Has anybody experienced a bad reaction to the epidural?

[MrsStutler]

I really want to attempt to have this baby naturally (no pain meds/epidural) for a few reasons:
1. Personal preference (and DH promised me I can have a tiny trophy made up afterwards if I succeed.)
2. My mom had nothing with me...and well...I'm at least that strong

but the biggest is I am terrified of the epidural and a possible negative reaction. When I was 14 I had a spinal tap done and had an awful reaction, possibly to the local anesthetic used. My entire body would twitch and spasm (my arms would jump up off the bed) and I couldn't stop shaking for several hours. I never want to have that experience again in my life if I can avoid it. A spinal tap of course isn't the same exact thing as an epidural but I'm worried that if I do give in and ask for the epidural I may end up with this awful reaction which would totally ruin the birth for me.

Has anyone experienced that kind of reaction with an epidural? Any advice on alternatives?

 

[FeistyMom]

I'm also planning on an unmedicated birth, but I'm worried about a potential induction and c-section, and wondering if an epidural might be a good option. But I am terrified of the procedure too, so I'll be stalking this thread!

 

[IHrtSteve]

I highly recommend the epi. Even the injection was not that bad at all. I was very worried about the injection. The effect of the drug was fabulous for pain relief and it didn't hinder the pushing either. Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[aliss]

For me, the epidural severely impaired my pushing and labouring, my son had severe shoulder dystocia and I could not perform certain maneuvers to help get him out. The doctor ended up breaking his collarbone to get him out.

Me, no, no personal issue with the epidural but it can cause major problems if you run into shoulder dystocia (which I admit, is rare, but serious).

 

[baskinps]

is thre an option where you can use just a slight amount of med from the epi? I heard that you can have a modified amount so you can still feel the pushing.

 

[aliss]

is thre an option where you can use just a slight amount of med from the epi? I heard that you can have a modified amount so you can still feel the pushing.

Yes, at least here in Canada, they give you a thing that is basically a trigger gun (like a video game arcade!) and you can top it up when you feel you need to - there is an automatic control so that you don't overdose yourself.

 

[Bunnipowder]

I had a bad experience with epidural firstly I never felt the contractions after so had no idea when to push and as it was my first reallly how to push without feeling the pain to encourage you. My baby also had shoulder dystocia he was a big baby.

The biggest problem for me was when they done they epidural they went a layer to far than they should of leaving me with a severe headache and sickness. My baby was on NNU where he later passed away and to me the epidural robbed me of precious time with him so I would never put myself in that situation again. In the end on my babys last day they took some blood from my hand to put into my back which sorted me out almost ASAP if only they had done this the first day and not 5 days later.

 

[Pretty Please]

Hi, I was induced and emergency c section therefore no option. However, back to back so painful and epi was great. However now if I bend down or get up I can feel the exact spot like a sharp twinge where the epi was in my back to the spot. Not too bad but weird how u can feel it 5 months later and slightly painful for 20 seconds Wish I would of known that ......

 

[LorelaiLana]

Just was induced n delivered 2 days ago...used gas n air thru induction pain got killer backaches, n uptill 6cm n epidurL procedure...amazing stuff...felt cold...take warm blankets...hospital ones even in layers didn't warm me up.. but tolerable...then during forceps in theatre was topped up with spinal...that took the shivers to a whole new level...had jaw pain from all the shivering n demanded painkillwr in labour for that...funny now but not then...still Wud take epudural next time...

And my BP kept dropping..and the staff upped the fluids and continuously monitored n managed it throughout...not something that I noticed with all the other things going on..
Now I do wonder if I Wud not have needed forceps if I just kept pushing with gas n air since at 7 I did had the urge to push tthan at 10 on epi

 

[MikaylasMummy]

I had a bad reaction from a spinal block that was done with an epi needle.but spinal blocks go in further and cos the needle is bigger it left an open hole that leaked spinal fluid which gave me spinal headaches.but as I said that was a spinal block no epi just done with the same needle

 

[Wantingbbbump]

