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Please Explain
I am really NOT trying to be sassy, so please don't flame! I genuinely am curious...
What do people mean when they say "I had an epidural but it didn't work" ?
I planned on going natural, then BEGGED for drugs, but it was too late, so I got my natural birth afterall. Next baby, I'm planning on an epidural... I think 
I am just so perplexed by people saying that it didn't work... did the doctor/anesthesiologist tell you that it didn't work? or did you just still feel things?
How can you know??
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Re: Please Explain
My mom had an epidural that only numbed one leg and she had to have it done over again. This was 13 years ago though, so things may have changed.
Mine worked very well. It started to wear off because I was in labor so long, but they just added more medicine to the thing. There was a button on mine that I pushed to add more medicine when I started getting feeling back and when it didn't work anymore I told the nurse and they changed out the bag to a new one.
But I just don't understand how you can quantify the pain with or without an epi...?
If you took a vicodin and hit yourself in the foot with a hammer, but you still felt pain, would you claim that the vicodin didn't work? How would you know what it would have felt like without anything? ?
I had two epis because the first one didn't work. I asked for the first one when I was having pitocin induced contractions that became excrutiating after my water was broke. I got the epi and everything felt the exact same. The contractions got so strong that I literally thought I would die (I'm a pain wimp though) and I had zero relief. The anthesiologist came back after 45 minutes and checked me for feeling in various areas and I still felt them all (plus it was obvious that I was in pain). I got a second epi and the relief was instant. Sometimes they just don't hit the right spot. Don't ask me where the first dose went, but it definitely didn't go where it was supposed to. I ended up having a c section and actually was still feeling some things then (mainly my organs being shoved back in) and ended up getting something magical (I don't know what) put in my IV that made it all better.
I had mine done mid-day and as the contractions got stronger the pain got worse. By the time the pain was unbearable they couldn't redo the epi and I felt everything. You'll know if it doesn't work. The dr told me I should just feel pressure...nope I felt all the pain....UGH
The anesthesiologist said there was no guarantee that it would work and that it was a hit or miss. Mine missed...
So I guess if it "works" you should feel NO pain. At all??
DANG! I'm now even more tempted to have one next time!?
BFP 12/19/08- DS born 8/25/09 9lbs2oz via Zavanelli Maneuver
BFP 8/26/11- Missed miscarriage discovered 10/19/11 at 11w2d, measured at 9 weeks gestation w/ no HB. D&C 10/21/11
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Generally, when people say the epidural didn't work, what they mean is "I was in labor, with a spinal drip that was supposed to give me anesthesia, and it still hurt like a motherf*cking sonofabitch."
Trust me, if your epi doesn't work, you don't need the anesthesiologist to inform you about it. You'll inform the anesthesiologist. You'll probably do it with a great deal of volume and a considerable amount of emotion.
My epidural worked great for eight hours. Unfortunately, I was in labor for thirteen. When I say "it stopped working", I mean "the anesthesia ceased to be effective." We turned up the medication as high as it would go but it didn't help. I was still feeling intense pain with every contraction.
Some people's legitimately do not work or stop working. But I also think it's a dosage thing for many women.
For me, it was great. It completely blocked my pain at first, but as my contractions got stronger I think that they exceeded my dosage. This worked out well for me, because it really helped me push. I was in pain, but I think it would have been much greater pain without the epi. They re-dosed me with a stronger flow and everything went numb.
I think many hospitals try not to give you a heavy dosage, but when people's pain exceeds the strength of the medicine they think that it has stopped working or worn off. Somebody comes back in and gives you a higher dosage - more meds, less pain. Simplistically, it's like taking one tylenol or two. When one doesn't cut it, you up your dosage.
Maybe this is completely wrong, but it's what I was led to believe.
I was already in pain when I got the epi. The pain just stayed the same and then after time got worse. They waited 45 minutes to see if it would have any effect before they did it again. The second time, I could feel the numbness flood down my legs. I think the first time it just went straight into my back, instead of the spine.
Yes, it's beautiful.
(until pushing, I felt him crown and that was painful. the doc warned me it wouldn't take that pain away.)
I had 2 failed epidurals. One was inserted shortly after my dr broke my water because the contractions were becoming unbearable.. it "worked" for a short time then completely wore off. I was never pain-free, but the pain was tolerable while the epi was "working". Once it began to fail, I was in excruciating pain. The epi-button they gave me did nothing, the anesthesiologist gave me 2 shots thru the epidural catheter, both did nothing. They tried to talk me into removing the first and getting a 2nd epi put in but I was in so much pain at that point that I was afraid I would not be able to sit still on the edge of the bed long enough. I asked to be checked again before making up my mind and we discovered I was fully dilated, so I declined the epi and we started pushing. 2 hours later my dr talked me into trying a 2nd epi because my pushes were becoming ineffective as more time went on and I became more and more tired... they did a 2nd epi (which was terrible with contrax one on top of the other!!) and it did absolutely nothing to relieve my pain.
