Am I nuts for having epidural!

When I went to the doctor last week I asked him if he used general or epidural or spinal and he said it was my decision - I chose epidural because I hated, hated, hated general anesthesia after my myomectomy 12 years ago. I was groggy for the longest time and super nauseous and vomiting like crazy. Not fun on abdominal surgery!! And then he asked how heavily I wanted to be sedated - I said as little as possible. He was ok with that too. My problem is - whoever I tell what I'm doing they think I'm totally nuts and claim they'd never want to know what's going on, especially if I hear the doctor say "oops!". I know this is the right choice for me given the bad experience with general, but I would like some input from other epidural ladies - good or bad.

Thanks ladies!!

I haven't had my TVH yet (Ichose to be completely out), but I had an epidural when I had my c - section. I remember being groggy after, but nothing like I was when they put me under for my hysteroscopy in March. You may feel some pressure ( I did, anyway ), but I was very alert through out the whole surgery. Best wishes & God Bless you!
Bridgette

I am also hoping to get an epidural and when I talked to the doctor about the level of sedation, she suggested earphones and music. So even if you are awake or aware, you'll be soothed by something of your own choosing.

I'm not sure if I want to go the headphone route or not, but I thought I'd throw it out as an option that might be available.

I haven't had to go under general anes. since I had two procedures when I was a kid, but I threw up quite a bit after both and hope that I'm a good candidate for an epidural.

Hi there!

I also had a myomectomy before my hysterectomy and got sick. I asked for anti-nausea meds in my IV this time so nausea wasn't a problem (I also begged for solid food after my myo, which those nurses had no business giving).

Anyway, for my hyst last week, I had a more rare problem with the meds used to stablize my pain in recovery. Apparently, because I am mildly asthmatic, my pain meds were changed to (I believe Demerol) and it did not work. The normal meds used (Toradol?) can cause wheezing? No one warned me of this and had I known, I would have had a spinal, perhaps in addition to the general so I did not wake up wrything.

My brother-in-law had the spinals for all of his surgeries. He had to have multiple surgeries due to an accident and just LOVES it for the same reasons you are choosing it. Less side effects.

Anyone asthmatic ....just ask questions about this! I intend to do a full series of followup questions at my 6-week followup and will post those results. I want to make sure that I make well-informed choices should I ever require surgery again.

Good luck and take care! The rest of the surgery will be a breeze (well, once gas passes)!

Jackie

I haven't had my surgery or preop yet but I did have an epidural with my c-section I had a sheet right up at my face and could hear them talking but wasn't really listening...I felt no pain per say but when they cut me open I could feel the skin seperating it didn't hurt though felt like it feels when you lightly run your fingers over your skin or better yet when you were a kid and someone played the crack an egg on your head game you culd feel the tingly sensation running down thats what it felt like but no pain..The pain was afterwards when then gas settled around my lungs but all in all the epiy wasn't bad......Good luck with all I have yet to find out what my choices will be....But2 more days to preop and 8 days til surgery.............

take care shannon

Hi,

I had a TVH and chose to have an epidural. I was not awake during the surgery. The anesthesiologist explained that I would be given a light general along with the epidural. I woke up feeling great and no pain. You might want to talk to your A man before your surgery day. MY dr called me the night before at home and asked all kinds of questions and I did the same. I felt very calm and not as nervous once he explained everything.

Best of luck.

s

I am having a spinal with sedation. I HATE general. I will probably go for light sedation as I hate being put completely out.

I don't think you're nuts at all!

My problems with general anesthesia were that it made me nauseated, plus it took me literally DAYS to fully wake up. When I discussed this with my anesthesiologist, she said that I should have a spinal WITH general anesthesia. She said the spinal would allow her to give me less anesthesia, which would help eliminate those problems. I have to say that I was reluctant to have the spinal, but I took it on her advice.

WOW! What a difference it made! I woke up just fine and had no nausea at all. I like the idea of being asleep during the surgery. I was not aware of ANYTHING until I woke up. The spinal controlled my pain afterwards, too. I highly recommend it!

Hi Shelly,

I had a spinal with sedation for my TVH and post. repair. It was wonderful! I was in and out of it but don't remember too much. I could hear talking but couldn't make out what they were saying. Also couldn't feel a thing below my chest. I couldn't tell they were doing anything to me. It was great for me because I get sick off of general anes. Everyone was so nice, there was a lady at my head telling me how great I was doing! It was numb for awhile after surgery so it's great for pain relief also!! Good luck with your surgery!!

