Epidural questions

stephanieandben · July 2008

Did it hurt? Did you get a migrain...I was told that if you move you can get one. Please tell me this is unlikely.

Thanks!
Stephanie

J&N2004 · July 2008

i did not get a migraine. i was worried too but i was fine afterwards. good luck!

prettypiphi · July 2008

I don't know anyone personally who got a migraine from their epidural (and my mom was prone to migraine headaches prior to getting the epidural).

FutureMrs.Brady · July 2008

I didn't get to the hospital until I was 6-7 cm dilated (and my water broke). I didn't get any migraines, I did get really itchy though. I would much rather be itchy then deal with the pain! The epidural did not hurt compared to the contractions. HTH!

aandaw012707 · July 2008

I was prone to migraines before my pg and got them during, but did not have one while I had the epi. It just made me sleepy. My anesth. was really good and it didn't hurt at all.

stacinsean · July 2008

My epidural didn't hurt at all. My IV hurt more. I was prone to migraines pre-pregnancy, but didn't have any related to the epi. Just remember, everyone reacts to everything differently.

spicycrab · July 2008

The migrain thing you've heard about it actually something that can occur because the epidural was inserted wrong - it has nothing to do with being prone to migrains or having a history of them. There is a medical term for it and I'm probably not getting the techinical side down right but it has something to do with air getting in the spinal cord (I believe) - you are not in any pain until you try to sit up, if you stay laying flat, you are fine. This is very rare though and nothing to worry about really.

I didn't have an epidural with my first and don't plan to have one this time either but I woudl probably agree with the pp - it probably doesn't hurt worse than the contractions!

GabbyG · July 2008

The "epidural headache" occurs when the spinal dura (sheath) is accidently punctured during the epidural insertion. (An epidural is supposed to be outside the dura, hence its name). These headaches are much more common when a person gets a spinal tap / lumbar puncture or a spinal anesthesia (like for a c section). For epidurals, your chances of getting such a headache are between 1 - 5 %, depending on the experience of your anesthesiologist, etc.

The headache is not a migraine. It happens because the puncture into the dura actually causes your spinal fluid to leak out into your body. Your body produces more to replace it, but can't keep up. So when you stand up from lying down, your head starts to hurt.

Yes, I have had one, resulting from a spinal tap I had a few years back. Yes, it was horrible. It eventually went away (1-2 weeks) but they can "fix" the problem, too, with something called a blood patch where they insert your own blood into the site to form a clot and close off the hole.

newlywed26 · July 2008

Honestly, at that point, I was in so much pain that I didn't even feel the needle! The pain of the contractions was far way worse than that needle. The only thing that happened to me afterwards was numbness in my left foot and knee. I heard that goes away though.

MKBPA · July 2008

At that point of contractions, the epidural was nothing. My right foot did get numb (for a few weeks after). It hurt less than the IV in my hand. I didn't get a migraine.

lmdbww · July 2008

I thought it hurt. They finally got it in on the 4th try and the whole time I was having really painful contractions in my back... I sobbed into the pillow.

I did not get a migrain though and once it kicked in I was in heaven. No regrets here.

marrymemylove · August 2008

It's already correctly stated that this only happens due to Dr error, and has nothing to do with migraines.

Besides it is a really simple fix - you just get a shot of your own blood to cover where the needle was inserted incorrectly.

Honestly - it would be worth a few hours headache any day of the week. Epidurals are fabulous.

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