Pain relief after Cesarean - Spinal/Epidural/ Morphine

[lisalisa]

Please can you post as to what pain relief you had in the immediate aftermath of your ceasarean section?

In my previous sections I was given an epidural and then given a small machine so I could top up the epidurals myself when necessary which I did for about 36 hours then moved onto voltarol etc.

This time round I have been informed that patients are no longer given these machines due to safety concerns and that the preferred thinking is to give a spinal anaesthtic with morphine in the spine and then oral morphine liquid afterwards moving thten on to voltarol.

Bit worried about the morphine aspect as I have always associated this with side effects, drowsiness and being inappropriate in a childbirth setting.

I am giving birht on monday so please post soon. It is a birth at the Portland hopsital.

My pain threshold is fairly low and as this is the 6th section have been told after pains quite severe.

Hi Lisa,
After my first c sectiong I was given Pethadine and then just diclofenac and cocodamol.
With my 2nd child I had really bad afterpains as they used syntocinon to try and make my womb contract after surgery.
I was given morphine for this and I can honestly say that it was the best paind meds Ive ever had! I was reluctant to have it due to drowsiness etc BUT although I was slightly sleepy I wasnt in a world of my own or anything. I was still able to deal with new born BUT it just meant that as soon as she fell asleep I was able to get my head down instantly which was quite nice actually.

I'd go for morphine, it wont affect baby as its after birth which is usually the worry of most people.

Good luck on Monday xxx

I had nothing in theatre (crash section under GA so no pain relief given til afterwards so they told me) then was given morphine into the back of my hand with a little clicker on so I could top it up. After 36 hours or so they took it out and I had voltarol and paracetamol for pain. I was in hospital for 5 days as DD wouldn't feed, but think this was due to the GA not the morphine. She was very sleepy. I didn't take any more pain medication once I went home, just the stuff to prevent infection and iron tablets.

I don't recall suffering any side effects with the morphine. DD is 6 months old now, so my experience is fairly recent.

paracetamol and diclofenac regularly with codeine and oramorph in between if needed.

I was given morphine straight afterwards, but I reacted badly to it and was very sick. After that it was just paracetamol and diclofenac.

I had my son at the Portland, and had a spinal plus morphine and it was absolutely fine. I was never in any pain at all, and generally felt a deep sense of wellbeing!!! Do you know which anaesthetist you've got? I had Deirdre Guerin and she was absolutely brilliant. I had oral morphine, voltarol and cocodamol afterwards and took everything they gave me, and felt fine. Please don't worry, you're in good hands!

Nothing. I didn't need it. I don't think they'll leave you in pain and certainly you can discuss pain relief choices with them.

I had two morphine injections in the 24 hours following, then diclofenac and paracetamol. The tablets didn't always do it for me so had codeine a couple of times too which was fine.
I was sleepy in the first 24 hours, but I don't think that was entirely due to the morphine. They took him for a couple of hours on the first night so I could get a bit of sleep.

diclophenac and paracetamol and the good advice to take them regularly rather than waiting for pain to kick in.

I had same as WidowWadman. In the end i took 2 paracetamol and then didn't need anything. I would have taken morphine like a shot if I had needed it though.

you shouldn't need morphine.

The spinal will give you pain relief for a few hours after the CS. At the end of the CS you should also be given rectal Volterol.

When the spinal wears off, you should only be in moderate discomfort. Ask for paracetamol and some codeine if the pain is bad.

The nurses may be busy, so I would advise you to take a note of when the next pain med is due, and ask for it about 30 mins in advance - allows them time to sort it out!

Morphine is a bad idea - you have a baby to look after!

I had a spinal, rectal Voltarol in theatre and then a self-administered Morphine pump for 24 hours.

I think I had a spinal block for the op.

Morphine suppository was popped in afterwards which lasted about 5 hours.

Then morphine (after em cs) or voltarol / paracetamol (after planned cs) to keep the pain to a minimum. They intially gave me morphine intravenously (sp?) but that made me sick so I had it in tablet form.

I was on morphine for 5 days after my em cs and paracetamol / voltarol for a month after my em cs. Only had paracetamol from days 3-10 after my planned cs and was fine after that.

Sometimes they put a tiny amount of diamorphine in the spinal which provides pain relief for up to 18hrs post op (slightly different I know but I've seen someone who had a hip replacement with this walk the next day without any pain relief - not even paracetamol!).

Everyone has a different pain threshold and it can be hard to know how you react, but the most important thing is to take painkillers regularly. And don't forget laxatives if you're on morphine or codeine

Good luck for Monday!

I had morphine post-op (although they forgot to give me a dose ) then diclofenac and finally co-codamol to take home. I was assured that all those meds would be absolutely fine for me & baby (in the context of breastfeeding).

Had a spinal in theatre then a couple of volterol then moved onto paracetamol for a day. That was it and I don't recall any real pain, just tenderness. Evidently I was lucky....

I've had both an emergency and a planned CS - in both cases I only had paracetamol and I only took those for the first two days.

I had an EMCS with spinal, but I have no idea what (if anything) I was given via IV in recovery. I was given cocoadamol in post-natal ward and had a prescription for home use, as well.

Thank yo uyall.

Bagofholly I am having Dr Sherry as aneaethetist. I did have Geurin in prevoius sections but didn't feel 100% comfortble as i am a bit of a wuss and she wasn't that sympathetic so specifically asked to change. Who was your consutlant?

For my first c-section (emergency) I had one of those morphine machines, which quickly tissued, then I was reliant on oral stuff.

For my second section I had a spinal block, which wore off in recovery, I then had 2 lots of IM morphine and after that voltarol and usual painkillers.

For my third section I had some kind of new epidural which worked for longer. They put something into my spinal block which worked for longer. I didn't get any IM morphine, but after 12 hours had lots of voltarol/codeine. I think this solution is good tbh. I was quite dissapointed with the lack of morphine(I'd make a good smackhead lol). I didn't have very much pain though tbh.

I didn't get a good description of it, but I think the the new epidural is better. I could move my legs etc yet had no pain. I think they put some kind of long acting thing in with your epidural. Honestly, I discharged myself after 36 hours. The pain wasn't at all bad.