Barbara

No you're not nuts at all. I've included several links for you to look at. As you will see many sisters prefer an epidural over general. I was totally awake for my procedure. With regional anesthesia you may be able to have any level of sedation you want as long as the anesthesiologist agrees with it. I think the anesthesiologist may have more of a problem allowing patients to be awake then totally asleep if the patient is a chatter box. I remained totally quiet unless spoked to so that made the anesthesiologist tolerate me better. I thought about bringing in a headset to listen to music but I didn't know if it would go over to well for sanitary reasons. In all honesty I was pretty bored laying there doing nothing. I couldn't feel anything and it was much easier than having my teeth cleaned. It's not like laying there wondering when you can sit up to rinse talk or spit, I was kept warm with the blankets on my chest, and since the sheet was covering my face I couldn't see what was going on down below. The nurse did notify me once the uterus was out and I asked to see it since I knew that was the golden oppurtunity as I'd never be able to see it after that. Once it goes to pathology they study it, cut it up and then discard it so I wanted to at least see what it looked like and how big it was. I wanted to see what was causing all my pain and bleeding. If I wasn't interested in being awake or you aren't, the medication most frequently used for sedation with regional (epidural or spinal) is versed. It's makes you forget about what happened. Patients could be awake but not remember being awake. I think that is more worse in a way because I've heard stories of where the nursing staff told the patients they were wide awake during surgery but the patient didn't remember being awake because of the lovely drug versed. Apparently the patient was very talkative and didn't remember what they were talking about. I wanted to remember what I was talking about if I was awake so I told the anesthesiologist that it was ok for me to be awake and he didn't give me anymore versed. I guess I was lucky to be awake as I'm in the medical field and was curious. I couldn't see what was going due to a sheet in front of my face nor could I feel any of the surgery as the spinal was really strong. Just make sure you tell the anesthesiologist what you want. Some people prefer not to be awake or remember anything at all while others want to be awake a little or totally awake. Sometimes versed does make the person totally out (but not out enought to need intubation -tube in throat with respirator breathing for you) so do tell the anesthesiologist what you want.


Anesthesia
I was told it was up to the anesthesiologist and I was to terrified of general as I got really sick before. Check out this link first about nausea and zofran before looking at the others. When I had zofran with my last surgery this past April I woke up nausea free but not pain free. I wish I could have had an epidural for my pain but it wouldn't reach as high as my neck LOL. For my TVH the epidural provided wonderful pain relief for the first 24 hours. You can click on the www link at the side of my post to read more of my TVH story if you are interested.
nausea after surgery https://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...ghlight=zofran

general vs. spinal for surgery
https://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...light=epidural

I had a wonderful experience with spinal for surgery and an epidural for post op pain. I had planned on an epidural for the surgery but my anesthesiologist gave me both as he said the spinal would numb me up more. The epidural was simply put in at the same pucture site as the spinal for post op pain management at the same time. Only one stick for both. I never felt any pain or pressure during the surgery with the spinal in. I have heard those that have epidurals may feel pressure but since the anesthesiologist told me that the spinal numbs me up more, maybe that's why I didn't feel anything.

With general anesthesia the sleep is so heavy that it requires you to be intubated (tube in trachea) and have a respirator breathing for you during surgery. They sedate you so you don't experience the sensations when they administer the drug that paralyzes you, which is why you need the intubation. A lot of patients wake up from general with a sore throat and have trouble with a dry mouth and have oxygen over their face when waking up. After I was wheeled from the O.R. to recovery I remember a recovery room nurse tried to place an oxygen mask over my face and my anesthesiologist said I didn't need it. Bless his heart. :-) I was glad to not need it. The oxygen given to patients waking up from general is to help them wake up.

No breathing tube needed for if you don't have general because the sedation used with a regional (spinal/epidural) is different from the sedation used for general. And with a regional, the level of sedation can be varied (light--just relaxed, medium-groggy, heavy--sleep through it all).

Pain relief after surgery.
I wasn't sure if I could tolerate morphine as a PCA (patient pump), but morphine in an epidural/spinal doesn't have the same circulation--effects are limited to nerve-endings in lower portion of body and drug does not cross brain/blood barrier. Before my mom passed away she tried a pca pump and said her biggest complaint was that when she'd fall asleep she would wake up in pain because iit requires the patient to administer the meds by pushing a button while awake. With an epidural there wasn't a button to push as it was delivered automatically regardless if I was sleeping or awake. Make sure you ask the anesthesiologist about leaving the epidural in for post op pain relief so you don't have to deal with a PCA pump if an epidural catheder will be in you anyway. You will automatically have a urinary catheder in your bladder if you have an epidural or a PCA pump for at least the first night so it really doesn't matter which pain relief you choose as you need to do what you think you'd be more comfortable with.

Epidural or PCA for post op pain relief
https://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...pidural+or+pca

Difference between spinal and epidural
https://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...ghlight=spinal

Pain..1-10 (sisters either had epidural or morophine pca pump and reported how they felt right after surgery. Notice the ones on the second page that had epidurals had no pain while others that had the pca pump had to wait for pain relief and woke up in pain) THE BIGGEST REASON I DON'T THINK YOU ARE NUTS FOR WANTING AN EPIDURAL. YOU WILL WAKE UP OR IF YOU REMAIN AWAKE YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE ANY PAIN.
https://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...light=epidural

Were you groggy the first day?
https://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...light=epidural

Spinal VIA General
https://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...ghlight=spinal

There's also another story of someone that had a spinal. Horsewoman shares her surgery story at this link.
https://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...threadid=18353

one last link about general anesthesia with my experience of general anesthesia.
https://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...hreadid=151743

Hope this helps you out. You are definitley not nuts for wanting an epidural. I'd highly recommend it due to your previous problem of nausea and vommiting. Although do mention it to the anesthesiologist as I got zofran anyway during surgery even with my spinal. I also got standing orders for zofran because when my epidural came out and I was switched to oral pain meds I got nauseated. The I.V. zofran worked in a few minutes and I never lost my lunch.