Post c section spinal headache

[Natalierosexox]

I’m 5 days post c section & have been having horrible back pain and headaches.
I ended up visiting triage last night and the anethatist gave me pain killers and bed rest for 48 hours and if it wasn’t gone after the weekend we could discuss the blood patch. However I would like to try and avoid this so I was just wondering has anyone else in the uk recovered from this without a blood patch and how long did it take?

Sorry you're suffering with this. I had post-dural puncture headache after epidural. I was induced and had a complicated labour which resulted in me losing lots of spinal fluid. The headache was the worst pain I've ever known and I could only bear it when I was lying flat on my back so I had the blood patch five days later. Couldn't have it earlier as I'd needed blood thinners so they had to wait for them to wear off. I'm so glad I got it because I was able to be present with my baby again. If you're in agony I'd recommend the blood patch. If the pain is bearable then lots of horizontal rest and drink tons of water. They also told me some people find caffeine helps. Good luck and I hope you're feeling better soon x

Dural puncture after a spinal is a bit more likely to resolve by itself than after an epidural (because the needle’s much smaller). If you have any cranial nerve signs (change in hearing/vision) then a blood patch is usually strongly advised. If you don’t then when to do the blood patch is a bit more down to how bad the headache is/how you’re managing with painkillers & rest, etc. By a week down the line probably most of us would suggest doing the patch, but watch and wait a bit longer with regular follow-up is also reasonable. If they’ve not suggested looking at these already, the labourpains.org & RCoA websites have patient info leaflets re. dural puncture headaches and blood patches. HTH.

www.labourpains.org/downloads/english-resources/Headache_after_epidural.pdf

www.rcoa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/2019-11/10-HeadachesSpinalEpiduralweb.pdf