Anyone's epidural go wrong?

amyymg

I had an epidural and my anesthesiologist punctured what he called my dermal sac. It made everything but my head numb and they had to let it wear off until I felt contractions to try again. It's also sent my blood pressure way down and I had about 10 nurses in my room trying to keep me responsive. The anesthesiologist also gave me what he called a blood patch after my emergency csection which I SWEAR made the pain meds from the section go away completely and I could feel everything until they gave me morphine.

Was this a freak thing? Should it worry me for my next child?

kaybee03

That definitely doesn't sound common. Mine was wonderful.

jen83mn

I had a great experience with mine ... I would be surprised if that same thing happened again to you!

stumpty

I had to have a blood patch after my spinal for my c-section due to fluid leaking and causing a headache. Did you have a headache or did they do the blood patch before you had the chance to notice? I wouldn't expect this to be the case in another delivery.

aleecats

It's not common, I had a long talk with my OB about the epidural at my last appointment, one of the things he told me about was what you experienced. He told me its uncommon as long as you have an experienced anesthesiologist, and that those kind of things happen once in a blue moon. I wouldn't worry about it next time and if you are tall to your OB. When I found out my fiancé couldn't be in the room when j got the epidural I told my OB I didn't want it then cause I didn't think I could handle it without him, he went one by one and told me about each anesthesiologist how long they've been doing it, how fast they can do it (it ranged. One can do it in 10 minuets, but another he said takes about 20-30 because she likes to take her time). It calmed me down I still don't know if I'll get the epi but I'm not afraid of it

Yiggle09

Mine he placed twice and it didn't make anything numb at all. Could still move my legs felt everything and I was on pitocin it was horrible.

jbettles

I think it definitely depends on your anesthesiologist!! My SIL delivered at the same hospital, same dr as me, but different anesthesiologist. She said here reeked heavily of perfume, took 6 or 7 tries before she got the epidural in correctly, and they had to change her sheets, there was so much blood from the "misses". Mine explained everything thoroughly, and took one poke and was done. I didn't bleed at all, and had very little bruising, and this when I had a contraction right in the middle of her administering it. It just depends!

AccidentlyEvil

jbettles said:

I think it definitely depends on your anesthesiologist!! My SIL delivered at the same hospital, same dr as me, but different anesthesiologist. She said here reeked heavily of perfume, took 6 or 7 tries before she got the epidural in correctly, and they had to change her sheets, there was so much blood from the "misses". Mine explained everything thoroughly, and took one poke and was done. I didn't bleed at all, and had very little bruising, and this when I had a contraction right in the middle of her administering it. It just depends!

So much this!  Mine was great. It was done first try and didn't seem to take long. The anesthesiologist even came in to check on me the next day to see how I felt and to ask how my experience was or if there was anything I'd recommend he do differently.

momofsweetps

Agree it's the anesthesiologist. I had a terrible experience with the epidural with my 2nd (after a wonderful one with my first). It was so bad and terrifying I never got one with my next 3 kids. I did get one this time due to some health reasons and it was wonderful.

chelseajeanene

My first one moved out of place because the nurses kept making me change positions. I had to get a 2nd one and had a different anesthesiologist put it in. Perfect after that

littlemama1227

I think you mean your dural sac?  That sucks!  I'm really sorry  

amyymg

After it happened my anesthesiologist said he "didn't trust me so he couldn't leave me alone" HA

They did the blood patch as a preventative because they said it would be worse to have to go to the ER with a newborn

They probably did say Dural sac my bad!

Jenten810

I had the same anesthesiologist with both deliveries. The first delivery was placed correctly the first time with no issue. The second delivery she had to place it three separate times. The first two times she hit a vessel. The third she switched to a different catheter and the placement was off at first, but then she got it in the right spot. By the time it was placed correctly, like for you, my whole body was numb up to my cheeks. My already low blood pressure dropped and I almost passed out. It took about 30 minutes for the medicine to wear off and my blood pressure to stabilize, but for the first few minutes I was a little terrified.

Knottie12323835

I had minor issues with mine. I took the anesthesiologist several tries due to my moving during a contraction, and being overweight. Anyways, my right side was MUCH more than my left. I couldnt move my toes on the right but could move my entire left leg. I ended up having a c section and only felt tugging and pressure on my lefymt. I xouldnt even feel them touch my skin on the right.

tlc11934

After DD1, I felt numbness in my spine for about 6 months, everytime I bent over it would last about 30 min. I had a bad experience with DD2. My blood pressure dropped fast and I started to pass out, DD's heart rate plummeted. They were able to stabilize me with epinephrine but my DH and mom thought I was going to die for a min. With DD3 I think I overdosed on the epi. My legs were so numb I could bend them and it took about 7 hours until I could stand again. All three times I've gotten bad headaches daily, sometimes for a month!