C-section question

For those that have had a section, what type of medication did you use i.e.
spinal, epidural, etc.? I am now scheduled for my section on the 18th and
hopefully I will make it that long. My previa is causing problems now and
I'm in preterm labor. I originally wanted a spinal but now I'm wondering if
there is something better for me.

TIA

Tracy
edd Sept.4 (scheduled c-section 8/27 and now 8/18)
Its a girl

On Tue, 12 Aug 2003 18:51:41 GMT, "Tracy" wrote:

For those that have had a section, what type of medication did you use i.e.
spinal, epidural, etc.?

I had a spinal. I didn't go into labor. I didn't ask for anything
specific, just that I wanted to be awake so I could see the birth of
my child. It was decided for me -- not that I am complaining. I
didn't know that a spinal was even an option until after it happened.

If I have a c/s for this baby, I will have another spinal.

--
Daye
Momma to Jayan
EDD 11 Jan 2004

"Tracy" wrote in message
.. .
For those that have had a section, what type of medication did you use
i.e.
spinal, epidural, etc.? I am now scheduled for my section on the 18th and
hopefully I will make it that long. My previa is causing problems now and
I'm in preterm labor. I originally wanted a spinal but now I'm wondering
if
there is something better for me.

I had 2 cesareans - one with an epidural, and one with a spinal - and a
vaginal birth with a mild epidural. The big difference, in my experience,
lies in whether the anaesthesiologist puts a narcotic into the drug mix - if
so, you'll probably itch afterward, but have more pain coverage for longer.
If not, you won't itch, but you'll want a PCA (patient controlled
analgesia?) set for 5 minutes or so, definitely not 10 minutes as I had,
because the first hour after the spinal wore off was the hardest, and pain
management every 10 minutes was inadequate for me.

I thought the itching was insane with my first epidural/first c/s, so I
chose a spinal with my second, and had the problems I mentioned with pain
coverage. The itching was far more tolerable with the epidural I had with
my vaginal birth, but this may be a result of it being a lighter dose?
There are drugs to help manage the itching, including Benadryl and something
else - Stadol? if it gets too bad. I didn't have to resort to these, this
time.

--angela

Thanks Daye for replying, did you have any side effects from the spinal? I
have such a low tolerence to drugs that I will probably be out of it for a
week.

Tracy




"Daye" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 12 Aug 2003 18:51:41 GMT, "Tracy" wrote:

For those that have had a section, what type of medication did you use
i.e.
spinal, epidural, etc.?

I had a spinal. I didn't go into labor. I didn't ask for anything
specific, just that I wanted to be awake so I could see the birth of
my child. It was decided for me -- not that I am complaining. I
didn't know that a spinal was even an option until after it happened.

If I have a c/s for this baby, I will have another spinal.

--
Daye
Momma to Jayan
EDD 11 Jan 2004

"Tracy" wrote in message
.. .
For those that have had a section, what type of medication did you use
i.e.
spinal, epidural, etc.? I am now scheduled for my section on the 18th and
hopefully I will make it that long. My previa is causing problems now and
I'm in preterm labor. I originally wanted a spinal but now I'm wondering
if
there is something better for me.

TIA

Tracy
edd Sept.4 (scheduled c-section 8/27 and now 8/18)
Its a girl



I didn't have a c-section but I did have an epidural and an accidental dural
puncture, five days of blinding headache and three failed blood patches to
try to fix it. I would go for whatever option has the least chance of a
spinal headache. But then I would wouldn't I :-)

Judy

H Schinske wrote:
On Tue, 12 Aug 2003 18:51:41 GMT, "Tracy" wrote:


For those that have had a section, what type of medication did you use i.e.
spinal, epidural, etc.?


I had an epidural. The anesthesiologist went over the pros and cons of each,
which I no longer remember in detail except that I *think* a spinal headache
was less likely after an epidural.

It worked very well for me. The only medication change I'd make is that I
didn't like the morphine IV afterwards. I didn't get the itching that some
complain of, but I didn't find that the morphine did much for the pain, either.
I like the fact that morphine gets out of your system faster than something
like Demerol, and for most people it does work well for pain, so it is a
reasonable first choice. But if I personally had to do it over, I'd ask for
Demerol and see if it was better *for me*.

Piggybacking...

I had an epidural for my c-section too. It was fine, although I got
nauseous and had the shakes really bad. For post c-section pain they
left the epidural in and gave me control over the dose. I had it in
for probably 18 hours after surgery, and it worked fine.

Mary

Thanks for your replies, I guess I need to do more research on both. I would
rather itch than have a spinal headache.

Tracy





"Kereru" wrote in message
...

"Tracy" wrote in message
.. .
For those that have had a section, what type of medication did you use
i.e.
spinal, epidural, etc.? I am now scheduled for my section on the 18th
and
hopefully I will make it that long. My previa is causing problems now
and
I'm in preterm labor. I originally wanted a spinal but now I'm wondering
if
there is something better for me.

TIA

Tracy
edd Sept.4 (scheduled c-section 8/27 and now 8/18)
Its a girl



I didn't have a c-section but I did have an epidural and an accidental
dural
puncture, five days of blinding headache and three failed blood patches to
try to fix it. I would go for whatever option has the least chance of a
spinal headache. But then I would wouldn't I :-)

Judy

My suggestion to you (as a midwife who has looked after many women post c/s)
is to go for the spinal.
There have been more problems with spinal headaches from epidurals lately,
and women with the epidurals seem to be a lot slower getting up the next day
(more pain) than those who have spinal morphine. The amount of morphine
used is 150mcg (a very small dose) so itching is minimised, and it lasts for
a few hours of complete block and around 24 hours of pain relief - helped
with oral anaelgesia (NSAIDS, Tramadol, etc)...

HTH

Jo

"Tracy" wrote in message

For those that have had a section, what type of medication
did you use i.e.
spinal, epidural, etc.?

I had a spinal after two failed epidurals (10mls of 0.125%
Bupivacaine and Fentanyl in the first epidural, then 2%
Xylocaine in the second 40 minutes later). The spinal worked
pretty quickly, I didn't have any itching or headaches but I
did puke a lot during the operation despite having had
Zantac, Maxalon and some sodium citrate pre-meds, and then
vomited for the next day or so from the morphine in my IV.
Following that I lived on Tramadol, Pethidine, Panadol and
Voltarin for the next few days.


--
Andrea

If I can't be a good example, then I'll just have to be a
horrible warning.

On Tue, 12 Aug 2003 21:01:14 GMT, "Tracy" wrote:

Thanks Daye for replying, did you have any side effects from the spinal? I
have such a low tolerence to drugs that I will probably be out of it for a
week.

I don't remember any side effects. However, I had severe
pre-eclampsia at the time, and any side effects that I had, I probably
blamed on that.

I have a very low tolerance for drugs too. I was fine after about 8
hours or so. I don't remember how long it took, to be honest. I had
my c-section in the morning (around 11am) by dinnertime (around 6pm) I
had full use of my legs. I had other things going on, so I don't
really remember how long it took.

--
Daye
Momma to Jayan
EDD 11 Jan 2004