Facial palsy from epidural??

Question

11 years ago I had an epidural for child birth. The epidural didnt work and was topped up twice. The anethesist had left for lunch and was called back as the fluid was leaking from my back. When he returned he was very flustered and immediately re cited the epidural. The next morning I woke with one side of my face paralysed. I was immediately diagnosed with bells palsy and given steriods for a number of days. After that I was sent to ENT which told me again it must be bells palsy. 11 years on there is some recovery although not complete. I still have slow reactions on one side of my face. 
The day after the epidural the anethesist came to inquire how I was with a member of my family and made himself scarce as soon as he was advised that I had facial paralysis. I do not believe that I have bells palsy but instead suffered nerve trauma after the epidural being cited in the wrong place. I would like some advice on whether I am correct or not. I have done research for years into this but only as a lay man (No medical experience) and it seems that research suggests that I could be correct. Can anyone advise why this happened, if it can be fixed so late on if I am right in my personal conclusions?

Many Thanks

AASufferer · Answer

I believe what is causing your symptoms is something called Adhesive Arachnoiditis. It is caused by the doctor injecting the chemicals directly into your arachnoid layer of your spine. Being that it is iatrogenic (caused by a doctor) it is nearly impossible to get diagnosed because doctor's protect each other from lawsuits. I also suffer from AA due to an epidural (for sciatica) in my lower back. I woke up from the epidural a completely different person. The chemicals can travel up and/or down your spine through your CSF. It causes nerve root clumping, proprioceptive changes, etc... For a diagnosis, you can go to an expert in Arachnoiditis, Dr. Antonio Aldrete. I had to travel out of state to get a diagnosis by him, but it was well worth it. All the other doctors I saw told me that there is no possible way an epidural could cause these problems (a lie), and one doctor told me it was "breakthrough depression and somatization" AFTER diagnosing me with Horner's Syndrome. The nerve root clumping was found by doing an MRI w/contrast of my back.

If anyone suffers from epidurals gone wrong, please look into Arachnoiditis. It is a semi-common problem caused by epidurals, and is completely under diagnosed in the US due to our for profit medical system. It is much easier to get diagnosed in the rest of the world, being that most other countries have single payer health care, which is not profit driven.

marinaolivera · Answer

I been dealing with nerve damage for 5 years sense I had my daughter Been born this has been my second epidural and this one is bad It hurt ed when they did it and it didn't even work and straight to my face  my face started swollen up I had them turn it off And had to have my daughter natural I came home and had bad head aces and my head would feel weird so weird I would get twitching on my eye and my ear would hurt my face would tingle I feel it more when I'm stress out I have had mri done x ray done they found nothing but some times it gives me anxiety cause I get scared about but what can I do nothing some thing I have to deal with in life for ever I'm scared to have more baby's

Baru1234 · Answer

My wife has experienced Bells Palsy during the birth of our child. She was on Epidural also. Initially the epidural was set to 10cc and my wife couldn't feel her legs and later was changed to 2cc. It was horrible because she couldn't eat properly nor sleep. she was unable to close her left eye. The doctors told us that it will be okay in couple of days and forcible discharged us. Once they discharged us they were not answering the calls for two days. Then I left a very rude voice mail to her gynecologist. She then sent us to the neurologist. My wife took steroids and one other medicine. It took 15 days for her to be normal. Thank God. Because of this we have not planned for another child. I don't trust doctors. I have asked many times whether epidural has any side effects but the doctor always denied it. It's a big lie.

concernedbigsis30 · Answer

My little sister ( in her 30's) gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She had an epidural and became very swollen after. Four days later my sister had paralysis on one side of her body. Her doctor is telling her it's due to stress of having a newborn and a two yr old at home. My niece shortly after her birth had to be rushed to the hospital. She became ill. She has recovered but the cause is unknown. (another stress factor) Can anyone help me? I feel my sister's dr has misdiagnosised her. She is receiving steroids to help her recover. Her right side of her face has not recovered.

pinklion · Answer

I've had facial palsy since birth, I'm sorry you've had to deal with that.  Unrelated to that though, I had a badly positioned epidural with my first child and they sent like an electric shock through one leg and it has not been the same since.  I definitely think they can do nerve damage with these epidurals.

caroline747 · Answer

There is a definate link between facial palsy and epidural. I subscribed to a medical journal and found research done which connects them. There is damage to the 7th cranial nerve, which is swollen through pregnancy due to csf( spinal fluid) leaking. If you want a link to the research let me know.

Abijac · Answer

I too have had nerve issues immediately following the birth of my first child (I got bells palsy 2 days after birth)
that was 3 1/2 years ago
I am going to go see a neurologist soon.  If I find anything I will let you kknow but it does seem odd considering it started right after the birth (and I had an epidural as well) and they had to place it twice