question about epidural shot..how true is this?

Question

am 37 weeks pregnant and am wondering about labor, i wanted to go the natural way without drugs or anything,but everyone says i will be screaming"epidural please"
but i heard(from people that took the shot) that by taking the epiduaral shot, u can develop back problems in the future..soo how true is this?

Answer 1

I have never had one. ( i was put to sleep when i had my c-section) They offered to give me an epidural but i refused because my sister got one and they stuck the needle in to far in her back causing her to have a major non stop headache and she went paralyzed 3 days later. When they done a cat scan on her head , there were air pockets in her brain (air bubbles) that was causing her to do this so she had to be taken by ambulance to a university hospital where they done a blood patch and she got better but do you know that she could not sue the hospital...She signed that paper and so you see if something happens like that you can't do nothing about it.

Answer 2

My Mum had epidurals when she had my brothers and I. She does have back problems to this day from it. Its been what at least 21 years since the last one. She had really bad experiances with the epidurals, like the headache thing and it not working until after the baby was born etc.

I didn't want any drugs either but did end up asking for an epidural after 9hrs. Even though from my Mums experiances I didnt want one. But once I was moved to the hospital (I started out in the Birthing Centre) and the dude started telling me all the side effects, I freaked out and refused it. One of the side effects was paralasis. And there was no way they were sticking a needle in my back (scared of needles) and paralyising me. Nuh uh.


Thankfully I think that scared my daughter out and she was born like 5 min later.

I think the best thing to do is be calm and relaxed about the whole idea of labor. I think thats what made my first labor so long was that I was scared and so went in early and it felt like I was there forever. With my second I was much calmer and stayed home and did what I wanted for as long as possible, so that I didnt have to be in hospital for so long.
Dont rule out any drugs or plan on them because you really dont know how you will feel once its all happening, but try and relax and give your body time to do what it has to.
Oh I did end up using gas with both my kids. So I think I did well and I'm mighty glad I didnt get the epidural. I think it totally would have killed the moment.

Answer 3

I know a lot of people try and do it without drugs but it's hard. I guess the trick is how fast you progress. If you are in labor for hours then you end up getting really tired and the pain just never goes away. you end up giving in. My friend went for 15 hrs with no drugs, but in the end she had to take them because she was in so much pain.

From what i've been told about the epidural causing back pains...i've been told it's not true. The reason people get back pains forever after kids is because while being pregnant you back is being tilted a different way while you carry the baby. Your back isn't use to that and it messes up your back. it has nothing to do with the shot.

One thing I do want to say about the epidural is do your research on the dr that gives you shot. Reason being, when they give you the shot, it's key that they don't hit a nerve. if they do, complications arise. I know of someone whose baby is barely 3 months old and when she got the epidural the dr hit a nerve. He messed up. her entire body went numb for a very long time. days later her left leg never got feeling back. till this day it's barely getting better lil by lil. She is getting slight feeling back. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 4

Yes, we do have a fair number of patients who change their minds once they get into really painful labor, who then want an epidural, but there are also many who deliver without them. Everybody is different, and every labor is different.

As far as back pain, people will believe what they want to believe. Since we commonly use epidural steroids to TREAT back pain, the idea that epidurals would CAUSE long term back pain seems pretty remote to me. Back pain is an extremely common condition in the population as a whole, epidural or not.

Answer 5

Well you don't have to have your mind made up already on whether you want to have a epidural or not yet. I wanted to go natural too. I probably would have but my muscles would not relax enough after being in labor for 15.5 hours, and on Pitocin the entire time, for the baby to drop. The doctor basically insisted that I have one so that my labor could progress.
And don't worry about what people say about pain during labor. Pain is very subjective. Everyone responds to pain differently. To me, my pains were just like really bad period cramps.
I did not have any residual problems after my epidural. It is however, possible for long term damage to occur. The whole point of an epidural is to paralyze pain receptors and nerves along your spinal column. If the nerve is damaged at insertion it is possible to have long term or permanent nerve damage.

Answer 6

I loved my epidurals. I've had two, out of three kids. With my first, I tried doing it naturally, but it is EXTREMELY hard, and by the time I wanted the epidural it was too late. But with my second and third, I got the epidural, and it works wonders. I will admit, it does hurt when they're giving it to you, but it's all smooth sailing from there. Good Luck! :)

Answer 7

I had an epidural twice, and already had back problems for when I was a kid, but the epidural did not make it worse or anything. I had no side effects at all from it!

Answer 8

I have 3 children - 2 natural, and 1 epidural. Honestly, I have had no side effects, but I think that they waited too long to give me the meds because it was over before they had completely kicked in!!! My advice? Schedule one so it's ready... they always let you try it without it if you want! :)

Answer 9

Epidurals unfortunately contribute to the number of emergency c-sections. They can numb the area to the point you cannot push the baby out properly. I'm going to do mine with no drugs and suggest you do the same if you feel you can.

Not everybody who gets an epidural has these problems but it does raise the risk of these things happening.

Answer 10

i had an epidural with my first child... the area where they stuck the needle was actually sore for a couple months but other than that no problems... went natural with number 2.