Epidural for pain

Hi everyone, I am havinf surgery in a couple of weeks and have been given the option of epidural or pain pump to control pain.  I have never had an epidural...(I haven't had children).  Are you awake when they do this?  Will I feel it?  Does it hurt? Any infromation would be fabulous and much appreciated.

I had two surgeries within a week. Both were open surgeries with a horizontal incision across my 'bikini line'.

For the first I was given the epidural. For the second (emergency surgery) they wouldn't allow me to have the epidural and I used the pain pump. I would definitely recommend the epidural over the pump. I didn't feel it all and I had little to no pain after the surgery. I was also more alert and generally felt much better. The only issue I had was that I had numbness in my left leg which meant I wasn't able to get up and walk around. As a result, I had to have the epidural removed on day 2 post op. At that point they gave me a pump but, to be honest, I didn't need it and I was sent home day 4.

After the second surgery I was in a little bit more pain. Not unbearable and I was able to control it with the pump. I was, however, pretty much out of it for a few days. I also had some pretty freaky dreams - almost like hallucinations. I didn't like the feeling at all. I also felt dizzy and nauseous much of the time. The second hospital stay was almost two weeks.

I will (hopefully) be having my temporary ileostomy reversed in a the fall and I will definitely be requesting an epidural.

Cari

I had a pain pump for my first two surgeries; the pain was a little difficult when I first woke up, but by the time I was out of recovery it was no problem. I had an epidural for my third surgery, and had zero pain when I woke up. I don't even remember what it felt like when they put it in. The only thing for me was, I ended up being one of the 1-3% of people who get an "epideral headache," caused by leaking of the spinal fluid. For a couple of days, unless I was lying absolutely flat on my back, I had an excruciating headache. The risk of developing this is higher in younger people and when a larger sized needle is used.

Anyway, I don't want to scare you away from an epidural; this is just what happened to me. I was very sick at the time of this surgery, as well, so I don't know if that had anything to do with it.

Hey thanks everyone...Its always so much easier asking questions here...I don't feel so naive and silly. 

     My surgeon was going to give me the epidural but they had already given me heparin injections and he would not give me the epidural.  Frankly, I don't understand why, but guess he must have his reasons.  I had the pain pump, but was so groggy coming out of anesthesia that I only gave myself a shot at 3pm and another at 7pm...lolol.  Because we had a friend who passed from an overdose of morphine at one of our local hospitals (I live in south Jersey, but I had my operation in Philly), I was scared to death I would OD on it.  The evening of my operation, the nurse told me it was impossible for me to OD on the morphine because it is measured...little did I know . 

 

     I have a high pain tolerance and really didn't experience much pain.  Discomfort...yeah...pain..no.

I highly recommend an epidural over a pain pump. I have had both, but had WAY better luck with the epidural :) I think part of that is because the medicine goes in a slow drip with the epi, and with the pain pump you have to be awake to push it. I found the pump harder because you don't necessarily wake up until it is almost a little too late. Then it takes linger to get the pain back under control.
Good Luck! Hope you fine all the info helpful :)

Hi,

My daughter who was just 15 when she had her surgery had both. They put her to sleep before they did anything. So when she woke up from surgery, she had the epidural, a pain pump and also a catherer.

I was scared of the epidural and did not know they even used them until my first [virgin] surgery in 2010.  When given the choice I reluctantly agreed and I am so glad that I did.   The anesthesia guy [sooooo good lookin' BTW] zapped me with something right outside the operating door and the only 2 things I remembered from the operating room was the big overhead lights [cool--like the ones on TV doctor shows  ] and him telling me to lean in on the surgical nurse and not move so he could tape the epidural in place.  I don't remember any more than that.   They did recommend the epidural, but left it up to me.

2nd surgery in 2011, I asked for the slick, good looking anesthesia guy, but got another one.  I told the new one to zap me good outside the operating room, but he wasn't as slick as the first one.  It didn't hurt, but I remember they had 2 attempts.  Kinda stung, maybe, but nothing bad.   This time, I also remember moving from the gurney to the operating table.   I didn't want to remember anything.

I was too loopy with the epidural with my 2nd surgery so they took me off of it earlier than the first time.  It sure made a huge difference in my comfort level.

I had the epidural, and it didn't hurt much going in. However, it turned out that they put it in crooked and one of my legs was completely numb afterward, so much so that I couldn't lift it at all. They took it out and replaced it w/a pain pump (that might have also been there all along, I don't remember).

The main issue I had w/pain was when I switched from IV to oral pain meds. Spent my first night home vomiting dilaudid. I had diligently "stayed on top of the pain" but the vomiting was way worse than the pain. After that I only took Tylenol, and it still hurt a bit, but I was fine. For my second surgery, I had hydrocodone, and I was OK w/that.

Hubby's CR surgeon highly recommended it from personal experience as he had some surgery 2 months prior (hip replacement?) and that was enough to convince hubby to go that route. As I said he needed some supplementing (he was on a pain management program prior to surgery so I am sure his system needed more medication than someone who was not) but he was so alert and not drugged after the surgery.