Headache following your epidural/ c section? How were u advised to treat? Anyone have the blood patch?

[JimmyChoo17]

Headache following your epidural/ c section? How were u advised to treat it by hospital? Anyone have the blood patch?

I had an emergency c section on the 22 Nd July. Since then I've been suffering with headaches. Some tines I can barely lift myself up even to feed baby. I was due to have a blood patch (basically another epidural but where they pump your own blood back into you ) a senior consutant had heard about my case and asked me to try conservative treatment. This is basically loading up on 4 litres plus of water every day. This helped initially. However I have got bad again with my head ometimes hurting so bad again I can only lay down.

The water treatment is basically to help replace lost spinal fluid. I was hoping it would pass but this morning again I am struggling.

Anyone else suffer with these headaches? How did you treat them and how long after your epidural did they last for? Did u get asked to try the water theory?

I'm so upset today, after an emergency c section where baby was in distress, having to go thru this has not helped at all. I seem to have been the 1 in a 100 who suffered a spinal rupture firing an epidural.....

I have the option to have the blood patch to fix it however that carries enough risks (meningitis, another rupture, affects the possibility of future epidurals).

Please tell me your experiences ladies! :(

Bump

I'm sorry, I have no experience of this. I had a bit of a headache after my ELCS but nothing like as bad as yours sounds :( Hope someone here can help you.

I had a blood patch after my epidural with dd1. She was born on a Friday and I was fine until Monday morning when the hospital discharged me. By this time, my head was starting to hurt but I didn't think too much of it, I just wanted to be j

Feco

Bastard iPhone !! Sorry. I just wanted to go home with my baby. I remember stopping at a supermarket with some bits on the way back. My head got so sore that I felt the only relief was to lie flat. So dh drove home with me lying flat on the back seat. The afternoon/night was spend with my crawling around on my hands and knees with my head at my chest to try and ease the pain. I took painkillers and tried to get on with it but when the midwife came the next morning she took one look and sent me straight back to hospital.

I don't really remember being given any other option other than the blood patch or waiting to see if it eased. The pain was horrendous so I opted for it. It was exactly the same as another epidural but they took blood from my arm and used it to plug the gap where my spinal fluid was leaking.

Again, my memories are a bit hazy (immense pain and it was 12 years ago) but I seem go remember the pain disappearing almost instantly.

I do feel that I lost the first few days and home with dh and dd1 ( who was our first) because of it. I was told that it was because my original epidural had gone wrong, hence the need for patch.

I hope you get help to decide what is best for you. I can't see how drinking huge amounts of water would help though. It was one of the worst pains I have experienced so I know exactly how awful you feel