# Weird Epidural After-effects?



## anathea (Feb 15, 2006)

Good morning Mamas!

I'll start by saying that although I ended up with an Epidural, I was frightfully unprepared for it. I had a beautiul, fast natural waterbirth with my first daughter, and 'planned' for a similar birth with my new baby girl. I had read up extensively on unplanned C-sections, just in case, but it never occured to me to read up on an unplanned epidural.

Here's the short-short version.









After 15 hours of hard back labor without but a spot of progress, we transferred to the hospital because my body was exausted, and the wild contractions kept coming in force. We had tried tubbing it, sterile water papules injected underneath my skin at pressure points in my back, blah blah blah. The gamut.

When my very kind, wise midwife suggested that we transfer, I bawled. I mourned the loss of my 'natural' birth, and was gripped with fear about being in a hospital setting and _not progressing_. I felt like I was walking into a c-section.

After much deliberation, I did agree to the epidural, and in the end I'm grateful. My body rested and progressed on its own, and I have a lovely birth memory. However, at 12 days Postpartum, there's a HUGE part of my upper left thigh that still feels as if it never 'came out' of the epidural. It's tingly and asleep, like there's some funky nerve tweaked in there, but I don't know about a nerve being tweaked, because I just haven't been able to feel it since birth.

What's the story with these epidurals? Can they cause lingering damage like that? I'd love any stories, experience or advice you may have on this - it's really getting to weirding me out!


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Yes, that is very normal. IMO epidurals are not nearly as safe as they make them out to be.

-Angela


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## KC in KS (Feb 24, 2005)

Well, what you describe sounds just like my sciatica/piriformis. I'd check with a chiropractor who knows about BOTH (different causes!) conditions before I'd start blaming the epidural. Might just be you pinched a nerve or cramped a muscle during birth.


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## egoldber (Nov 18, 2002)

I would second the suggestion of sciatic/piriformis issues. That nerve/muscle combo gets a beating during pregnancy and birth. A chiro or a PT may be able to give you some relief, but the only thing that really worked for me was extensive stretching.


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## courtenay_e (Sep 1, 2005)

You know what? I'd call the hospital and ask to speak to the anesthesiologist. They should be able to tell you if this is normal. It's possible that they hit part of a nerve and bruised or damaged it. I donated bone marrow a few years ago, and they hit a nerve while taking it from my pelvic girdle. I have a spot on my big toe that is permanently numb, and for quite a while, my right butt cheek was too! I called the surgeon who did it and he gave me the scoop on whether this was normal, whether it should last, etc.


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## philomom (Sep 12, 2004)

I run a new mom's support group. The complaints I get from the epidural moms are many, but all them say they'd have one again. Strange backaches, injection site weird feeling and terrible heaches are the most common complaints.


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## tireesix (Apr 27, 2006)

I had an epi with my first...... Suffered awful back pain afterwoulds, not to mention a bust coccyx due to be stuck in a stupid position and unable to move, had a nasty tear and was unable to kick the Ob in the face (my major regret of that birth).... I decided to never have another Epi.... And I didn't with my second. I think if you really need an epi then go for it but if you think you can soldier on a little more without then do so...

But then I guess its just dodging the HCPs who are trying topressure you into it.............


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## BetsyS (Nov 8, 2004)

One of the problems with epidurals is that during labor, you don't have as much feeling in your lower body. You don't have enough feeling to say, "hey, don't move my leg that way cause it hurts." As a result, your leg (or back or pelvis or whatever) can get moved in a way that will cause some longer-term stuff. Certainly, the anesthesia itself could cause that, but I think it is just more common for it to be a positional/muscle/nerve type thing than the anesthesia itself.

I agree with the poster that says that it sounds like sciatica or the like. A good chiropractor or massage therapist may be able to help.


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## the_lissa (Oct 30, 2004)

This is actually a pretty common side effect that the anesthetist warned me about when I was getting an epidural.


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## Undercover Hippie (Sep 7, 2004)

I have heard of this happening before too. The first birth I was at, the mom's leg from knee to thigh just never regained feeling. It actually impeded her ability to walk and she was scared she was going to drop her baby.







She had 6 months of physical therapy and is stronger now but still has a numb spot.

When she searched for answers, many people told her they thought it was the epidural (or something that happened as a result of the epidural catheter placement) but the anesthesiologists swore up and down it was a result of positioning during pushing. She saw a neurologist too and I'm not sure there was ever a definitive answer.

I hope that you find a way to resolve your problem or accept it, and that it's not impairing your functioning. And don't beat yourself up for getting it, I'm sure you made the absolute best choice you could at the time and it sounds like you ended up having a lovely vaginal birth. Births don't always go as planned!


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## Doodlebugsmom (Aug 1, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *philomom*
I run a new mom's support group. The complaints I get from the epidural moms are many, but all them say they'd have one again. Strange backaches, injection site weird feeling and terrible heaches are the most common complaints.

I have a friend who got an epidual with her first birth which was 3 years ago. She still will occasionally get a scab over the injection site! That is soooo weird!


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## Synchro246 (Aug 8, 2005)

I still have a sore spot where my epi was placed-----twice. It's weird. The moment I read your post I could sense it. I put my finger there and OW! Maybe mine is partly psycosomatic, but I think that the epidural needle is certainly big enough to do some damage.

My son is 15 mo old BTW.


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