Expert: Ronald Levy, M.D. - 9/3/2008

Question
My daughter is now 1 years old and I had to be induced with pitocin. I was also given Tetracycline for strep B. They then administered the continous epidural. When I was given the epidural I could feel the medicine being injected. At first I heard a loud pop and then It felt like lightning shooting down from my back to the end of my leg. The jolt down my leg happened twice. Then a shortly lived burning sensation. After it was administered there was no problems. I was completely numb from the waist down I couldn't even roll over. My hands started to itch severely to the point I was scratching the skin off and my ears were itchy as well. They said I was allergic to the Tetracycline and gave me Benadryl through IV. Then gave me Clendamycin. My delivery went smooth. Only 25 mins of pushing. I was so numb about 6 hours after delivery I urinated on my self. I could not stand up or anything. A couple days after delivery my right leg was still kind of numb. It is one year later and I am still having low back pain. I has now went into my right hip and leg. Sometimes I get numbness. Is this related to the epidural and when will this go away. It hurts from the time I wake up to the time i go to bed. Is there any thing that will help me.

Answer
It sounds like it might be. When you had the parathesias (shooting pain down the leg), did the pain go away before they injected the medicine? If not, then they likely injected the medicine into the nerve. The itching was more likely due to narcotic in the epidural and not an allergic reaction. (Of course this is all conjecture on my part as I did not see you or the chart). All that being said, you need to have this evaluated or it may get worse. You should see either a neurologist or an anesthesia pain specialist for a complete evaluation and you should do this as soon as possible.

Ronald Levy, MD
Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston