Pethidine more "druggy" than epidural?

[Stokey]

Watching OBEM, some of the women who have pethidine seem really out of it - there was the midwife who said it felt like she was in a club.

With my first, I had a very long labour and about 24hr after waters broke went into hospital to be induced. By this time I was exhausted having not slept for two nights and had to go into labour ward and get hooked up so had an epidural, gas and air didn't have any effect. It was fine for pain relief and meant I could - not sleep - but get some rest. But when I finally was dilated, although I did push for an hour or so, I needed a forceps delivery and episotomy.

Am hoping with my second to try the maternity unit and water birth, as should dilate quicker. But am worried I will need pain relief, and am a bit freaked out by how out of it people seem on pethidine. The epidural relieved the pain but didn't make me feel at all trippy or liek I had to tell my husband I loved him 100 times

Any positive experiences with pethidine?

But pethedine doesn't actually DO anything if it is REALLY painful. Nor gas and air. Doesn't even bloody well sedate. Just makes you cross and even more fighting, bad tempered and INCREASES the pain ime.

I had diamorphine to help me deal with the back pain - I think it really helped, as before that I couldn't relax and was a bit panicky about not being able to IYKWIM. After the shot it all faded a bit and felt manageable and I could active labour the way I wanted to. I did feel quite out of it though, a bit distant and uncommunicative and was sleepy at times.

fuckity: I've read that diamorphine is less likely to make you ill than pethidine. But some people (like me) are sensitive to all opiates, and diamorphine is one. Pethidine (for something another than birth -- I'm still awaiting my first!) made me lose time, caused excessive acute vomiting for several hours and prolonged nausea/vomiting for 4 more days. I wasn't sure if it was just that drug or all opiates until I recently had codeine, and was ill for 3 days. They offer diamorphine where I am, but not having it is one of the main points of my birthplan.

I find SparklyGothKat's story of them jabbing it anyway highly disturbing...

I refused pethidine because a) it can transfer to the baby, making them v drowsy and b) it can make you sick! As I am prone to feeling sick if a bit dizzy or drunk, I decided it probably would make me sick. I also had twins second time and a C-section and those drugs did make me feel very drowsy and I did vomit too, although it was an amazing experience compared to my first birth (also forceps).

My SIL had it and she said it was great, although she did say to her Mum, "Sorry, I'm not very good company at the moment!"

I had both. The pethadine earlier in active labour (I was on day 3 of an induction before my waters broke) it was great :) I was practically asleep between contractions so got a bit of rest. I then had an epidural as needed forceps and yes it is 'less druggy' it just makes you completely numb rather than effecting your overall state iykwim.

That's interesting ardenbird. I had to have codine a while ago for a bad wisdom tooth and it made me completely spaced out and nauseous. And when I had morphine after an op a few years ago I threw up copiously. Maybe I don't tolerate things like that well.

For those saying about pethadine making you sick, I was all set to refuse it on that basis when my MW said it was administered with an anti nausea drug - I wonder why more hospitals don't give it like that?

The other thing about pethidine is that it crosses the placenta and drugs up your baby too. sometimes they are too drowsy to feed. I was adamant I wasn't having it and coped on gas and air in the end because I didn't want the epidural/intervention route. I just kept telling myself that about 80% of women in the world have no pain relief at all.

I had gas & air and pethidine. Tbh I really don't remember much between the first and second jab. I lost all sense of time then I remember my dd crowning and it being light outside. ( I laboured through the night!) That is all I remember! According to my dh he didn't realise I had such a potty mouth! :D

If I had to do the same again, I probably would. Although I would prefer an epidural but that in itself can cause more problems than its worth!

I gas and air, diamorphine and then epidural with my first birth. I hated diamorphine - was ok for a little while then started being sick which continued to the end of my labour. Because of vomiting so much I totally lost control and had to have the epidural, ended up with forceps for fetal distress. They gave me anti sickness tablets with the diamorphine but I threw them up before they had a chance to even dissolve! I really didnt like the way it made me feel.

I was adamant I wouldn't have diamorphine again and I didn't -my second and third labours were much shorter and gas and air were all I needed. I found it much more effective than the first time - I hadn't been using it properly.

I had pethidine twice over 4 days. First time it was great as I got some sleep and although I could feel the contractions it was like someone else was having them. Second time was awful, I felt like shit and could feel every contraction. No one offered me gas and air at any point until I was gone 6 cm.

If I ever have a baby again I will insist on gas and air earlier and I will not have pethidine.

I had meptid with dd and was absolutely battered - writhing about on the bed gurning and sighing and telling everyone how much I loved them!

T'was fab ( but prehaps not how one is meant to feel in labour!)

Never had an epidural but when I had my spinals I just felt normal but numb. No-where near as reminiscent of sundissential 1998.

I had some during a c section because I was getting complications and I had started to panic a bit. They just gave me half a vial I think, it certainly wasn't a whole one and it just made my ears pop and then took the edge off the panic. I quite liked it...I breastfed fine

I enjoyed my time on pethidine - closest I have ever got to class A drugs. I blamed it for problems with breastfeeding though. That was until I had exactly the same problems with my second after a homebirth with not an opiate in sight.

My first labour was long and it definitely helped me. Personally the idea of having an epidural and feeling numb absolutely petrifies me.

I had pethidine and it did nothing. No making me feel out of it or spacey or anything like that, no making me feel calmer, no lessoning of the pain. Nothing, zilch, zip. And I pretty much had it only to shut the midwife up who wouldn't stop going on about it so was pretty miffed that I hadn't wanted it, ended up having it and felt I wouldn't if I hadn't been asked so repeatedly, even though I kept saying I wanted to try and manage without, and after all that it didn't even do anything. And of course I will always wonder if it contributed to my DS refusing to breast feed for the first 4 days of his life. (after a not too terrible labour the birth did get fairly hairy so he was a bit traumatised which could also have been the reason). And, whilst I'm ranting, I had the most enormous and painful bruise from the injection!

I had pethidine with two out of three of my babies. I absolutely loved it - really loved the trippy feeling. With my last baby I hallucinated that I was at a festival. The first time I had it I thought I was scuba diving.