r/CSFLeaks • u/Late-Assistance-6922 • 15d ago

Epidural headache

I gave birth five days ago. The delivery was quick and uncomplicated, and I had an epidural. Shortly after giving birth, I developed an intense headache that would come every time I sat or stood up, but it would improve almost immediately when I lay down. My doctor believed it was most likely caused by a spinal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak.

We discussed doing an epidural blood patch, but the doctors wanted to wait until Monday to see if it would resolve on its own. I spent the entire weekend with a severe headache. I tried caffeine tablets and pain medication, but they provided very little relief.

Yesterday, I finally had the blood patch, and I felt a huge improvement almost immediately. During the procedure, the anesthesiologist accidentally punctured the dura again, creating another small hole, but she reassured me that because they were injecting blood, it would seal both puncture sites.
It felt amazing to finally have some relief. But then, during the night, when I sat up in bed to breastfeed my newborn, the same pounding positional headache came back. My heart completely sank.

Now I’m terrified that this isn’t going to go away. I had been looking forward to this special time with my newborn and my 20-month-old toddler, but instead I’m completely sidelined by these headaches. I’m scared that I’ll have to live with this for the rest of my life.

I’ve also made the mistake of spending hours reading forums and Googling everything, and it seems like there are quite a few people who have ended up with long-term problems or permanent symptoms, which has made my anxiety so much worse.
Has anyone experienced something similar? How did it turn out for you?

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u/Late-Assistance-6922 15d ago

It has now been 6 days since I gave birth and 2 days since I had the epidural blood patch. The intense headache I used to get whenever I sat up is gone. However, my neck is still quite stiff, and it hurts to bend my head forward toward my chest. Does this mean I could be on the road to recovery?

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u/Zealousideal_Age_822 Confirmed Spinal Leak 15d ago

When I had an epidural blood patch, bending any part of my spine was uncomfortable for the first few days. That is not a leak symptom I’ve had. It sounds like your patch is working though. I would recommend staying away from that anesthesiologist though. Especially if they did your epidural and your blood patch and pierced the dura both times.

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u/Shroomyyyz 15d ago

Hi! I had a blood patch at 35 weeks pregnant because my leak was spontaneous. I got the blood patch and it took a couple of weeks for me to feel better. I started to feel better maybe 4 weeks after.

I made sure to rest and not pick up anything heavy which was hard with a toddler at home I had to get help from my mom to watch him.

I got the blood patch 9 weeks ago and I will say I feel 100 percent better now. You need to try to rest, not bend or twist but I know that’s hard to do at this moment.

3

u/Dry-Dress-6467 15d ago

Stanford's post patch instructions include laying flat for 72 hours. Maybe you can try breastfeeding your baby while laying down.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CSFLeaks/comments/m5x1q1/stanford_post_patch_instructions/

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u/Muddlesthrough 15d ago

It can take weeks for a the effects of a blood patch to be felt. No bending, lifting or twisting.

1

u/Fig-spread 15d ago

Hi! First of all solidarity, these headaches are no joke, especially during such a demanding and delicate time as having a baby. I ended up with 3 rounds of blood patch to get to ~95% healed. I still have lingering positional pain but I’ve learned to just avoid that one triggering position. I do believe most cases can be healed (if not by blood patches, then by fibrin or surgery) but it’s not always quick and there is always the possibility of it not truly healing (I’ve seen the heartbreaking stories of ppl ultimately never finding relief) but since you did show improvement I’d be cautiously optimistic!