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Problems After C-section?

I was 2 weeks over due with my daughter, after being induced and going through an over 50 hour labor, the doctor and I finally agreed that it was best to do a c-sections. About 20 hours into my labor I finally gave in and got the epidural, Which was a HORRIBLE experiance.. It was more painfull than the contractions! Almost immediatly I felt a differance in my right leg, I asked the nurse about it and she said it was normal. After about 5 hours I was able to move my left leg and foot around but not my right. After the c-section and when I was in my regular room, we noticed my right leg and thigh had ballooned up and was EXTREMELY sensitive, so sensitive that it made me cry when they used a marker to draw on my leg where the swelling was (to make sure it wasnt spreading) and I have a pretty high tolerance to pain. I've had multipule ultra sounds done, been perscribed Vicodin (Both the 500's and 950's) to which I had to take multipule pills to barely help with the pain (And left me very reliant on them). Nerve pills, muscle relaxers, and Tylenol 8oo's, I finally had to stop taking everything after 2 months of taking all the meds because I felt like I couldnt do anything because I was so tired from everything they had given me. Well 1 year after all of that began, Its finally bareable, Meaning that it hurts, im finally able to shave without biting my lip in pain. My husband still forgets and hits it every once in a while which still causes alot of pain, But its something I can live with now (Even though now im having knee problems with the same leg :( ) Has any one else experianced this or know of someone who had the same problem? Will it eventually all go away? After 3 or so months my doctor finally told me she thought it was my psycotic (spelling?) nerve and that they might have hit it during the epidural but theres no way to tell for sure. (Another doctor just told me I needed to lose weight)

Also, about 6 months after I had my daughter I had to have my galbladder taken out after a galstone passed through my pancreas and nearly my liver, I was in the hospital for over a week which was the first time I was ever away from my daughter. I was told after it happend that it sometimes happens after you've had a baby, but was never warned about it or even heard about it before then. I had severe pain abdominal pain which felt like a really bad gas build up, after I took peptol bismol and tums it felt better so I really thought it was just gas until Sunday morning at 3 am when it finally hurt so bad I couldnt stand it anymore (I would honestly go through labor, the epidural and the leg pains again all at once if I was givin the choice) If its something that can happen after having a baby, why dont they tell you what the warning signs could be? I cant help but think that if they had told me, I wouldnt have had to go through the pain, the week long hospital visit, and the pricey bills if they had told me something.. ANYTHING.. The procedure its self is only an hour long, 4 small incisions (They tell you its 3 but they put one in your belly button they dont tell you about!) and after a couple hours of evaluation,walking, and a nice cup of chicken broth, you get to go home. Has anyone had that happen to them? I know they said its typically related to eating lots of oily, greasy or fatty foods, but Im honestly not a big take out eater, I primarily eat veggies (Not a vegitatian, I do eat meat, but not much), and I do watch my fat intake.. Im just at a loss for both of these conditions, No ones been able to really explain them to me other than "It happens".

What can I do next?

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WOW...I personally have never heard of that happening at all! I have had 2 c-sections (most recent one just 4 months ago) an I have had other issues with them but never those kinds. I am sorry you had to go through that type of pain, you know sometimes even the doctors don't know! If you wanna talk more just send me a message!

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Oh hunny let me tell you. My first daughter i had an emergency c-section.and three,yes three weeks later i had my gallblader removed.it was awful because i was still really sore. But yes its a fairly commen thing,and no they don't tell you but why should they? If they told you about all the different bad things tha could happen we would all be a miserable reck.plus the littlest pain we would all freak out and think "oh what if it's this and what if its that". But i now work in a hospital and see it all the time but its more like i think 1 out of 20 women will have that problem so i hear. Don't worry about it focus more on your healthy beautiful baby than being worried or angry.
Sometimes i think your body is on overlaod during pregnancy and some of our bodies freak out when its all over.
Maybe it was all the vitamins during pregnancy and all of a sudden it stops who knows. Like me i got pupps when i was pregnant with my third child. Why me?????? You get an uncontrolable itchy rash all over your body which itches sooooo bad it was even on the bottom of my feet.i slept with a hairbrush to scratch myself all night. I would be in tears because i would wake up with my sheets all bloody from scratching. Supposedly some womans pancreas spits out these chemicals because our body can't filter whats going on during pregancy so this is what causes the rash. No one ever told me that could happen either. But hey done and over with.god got me threw it and now i just focus on the wonderful gift from all that pain hehe

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I can't offer any help other than to let you know when I had my epidural 2 weeks ago with my son it only seemed to work on one side of my body and I felt everything during my birth (when I had my daughter 8 years ago I was totally numb to the pain), so your not the only one with a "bad" epidural sadly.