The anesthesiologist stayed in the room and agreed with me that both had failed.. there is no guarantee it will work for everyone. My body just didn't respond to their cocktail of drugs.
The O'Baby Blog
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I had two epis, the first one didn't numb anything and was kinked so the medicine wasn't even going thru the tubing into my back.
The second epi only worked on one side but honestly I was okay with that because the pain was tolerable and I still could move my legs fairly well. (I wouldn't have been able to stand, but I could adjust them and pull them up on my own.)
Once I started pushing even the pain in my right side (the previously numb side) came back in full force so my epi truely failed. I guess you know when your epi failed when you would rate your pain 13 out of 10. I literally felt like my pelvis was being ripped apart. They gave me another dose to help with the pain but I ended up having him so fast that it started to work after he was already out.
Even with it failing towards the end (and never truely working on my left side) I still would have gotten one. It eased the pain of transition and helped a little during pushing.
My epidural worked great for an hour and the slowly started to wear off. My OB checked it and it was in place and fine. They brought anesthesia back and they set me up with a clicker and I clicked and clicked and got nothing.
Finally, they called anesthesia back and they gave me a bolus. It numbed me upward. My entire chest was numb and I couldn't feel myself breathing. It was like being suffocated or being held under water. Horrifying.
They had to drain my bladder twice. I could have run a marathon, but they wouldn't let me out of bed to pee. Having that done was excrutciating and I screamed the entire time.
Then, my BP dropped and I needed multiple shots of epinepherine to bring it back up. This caused my heart to pound and, since it crosses the placenta, it caused her heart rate to go up.
They have no idea why it didn't work. One theory is that, since I had back labor, the epi wasn't effective. It tends to be less effective on back labor - which is the WORST labor possible, so how is that for a joke??
Another theory is that my body over metabolizes the medication. I have no response to morphine, at all. Could be something about me that caused my body to shove it off.
I've had anesthesia MANY times and never had a problem.
My experience with the epi was so horrific, I refused it with the other 2 deliveries - even my 20hr pitocin induction.
Oh, and for the immense joy of the useless epidural, I also got to have my heel be numb for about a year after as a constant reminder. Guess it worked in my heel and nowhere else.
ETA: I knew when it stopped working, without a doubt. I showed up at 6cm, so I had already been in labor. The epidural was a slice of heaven and then it just disappeared. I screamed the entire time. I just laid there, clutching the bed rails and begging God to take me. Even my OB said she left the room and cried and now jokes that she has PTSD from that delivery. I honestly never knew pain like that could exist. I also never knew a catheter could hurt so much and I hope I never, ever need one of those again.
This exactly. I couldn't have said it better!
This was true with me for DD#2. For DD#1 it wore off and it was bad!
this.
They don't give you an epi until you are in major pain. So you know what it felt like without it and you can tell if it's working or not. You should feel very little pain with an epi, so if you're feeling anything, then it's not fully working.
When I was in labour with DS, the tube from the Epi fell out of my back so it started to wear off.
Also with an EPI, you won't or shouldn't feel pain but you will still feel lots of pressure. Maybe that is what people mean by it didn't work. They were expecting to be completely numb, but to get that you have to have a spinal injection done not an Epi.
THIS!
I was properly numb for a little while, but then when they turned up the Pitocin because I still wasn't progressing, I felt everything. They redid it, and the same thing happened again. Obviously I knew they failed because I could feel every contraction, but the anesthesiologist also made a big deal about them failing (she didn't understand because they should were placed perfectly.)?
Trust me, if it fails, you will know. ?
Mes Petit Choux
I can't go back to yesterday - because I was a different person then. ~ Alice
Mine was an epic FAIL!
I got the epidural, the anestheologist(sp?) told me it could take u p to 20 minutes before it totally took effect. Well, half an hour later, I could still feel every contratctions and the pain was getting worse. The nurse came in and gave me more drugs and told me to wait 20 minutes again. Half an hour later, yep, the contractions are still getting stronger. I was told I had to wait an hour to try again because of all the drugs in my system. Well, I didn't make it to an hour since I went from 6cm to 10 cm in 20 minutes.
Afterwards, the nurse said the epidural didn't work because I was progressing too fast.
My epi didn't work on my right side. How do I know? Because I felt every single.god.damned.contraction on that side. The pain got worse with each one.
The nurse kept trying to tell me that it was my ligaments stretching. After a while, she believed me that it hadn't taken to that side.