By mari on Thursday, June 27, 2002 - 01:38 pm:

I am 19 weeks pregnant and don't respond to local anaesthetics. I have a history of traumatic experiences at the Dentist and the local anaesthetic injection I had for stitches after giving birth to my daughter 3 years ago didn't work - I could feel everything.I don't know if epidurals or general anaesthetic works as I've never had to try.
I am concerned that if I needed a Caesarian next time the anaesthetic wouldn't work.I will be seeing a consultant anaesthetist on July 11th and she wants me to bring as much information as I can as she hasn't come across the problem before.
I also worry if I should avoid a natural delivery this time as last time I must have injured all my muscles and ligaments with the strain of childbirth as I was in terrible pain while recovering.
Help! If anyone has any info or could share their experience with me I'd be so grateful.
I've also posted this question on several other chatboards.
Thanks - Mari. x

By Sharon on Monday, July 01, 2002 - 04:26 am:

Mari9,
Like you i dopn't respond fully to local's but do to generals (I would request a general for a cesearean if possible) you could look at the following site for info on Local anasthetic and EDS etc
http://www.atv.ndirect.co.uk/Info%20Sheets/local_anaesthetics.htm
hope this helps. Epidurals also work on me (I had one after one of my knee surgeries).
I don't have kids and probably never will (my body simply couldn't cope) but I was told at 12 that the only way I would be able to give birth was by cesear as I have hip and pelvis damage from a minor accident/incident (now know it is HMS/EDS related, my pelvis was dislocated doing the slits in ballet at 12 and is still dislocated today at 31, I also tore muscle off bones, and had perthe's and still's diseases) Lucky Me HA !!
Hope this helps a little

By GRETCHEN on Sunday, July 07, 2002 - 04:47 pm:

TRY DOING WATER AROBICS AND KEEP YOUR MUSCLES AS STRONG AS POSSIBLE. I HAD NATURAL CHILD BIRTH WITH BOTH OF MY SONS. THE PAIN OF DILEVERY WAS EASY TO COPE WITH. LIKE YOU THE PAIN AFTER WAS TERRIBLE. THEY FILLED ME WITH CODINE AND IT DID NOT TOUCH IT.

I WOULD SERIOULY THINK HARD ABOUT LETTING ANYONE CUT ANY ABDOMINAL MUSCLES. WITH HMS WE HAVE ENOUGH PROBLEMS WITH SUPPORT STRUCTURES WITHOUT CREATING MORE. THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH LONGER IT TAKES TO RECOVER FROM A CESEARAN. (YOU KNOW MAJOR SURGERY) THAN IT DOES FROM A VAGINAL DELIVERY.

BE BRAVE AND BE STRONG. MY SONS WERE BOTH ALMOST 9 POUNDS. AND ARE NOW 6 AND 9. WHEN YOU HAVE WEANED YOUR BABY THERE ARE SOME REALLY GOOD PAIN KILLERS THAT WILL ALLOW YOU TO ENJOY YOUR LIFE AGAIN. ASK YOUR DOC. WHAT YOU CAN TAKE WHILE YOU ARE NURSING AND OR PREGNANT. I WISH I HAD DONE IT SOONER. JAKE WAS 2 WHEN I STARTED LOOKING FOR HELP AND HE WAS 3 BEFORE I AGREED TO TAKE NARCOTICS. DO WHAT YOU NEED TO.

ENJOY THIS TIME AS BEST YOU CAN. IT IS SUCH A WONDERFUL AND EXCITING TIME. MY FAMILYL AND I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST. WRITE TO ME DIRECTLY IF YOU WISH.
GRETCHEN

By Mari on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 01:19 pm:

Thankyou both for your replies. I will be seeing the Anaesthetist on Thursday. When everything has been decided I'll let you know how it all turns out!
Mari x

By Mari on Thursday, July 11, 2002 - 11:16 am:

