously it's not.

But on top of that I also had prolonged effects of the spinal. I was in recovery for 5 hours before I was allowed to meet my son because the numbing wasn't UN-numbing at the "usual pace" It's pretty horrific. & I'm so sorry we all had such a bad experience!

 

[Heidi]

^^oh god, 5 hours!! Must have been frightening, my feeling came back once i got in to recovery.
It seems that some peoples spinals weren't meant to go so high up where as with me they were obviously making sure it was going up quite high hence them making sure i couldn't move my arms its just so weird!!

I hope we all get some answers on this eventually, roll on the next pregnancy i say

 

[jenjeep7]

I had the exact same thing happened. I was convinced I couldn't breathe and was dying. I panicked and ended up passing out.
It is very scary, isn't it?

 

[Lise2901]

I had an epi during labour and then they topped me up with a spinal for my c-section, i was numb from my neck down and couldn't move my arms or feel my chest rising i actually thought i wasn't breathing and panicked!

Has anyone else had this? I still dont know why i was numbed from so high up, they were making me squeeze their hand to see if it was taking effect.

That happended to me to. I had emergancy C section and when they topped me up they topped me up to much. I was lying on the bed after my LO was born and I just started coughing and couldne breathe. I kept asking them for drink of water. They took my husband and little girl out the room and just kept telling me I couldnt and I didnt understand why

It was only after when I can calmed downa little they explained whta had happend.

 

[arnz09]

I had the same thing, anesthetist gave me waaay to much and I was numb up to my mouth! It was not not good cos I have super low blood pressure anyway and I actually passed out in recovery. Me and baby were fine in the end tho