I also had my galbladder removed. My daughter was 2 at the time. I woke up during the operation, and was so doped up on meds I didn't even wake up for 8 hours after the sugery. The first 2 years were hell, if I ate anything greasy I got really upset stomach. But it does get better! I was also told you get the diesase from greesy foods and pregnancy, so what you have heard is true.

Hang in there :hug:

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Wow J. - it sounds like you've been through a lot. I'm so sorry. My only suggestion would be to look into alternative healing methods to help you deal with the pain. I know someone recommended a chiropractor, which can be very helpful - try to get recommendations for good ones. I don't know where you live but I see an excellent one in Studio City. You can contact me for his info. Also, I've had good luck with acupuncture for different physical problems, so you might want to give that a try too. It's amazing how helpful it can be. Another suggestion, particularly because you don't have a gallbladder, is to find an herbalist (you could try Chinese or Ayurvedic) or naturopath to help you too. Good luck!

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that sounds a lot like when i had my first son. it sounds to me like they did hit your nerve. i have problems with the sciactic nerve too. my dr suggested seeing a chiropractor to make sure that the nerve is not being pinched. so that might offer you some relief. good luck, i know how tough it is!

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Many wishes to you for good health, you've really been through a lot!

I didn't have a c-section with my first son (he's 14 mos. now) but I did have my gallbladder removed six weeks into my current pregnancy (I'm 25 weeks along now.) It was horrible, but I too was told pregnancy increases your chances of having that surgery. My gallbladder was so bad off that I could not even drink water, in the two months prior to conception I lost 25 lbs., I was so malnourished I had to be sustained intravenously for three days before they could do the surgery. My doctors were in a hurry to get the GB out before my pregnancy progessed any further, I guess it "malfunctioned" since there were no signs of stones or blockages. But it was a very painful from beginning to end, I didn't expect that. It sounded like a fairly routine thing from what I heard and read about, the reality was I honestly thought I would die from the pain after the surgery.

I think the best thing you can do is continue to take it easy on yourself, be patient with your body as it heals. It eventually will! Tune out anyone who thinks you're being a big baby or too sensitive... a c-section is a surgery as well as the GB removal and that's an awful lot of trauma to an already taxed pregnant/post-pregnant body!

This will be my 2nd son and last child! I am happy to report he's very healthy, all looks promising for a routine birth... but I am stopping at two because pregnancy is just too much for me! I really think some women have it much easier than others!

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I have a similiar issue with my left leg. I did not have a c-section though. When I was about 6 months pregnant with my first baby my left thigh starting having pains and aching and tingling, then it started going numb. I talked to my OB/GYN and she just said "welcome to pregnancy" and that probably my pregnancy weight gain was putting pressure on my sciatic nerve. Well, after I delivered (non-eventful vaginal deliver, with epidural)and after I lost most of the baby weight my thigh was still really sensitive and numb most of the time. I talked to my regular doc and he and I drew a circle around the affected area and then he showed me in a medical book a picture of the exact same location and the same symptoms, he said that it is a specific nerve (not the sciatic) and when I was pregnant the extra weight caused it to be pinched and since I am heavy anyway, once the baby weight was gone, it just stayed that way. He said that the only way to make it feel better was to lose weight. Well after my second baby (almost exactly same birth story)I lost more than just my baby weight and it did feel better. But in recent months, I have gained about 20 lbs. back and now it hurts again and is tingly. Like you, it is very uncomfortable to even shave or have someone bump it. Also it is numb and/or tingly, it's still really sensitive. I know that's not an exact answer to the problem but just letting you know that there's others with similiar issues. Maybe you can talk with your doc about the possiblity of a nerve being pinched.

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Dear J.,

You really had two hard whammies, didn't you? I hope that is going to be over soon, so you can get on with warning mommies. I know that the medical profession is rather cruel at times. They have a lot of patients and get rummy sometimes I think about who truly needs some time spent on the explanations. Go on line to the Gall Bladder experts. Look around and try to figure out which ones really know what they are talking about. Try the big medical school sites to see if they have anything. Go to the Federal Health site , I can't remember the name, but you can find it. That is really the main one, along with the American Medical Association.

I hope that good health is just ahead for you. C. N.

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Hi J.,
I had an epidural during my labor as well, and I also ended up with a c-section after a couple of hours of pushing. Although not as severe as yours, while in recovery I found that I had pain and nerve damage in my left leg, all along my thigh. When I talked to the doctors about it, they said that it was most likely a result of pushing against the epidural. Because you can't feel that you are injuring yourself. She said it should get better over time, although it may take as long as six months. My son is turning two next month, and unfortunately I still have the nerve damage to some extent, although it has lessened, and the pain part is almost gone. I no longer cringe with that creepy pain if my husband hits my leg.
And no one did mention that as a possibility before I had the epidural, unfortunately!
Hope that helps a little...

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