Epidural Wearing Off?

lilmama412

When I went into labor with my first, the nurse told me to tell her when I wanted my epidural. I told her that I didn't want to get it too early and have it wear off by the time it is time to push. She just gave me a funny look, and said "Oh honey, it doesn't wear off, we just keep giving you more medicine". I was like well shit lady, hook me up right now then!! I even had a button I could push myself when I wanted it to administer more.

I hear people talking on here about their epidural wearing off, and wondering how this is possible, if they can just keep giving you more?

I was talking to a friend of mine who was in a horrible motorcycle accident a couple of years ago.He was in the hospital for months. He was talking about how he got epidurals in the hospital and they would leave them in for days at a time. And I was telling him that some people say theirs wore off, and he said that's not possible, they just give you more. Which is what I thought.

Can someone shed some light on this?

Rrrrrachel

It wears off if they don't give you more. They can also just not work right.

lilmama412

I understand some of them not working right, but why wouldn't they give you more?

Rrrrrachel

Yeah who knows. Different labors different issues different hospitals different policies.

NicoleAnne416

Mine just took then "wore off" I assume not done right. I started itching and could feel the top of my belly and then they ended up turning it down during pushing because they thought I was doing it wrong but really he was turned funny, then doctor came (had a midwife) and turned it back on. I only lost pain, not all feeling at that point. With my second, it took right and I was numb the whole way through.

RedDawnsRevenge

Mine wore off during the c/s but they didn't keep mine in for the surgery. When I hemorrhaged it took a long time to control the bleeding and close me up. I felt the last part of the surgery, when the OB was manually squeezing my ute to get the bleeding to stop. I think mine is an extreme case though.

*sparky*

With my DS, I was given an epidural and my labor stalled.  So my OB had them stop pumping in the meds so it would wear off.  Once the effects wore off my contractions started back up again and I delivered DS pretty quickly after that. 

Serendipity117

There is a thing called a "walking epidural", intrathecal I think. I had one with both kids. These do wear off after a certain amount of time because it's just a one shot thing, also it's not as strong as your traditional epidural. I want to say duration is 4-6 hrs so timing is important.

Mine wore off with DD about an hour before I started pushing so I got to feel everything.

lilmama412

This is one of my biggest fears. I am happy to know that in most cases it is because the doctors let it wear off, now that it's just a one time thing.

katiedidthat

With my son it ran out of medication about 1/2 way through pushing, but that was because I was pushing for 3 hours and they didn't want to give me more medication during that stage of labor in case I delivered quickly.  The midwife said afterwards that if they'd known I'd push for so long they certainly would have given me more. 

AmberLiz99

Mine started to wear off soon before I started to push.  I chose not to push it any more because I liked knowing when to push without having the nurses tell me (despite the pain:) )

KatieKim0815

It doesn't work for some people. So that's one thing to consider. 

When you get closer to pushing they stop it because you have to be able to feel yourself push so the pain comes back a little but you're so close to the end at that point. 

My rule is never to get it before 4cm because I heard that it can stall you a little bit. I don't know about it wearing off though.

AcaAwkward

The epidural catheter stays in your spine so, yes, they can push more meds into you if it starts to wear off. But in some cases, the epidural just doesn't take (maybe it's administered incorrectly, maybe it's just one particular woman's reaction to it, etc -- there are different reasons this could happen). Or the care providers don't feel comfortable pushing more meds due to how labor is progressing (mom can't push properly bc of numbness, labor is progressing quickly, etc).

Basically, there are no guarantees!

amhah09

Either it doesn't take properly for some people (like with my second delivery) or they intentionally let it wear off for more effective pushing (like with my first delivery) but typically, yes, it's an on-demand delivery system to a certain extent.

RILEYJM12

My sister in laws wore off because the dumb nurse didn't change the bag! So keep an eye on that!;)

Momof8inSC

Depends on the kind you get. With my first two I had epi. My hospital does not do the pump kind where u push a button every so often to get more meds, nor do they administer more. Mine wore off with my first. There was no getting more. Not even an option. Second one I waited until 7cm and I was fine. Third baby didn't work and they wouldn't do anything or redo it so I went natural. After that, all natural or c sections. All depends on hospital.

LEIGHLOVE09

KatieKim0815 said:

It doesn't work for some people. So that's one thing to consider. 

When you get closer to pushing they stop it because you have to be able to feel yourself push so the pain comes back a little but you're so close to the end at that point. 

My rule is never to get it before 4cm because I heard that it can stall you a little bit. I don't know about it wearing off though.

I got my epi at 3cm and it went soooo quick! Next thing I knew I was 7 then pushing baby out in 20 min! Definitely didn't stall me

myschlove

I had a csection and for that they give you a spinal block, which is a total epidural, compared to one where you can control the medication. i was scared of that happening but it did not. i had a drama free experience with that and i highly recommend one! when she first put it in i felt numbing more on one side than the other, i told her right away and she made a tiny adjustment (that i didn't feel) and it was instantly fixed. I could still tell that my body was moving or being touched but she pinched me to show me the difference and explain that there is a difference in the sensation of movement and pain. i had no pain! (well, until the csection recovery, but thats a different issue)

i do know with labor that it can sometimes slow things down... however some women find that it speeds things up if they were in so much pain before that the epidural let their body relax enough to progress! Im planning a VBAC this time and i will def ask for one!

WhiMiMa

Mine wore off before pushing (yikes!) and I guess the nurses didn't believe me. When dr started sewing me up she noticed my struggle and then got the anesthesiologist to give me another dose. My advice is to speak up if you think it's wearing off and don't take no for an answer, I def won't!

Kayrock18

I had an epi for the 1st time November for my cerclage. I was scared and nervous but once they got started everything was nice and quick. My only concern is the after effect. I was so itchy, I thought I was going to die. My skin felt like it was on fire! It was the worst experience. They said they gave me Benadryl, which I know couldn't be true. (In my mind at that time) Now thinking,I assume they probably couldn't give me as much because of side effects to the baby. Has anyone else had such a bad reaction? Or am I alone?

RedDawnsRevenge

@kayrock18 I had an extreme burning/ pins and needles feeling after they placed the epidural until it wore off. I could see how it might feel like a horrible itching feeling. If I have to have a 2nd emergency c/s I'm going to request general anesthesia.

ksulli

I let mine wear off by not pushing the button enough. I wanted to keep it light so I could still control & move my legs, but at some point I got 'behind' and it wore off. The button only lets you get more every 10 minutes (no need to worry about ODing yourself), so I needed the anesthesiologist to home back & push more meds at one time for it to catch back up with me letting it wear down so much. That was totally my doing though. Then I let it wear off again by the time I was pushing, which my OB didn't realize when she went to stitch me up- she gave me a shot to numb the local area and holy crap did that hurt. Had I let her know, they would have done something topical first.

ashcole28

I got mine at 6cm and it lasted during the whole process. My bestie/SIL said hers wore off before she started to push.

ragdoll12

Mine wore off because the first anesthesiologist didn't position it correctly. I was only numb on half my body, so they turned it up. But they turned it up too much, and I was having trouble breathing. So they eventually took it out and got a different anesthesiologist to put one back in. No problems after that.

Lovelife14

Mine became less effective after a few hours. I told the nurse and the anesthesiologist came to increase the amount I was receiving.

SoulTermination

Friend of mine had an epidural for her second child's birth, and it was placed so incorrectly that her entire left leg went numb. =/ Epidurals scare me.