I had a very bad reaction to having a epidural!! My baby and I almost died!! My bp dropped way too low and my heart was stopping and that was killing not only me but my baby. They had to give me shots to get my heart going. That happened with my oldest daughter and my son. My other 2 I didn't get it. With my son they had to turn it off so my heart would go right. I have been told that I can't ever have one again. I have also had a spinal headache that was so bad i felt like my head was going to burst. I have had 3 babies now with nothing and it's really not that bad. Yes it hurts but if you stay calm and don't tense up it's really not that bad. You also have more control during pushing and after. You can get up and I didn't feel sick after giving birth like I did with my daughter. Shoot I had to push for 2hrs with a epi and without one I had the babies out in no more than 5 pushes. My 2nd daughter was out in 2 pushes. Nobody can make this choice for you but you. Just know that very bad things can happen. If you have faith in yourself and your labor coach then I really think that you could do it without a epi. I felt great and empowered because I did it with no drugs. I don't want to take the easy way out with this baby either. (not that I can so bring on the pain) Oh and the good thing is the moment the baby is out you 100% forget the pain, all you know is that it hurt.

 

[AimeeM]

I have low BP and both times the epi has made it go too low. They sorted it with a drip of saline I think it was but the initial feeling of your BP going too low is awful. You can actually feel yourself slipping away and it is a scary feeling. I was going to go without this time but I have to have a section and im scared of having this drop during the op.

 

[daffire]

Had Epi for both my boys and everything went well. Did not have any problem with the pushing as I felt it when I needed to push (a very specific pressure) and it was instinctual. First one thought I would try without but changed my mind during labour, second one requested the EPI from the begining but had to wait for it. For me it made all the difference from an experience from hell to an enjoyable event. Was able to walk around within hours of delivering. But there is a risk attached to Epi like everything else...

 

[windbloom]

With my son I was induced and successfully delivered him vaginally with an epidural. The epi never caused me any problems with pushing him out, however afterwards for about an hour or so I was really shakey... I didnt feel cold but my teeth were chattering and my arms and legs were shaking like a leaf on a tree. It freaked me out a bit (and poor DH) at the time, but everything was alright in the end.

All in all, I went into the whole thing saying an epidural wasnt off the table, but I wanted to try and go without. After 5 hours without, I had had enough and opted for it, and boy was I glad I did... it made the rest of my labour much more enjoyable

Best wishes!!

 

[Feathers]

I had an epidural at 5cm and honestly it was great. I was really worried about the procedure before but the pain relief it gave was amazing. And better than that, I could still kind of feel my legs etc and move them which was something I had been worried about. I had no side effects from it and could feel for pushing. The worst part was keeping still for putting it in through the contractions, but I was so paranoid about things going wrong there was no way I was moving at all lol!

However my labour didn't go smoothly and they put in the spinal through the epidural for ventouse/emergency c-section which numbed me totally and I didn't like as much. Still didn't have any odd side effects though, it was just odd to not feel like my legs etc belonged to me then. I had a bruise where the needle had gone in but that was it afterwards.

If you have to have it or decide to go for it then don't worry too much. Looking back I'm not sure why I was so worried about having one before I did!

 

[hattiehippo]

I had an epidural after being sure I wouldn't have one when planning my labour and birth. I had severe pre-eclampsia and the epidural was given to drop my bp and I was more than happy to have it as I was going to have to labour and give birth lying in bed due to all the drips etc.

Mine was a mobile epi where you still have some movement in your legs and you can top it up if you need to. The only problem I had was it wore off on the left side after about 10 hours and by the time I was pushing it had stopped working altogether and I could feel everything again.

I have had some problems with my left leg following it - I had a bad limp for 2 weeks after Tom was born and my knee would give way. He's 21 months now and mostly its ok but I do get numbness when I lie on my left leg for a long time and there's a couple of small numb patches on my legs.

 

[MikaylasMummy]

oh yeah and with the spinal tap i had no feeling in my left butt cheek for about 6months..lol

 

[reshi88]

i had the epi and it was the best thing ever for me,laying on the bed as if i wasnt even in labour anymore and that was great after 48hours of labour already,had no problems pushing either,doing it this time for sure again =)

 

[June2012]

This is not exactly a bad reaction but maybe one of the side effects of epidural.

I was very thirsty and drank a soft drink. Without any warning I vomited all over the bed. Poor stn mw had to clean me up and change the linen.

In general I had no other problem with epi

 

[Caroline:-)]

I didn't have a bad reaction to it, but it just didn't really work for me! I had it because labour stopped progressing and they put me on the syntocinon drip to get things going again... and recomended I had an epi because the pain would be much worse (already bad as I'd been induced in the 1st place!). But after all the fuss of getting the epi done, it didn't stop my pain as the worst of the pain was right in my bottom and it just didn't reach it! So I was still stuck at the end coping with g&a!