I saw the consultant anaesthetist today. She was lovely. She was very interested, allowed me to speak without interruption and asked pertinent questions. The upshot is that, provided I don't develop serious problems meanwhile, I'll go for a 'normal' delivery and if things go wrong we'll try a spinal block. Should that not work, even with continuous infusion,we'll opt for general anaesthetic as a last resort. She has never treated anyone with HMS/EDS3 before, but the hospital did have a case of EDS4. I left with her a file of information (which was mostly anecdotal of course - it hasn't been easy finding medical info.!)which she has promised to read. She wasn't able to help with the issue of pain relief after a normal delivery - I've tried many painkillers including morphine-based and none of them have worked - but other than that I felt relieved and delighted to have met a member of the medical profession who treated me with such respect. Thanks everyone!
Mari. x

By iggie on Saturday, July 13, 2002 - 04:18 pm:

Hi Mari,

Had my son in March. I am resistant to locals and have nightmare stories of visits to the dentist. Had an epidural after 31 hours in labour - had discussed anaesthetic probs with anaesthetist earlier - which mainly worked for 2 hours, bar a couple of small spots, but "top-ups" were not very effective for contraction pains in back (baby was lying posterior).

I would go through it all again tomorrow (even though pregnancy and labour were very bad for baby and me, only a little of which was due to EDS). As someone who never wanted children, life has been enriched beyond belief - and my joints are only a little worse than before!

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

Iggie

By Mari on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 - 02:45 pm:

Thanks for the message. At the moment my sacroiliac pain is much worse and I'm using crutches to help take some of the weight off my pelvis. Matters are now complicated further by uterine prolapse, which is very uncomfortable and a further barrier to standing or walking! I am now 28 weeks. I hope there'll be no more problems. I'll be in touch.
Mari. x

By Margreth on Sunday, September 01, 2002 - 08:28 am:

Mari,
I've had both local and general anaesthetic(for totally different things). The one and only time I had local anaesthetic it didn't work, it hurt like @%*^%. But all 3 times I had general anaestethic I responded normally to it, didn't feel a thing.

Hopes this helps!

By mari on Friday, January 16, 2004 - 02:59 pm:

Dear all, I am so sorry I didn't let you know how it went - I know it's been a long time.
I had a normal delivery.It was fast - the whole labour from start to finish took about 3 hours, and it felt quite violent at the end! I had gas and air at the end and the local anaesthetic for the stitches didn't work again, so I continued the gas and air. Again my muscles,etc. were in terrible pain afterwards and I'm glad that my midwife had requested I be in a single room. The staff were also good about putting my heated cushion in the microwave!
Things were very difficult for a long time afterwards, my joints,muscles,etc. took a long time to recover and I needed help to bath the baby and keep the house inhabitable,etc. Then I started hydrotherapy once a week and gradually I improved. I've enjoyed the longest 'good' phase ever - about 5 months. Over Christmas I've been deteriorating, but I haven't had hydro for 5 weeks. So there seems to be a correlation. The down side of things is that the prolapse I mentioned before is much worse. I actually have a uterine prolapse, cystocele and rectocele. It seems that natural childbirth may have caused other damage, too, as the skin which stretched is now very thin and delicate and I still don't feel it's completely healed.
Now for the good news - and what makes it all worthwhile - I had another little girl. She is now 1 year old, has ben walking since the age of 8 1/2 months, and now runs and climbs everywhere! My 2 girls are our pride and joy and,despite the difficulties, we wouldn't be without them for the world!
Thanks for your advice, and I hope you're all keeping well.
love, mari.

By Margaret Tucker on Thursday, December 02, 2004 - 10:53 am:

Hi, I know you have alreay had your little girl but thought I would post for the benefit of others. I have had a lot of trouble with dental anesthetic in the past. When I had my twins by C-section this January (2004), the epidural did not work at all. They kept saying, can you feel this? And I kept answering, YES! In the end they had to give me a spinal anaesthetic as well. That worked but only after half an hour. My OB had never seen this problem before and was mystified. She thought it was remarkable that it took an hour to numb up the area and only 20 minutes for the C-section surgery itself.