u/Equal-Chart-4249

note - this is more of a rant.

it seems like every doctor has a different opinion on how long you should rest, how you should rest, what to avoid, how to avoid, when to start your normal stuff, etc.

it’s all very overwhelming when you’re going through this situation. I had a lumbar epidural last friday, killer headaches started saturday-mon, finally monday went to ER, they did a BP, killer headaches went away but now I am in bed all over again and it’s starting to get exhausting.

after my epirdural, they said no BLT for 3 days etc and It seemed to be fine. Until headaches. Was told to lay flat and that it’d heal on it’s own. got worse. then went to ER, BP doc said rest for 24 hours and then can do light activities. got called from epidural team (diff dr) and he wants me to rest until tomorrow. I still feel wobbly when I get up, I have a dull headache laying down(maybe head is just uncomfortable), I feel groggy and tired overall, I can’t cough according to the internet (I happen to have a dry cough atm), I can’t lift more than 5 lbs according to some doctors but some say you can’t lift more than 10lbs (I have a toddler who wants me to pick up every time they see me), I have been hydrating a lot but in return I have to pee every so often which requires me to get up slowly and be careful. if you read this far, I hope your recovery is quick. I deal with other health issues so at times it feels like this will make those other issues worse, my arms are sore from all the poking during my ER visit (veins are always hard to find, even more in a cold ass hospital). im also a hypochondriac so I have spent hours reading and looking at others situations and hoping I don’t get worse, im just tired… idk how some of y’all who had it worse did it

apparently my epidural for my L5S1 caused fluid to leak and give me a horrible headache that required a blood patch.

timeline:

friday morning - epidural

friday rest of day - lay down and rest

saturday morning - woke up with headache that gradually got worse over the day. headache came on when sitting up or standing up. looked up symptoms, possible dula tear and liquid causing headache. Laying down flat helped reduce.

saturday rest of day - rested in bed

sunday - headache felt worse all day, same thing, getting up.

monday - 3 days post procedure, according to them I should be okay to move around. get up to horrible headache that felt like it was getting worse and consistently hurting.

ended up going to ER, where they gave me meds to help headache, no relief, ER called up local anesthesiologist who happened to be administering epidurals in the labor department and made it over.

around 3pm administered blood patch and was done im about 15 minutes. headache almost gone instantly. laid down for about an hour to let blood clot and seal leakage.

discharged around 5pm and am currently home.

no more headache when standing up or sitting up, although a tiny headache still subsides, scale of 1-10, a 2 vs a 9/10 from standing up before.

Lower back feels sore and aches which im sure is due to the b2b work on my lower back.
fun fact, they struggled to find veins, ended up using my hand and bursted a vein lmao. I was absolutely cold and veins were hiding while being at ER.

i would highly suggest getting a blood patch if you ever experience the same as me. My doctors wanted me to Wait it out another 2-3 days but I was pretty much bed ridden And my whole body was aching from laying 20+ hours straight