Spinal Block Breathing Issues

Embil · May 2013

I will be having a scheduled c-section because of a prior surgery and I am wondering about the sensation of not being able to breathe that can come with a spinal block. How bad is this and how long does it last?

HattieDornbush · May 2013

I didn't have that feeling.

emriley84 · May 2013

I did, it was terrible. Not to scare you. They tried 4 times to get my spinal in, and when they finally did my arms were numb and I felt like I couldn't breathe. It took every bit of effort I had to breathe. I was terrified. The anesthesiologist said it was a "high spinal" and was not supposed to be like that, the medication traveled up higher than it should have. They tilted my head up slightly, and it was better, by the time I got into recovery the feeling was gone. From my understanding, this was not the norm. No one else i know who had a c-section experienced this.

babylimas · May 2013

I had the same issue, and it was referred to as a high spinal. I was ok until I got nauseous halfway through the c-section. Then I had to throw up, but couldn't figure out how to work the muscles and started to feel like I was going to choke. It was a scary experience, but I'm told pretty rare. I would not be worried about it happening again if I were to have a repeat.

Ooglybear · May 2013

I had that feeling to a much milder degree as PPs. I felt like I couldn't breathe when the spinal kicked in. It was a horrible feeling, but it passed within a few minutes. I told the docs that I couldn't breathe and they basically told me to chill out. They might've given me some IV meds at that point, but I really don't know.

cmhicklin · May 2013

I had that feeling. I thought it was due to dry heaving, and then I got scared, but afterwards DH told me they said it might happen. I don't remember them telling ME that. I would have been fine with some warning!

AppleJacks81 · May 2013

I had this with my first. My epidural failed so they did a spinal after my induction went south. They think I had too much drug overall and it went " too high". I was laying on the table and felt a little breathless, then I couldn't talk. I was mouthing the words "I can't breathe". I felt like I couldn't move my diaphragm. They were quick to knock me out and intubate me. I wasn't scared, I work in that hospital and I've seen a ton of patients get intubated emergently. I put my faith in them and they took care of me.

second c section I warned them what happened. The anesthesia resident got wide eyed and they called in the head of anesthesia to assist lol. I did not have that problem again....at all.

tracy41 · May 2013

It happened with my 1st but not my 2nd. And it was a scary feeling but not as scary as some of the PP's! For me it kicked in after they took my son out. I started feeling breathless but when I mentioned it to the anesthesiologist he told me I was breathing fine I just couldn't feel my chest moving. The feeling did not go away until they raised my head. Best of luck that you are worrying for nothing!

Nickisiebert · May 2013

I had this. Very scary, but after the anesthesiologist reasoned with me, telling me "if you couldn't breathe we couldn't be having this conversation." I was able to wrap my head around what was happening and calm down. They also put an oxygen mask on me to show me I was for sure getting air. It lasted maybe 10 mins? I got over it.

Kissimi21 · June 2013

I had it with this last c/s. It was really bad. I completely panicked and started hyperventilating while thinking I couldn't breathe, but that is because I had childhood asthma and feeling triggered memories of having a severe attack when I was 5. They propped me up and I was slowly able to feel myself breathing again. I'll add that they gave me a high dose because my epidural didn't work (for 20+ hours and 2 attempts to internally turn Baby A), so they wanted to make sure it worked.

darrahmccall · June 2013

emriley84:
I did, it was terrible. Not to scare you. They tried 4 times to get my spinal in, and when they finally did my arms were numb and I felt like I couldn't breathe. It took every bit of effort I had to breathe. I was terrified. The anesthesiologist said it was a "high spinal" and was not supposed to be like that, the medication traveled up higher than it should have. They tilted my head up slightly, and it was better, by the time I got into recovery the feeling was gone. From my understanding, this was not the norm. No one else i know who had a c-section experienced this.

Same except they never tilted my head up!!! It was scary. This time I'm asking for an oxygen mask right away and they will have me tilted up. And no one warned me and I think that made me panic.

RaeAnt · June 2013

I didn't have any issue with a spinal whereas I did with an epidural.The epi I felt like an elephant was sitting on the left side of my chest for a bit, i had the chills/shakes and my BP really dropped.

Now that said, having the nursing staff prepared with the heated blankets definitely helps. Once my shaking/chills subsided, I felt much better. I still needed to be given magnesium for my low BP though.

The spinal was so simple. I really wish I had had that the first time around. The spinal is given last minute and wears off a lot quicker.

biblionerd · June 2013

I didn't have anything weird happen with the first one, everything went perfect. The 2nd c/s nothing really went "wrong", but definitely freaked me out. They didn't tell me, but I think they sedated me. It just felt like it was higher than before. I felt like I couldn't breathe and my arms were starting to go numb. He said the same thing, that it just went a little higher than usual (arms aren't supposed to be numb), but that I WAS still breathing fine, it just didn't feel like it. It was really uncomfortable to have felt like you're not breathing but being told you were. He said he "turned it down" and it did get better, but I still think they just sedated me lol.

Embil · June 2013

Thanks for sharing all your experiences. It's good to know that if it happens, it probably won't last too long.

kellmo · June 2013

Nickisiebert:
I had this. Very scary, but after the anesthesiologist reasoned with me, telling me "if you couldn't breathe we couldn't be having this conversation." I was able to wrap my head around what was happening and calm down. They also put an oxygen mask on me to show me I was for sure getting air. It lasted maybe 10 mins? I got over it.

This! Same exact thing happened for me.

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