pregnancy with gas and air fear

[leighann.p.]

hiya everyone,
i havnt really been on here in a while, mainly because iv had so much going on in my life, also because i seem to be doing better, but i do seem to be having somthing thats bothering me, i would be very greatfull if n e 1 can help me out, or if n e 1 can let me know if they can relate to this.......

i seem to have a major fear of having gas and air during my labour, i had it with my first 2 children and seemed to have a horrible reaction, it felt like my whole body was frozen but my mind still worked, so i would try to run away but my body wouldnt move as fast as i wanted it too, instead it felt like i was moving in slow motion when i was actually moving at normal speed lol, sorry if this sounds confusing, this was 3 and 6 years ago now, i didnt have n e with my 3rd child because i was terrified to have the same reaction, i started to believe recently that maybe it was a panic attack being brought on by the gas and air because my body cant seem to handle n e thing that changes my state of mind, but iv had sum people tell me gas and air cant cause panic attacks, is this true and if so what could have caused this horrible reaction i had, ?
im now 14wks pregnant with my 4th child and terrified again to be given gas and air, my midwife thinks i should have the epidural but im also scared that not being able to feel my body from the waste down will cause me to panic, i feel like i cant win atm, and im dreading the birth more and more...
i feel like everyone looks at me like im crazy when i try to describe the reaction i got from the gas and air, as if im over exsagaration it, but im truly not, it has caused a very big fear of gas and air....
when i say my body cant handle n e thing that changes my state of mind i mean the gas and air, some antibiotics, and iv even tried grass once which also gave me the same reaction as the gas and air, the only thing that i can do (b4 i was pregnant) was alcohol, for some reason i relax when i have that even tho that also changed my state of mind, but i didnt do this regualy only once a month, somtimes longer,
i truly feel like im abnormal, i did not suffer from anxiety or panic attacks back then this has only come on over the last year or so.. so im very confused as to what this could have been....
if there is n e 1 who can help me with this i would be very greatfull....
thankyou.
Leigh-Ann x

[nomorepanic]

Can you not give birth without any gas or air or epidural - loads of women do?

[leighann.p.]

too be honest i did with my 3 children iv got, by the time i gave birth i had nothing in my system, but i was tramatised by the pain with my two youngest because the were very hard births, my 2nd child got stuck and in the end they had to help get her out, and my 3rd child came out with her hands on her head so she was harder to give birth too aswell, so all in all they were rather painful lol, im worried i will have the same trouble again, because my births seem to get harder and harder and iv already gone through quite a bit of pain during this pregnancy so im exspecting the labour to be alot harder this time round, and i deffo i dont want to do it drug free again, the thought of it scares me as much as the gas and air does,

Leigh-Ann x

[JaneC]

I never found gas and air much help anyway. How do you feel about taking diamorphine or pethidine? Or have you ever tried a Tens machine? x

[Going home]

Sorry you had such a bad experience with past labours, but to be honest, even though you had problems with the gas and air i'd still choose this over an epidural, i'd be much more nervous of having one of these but thats just my personal choice. You don't say if the gas and air took the edge off the pain though, you only mention that you felt very strange on it and this is how its supposed to make you feel really. Gas and air doesn't stay in your system for more than a minute or two after youve breathed it in and then its gone again until the next contraction, so its always safe. I wouldn't dwell too much on how peculiar it makes you feel because its not dangerous and doesnt stay in your system at all, but just think about how it helps the pain. And this birth might not be so traumatic as the others.

Take care
Anna xx

[ann88]

Hi,

My reply probably won't help you an awful lot, but I just thought I'd let you know that I know exactly what you mean about the reaction you had to gas and air. I've never been pregnant and have never had gas and air, but when I was about 10 years old I had quite a serious illness and had these bizarre feelings of my body moving in slow motion, even though it really wasnt. Sometimes it would be the other way round, and every movement I would make felt like it was in fast forward. This was before I was diagnosed so these reactions weren't caused by any drugs, it was just the mind playing tricks. These feelings carried on for years afterwards. I'm not saying that your reaction wasnt caused by gas and air, it may well have been, but the important thing to remember is that you didnt come to any harm other than having to put up with those unpleasant feelings.

Also remember that you are in total control of your birthing plan, and its important to keep discussing your feelings with your midwife so that you can decide on a method that you're happy with. There are lots of pain relief options out there for you to choose from. I might add, i'm hardly one to talk since I'm so terrified of giving birth that I refuse to do it unless I can have a general anaesthetic lol. Anyway good luck, you'll be fine. This is your 4th time, you're an expert!

[leighann.p.]

hiya.
jane.c, i usually have pethadine but it wears off b4 i give birth then they tell me its too late to have n e more lol iv not tried the ova two tho,
Anna, to be honest the gas and air didnt really do much to the pain, the reaction i had has put me right off of it now, and i think if i attempted to use it id prob panic just thinking about it, because it scared me so much, when i first started taking the gas and air i just got wat i call a small buzz lol but after a couple of hours was when it really turned on me and i freeked out,
Ann88, im worried that i could have come to harlm 2nd time round, because i was strapped to the machines and panicked so badly with the effect that i tried to run from the hospital lol, i had to be pinned down by my mum, partner and a nurse lol, then another nurse came in and told me i looked traumatised, and i think i truly was, because i had another episode about 5 mins later and i hadnt taken n e more gas and air, so i freeked out even more thinking i was going mad,
this is going to sound crazy but in a way i could say that i felt like i was in a time warp, even tho i cant really describe the feeling, the easier way is that i froze but my mind worked, but when i could move i was in slow motion, when i came round after a few mins, everyone was looking at me as tho i was a nutter lol even now just thinking about it now i feel like i went mad lol,
thankyou all for your replys
leigh-ann x x x

[Going home]

I think because the gas and air makes people feel spaced out and not in control you obviously got into a full blown panic, you felt trapped when you couldn't just run out of the door as most of us do when we get an attack, so you panicked even more. There is something called an 'elective caesarean' and might be worth discussing this with your midwife or gynaecologist, given that you've had quite traumatic births before and you don't do well with any of the pain control options, they just might consider it.

Anna xx

[leighann.p.]

hi anna, thankyou for the advice i will deffo spk to my midwife about it, i did ask her b4 if i could have a c section and she told me that they dont usually like to do them unless its really needed, but i think maybe if i tell her more about my past labours and my fears then they may concider it, the only thing im scared about with that tho is not being able to feel the bottom half of my body, iv been told u go comp numb, and im worried i will panic about this and try to run away and fall flat on my face lol,
thanks again for your advice
leigh-ann x

[sb001f8994]

Hi,
I had an epidural with my first son as I had high blood pressure and it helps lower it...it was brill for the pain but I felt I had no control over the pushing etc. My second I had the epidural for the same reasons but it didnt work and I refused the other pain relief and for my daughter I opted for no pain relief and it was great, I really enjoyed being in control of everything and as I have a fear of medication Im not sure what Id have done if it would have been agony!
My mums friend had pethadine and had a very rare reaction and woke up after her baby was born and dressed all nice in her cot...what a way to give birth...magic!!!
There are loads of different methods of pain relief, I much preffered the natural approach I chose when I had my daughter. You should discuss all the options with the midwife.
Take care and good luck,

[diane07]

With my first i was given everything that was going...........gas and air pethidine etc.

With my second i had totally natural birth with nothing at all.

With my third i had an epidural, most brill thing ever, they didn't give me a total block so i could still feel my legs and still move them and i knew when i needed to push, i had a great fear of gas and air, but equally a great fear of not being able to feel my legs, if i'd have known how fab it was i'd have had it with my first.

Like carol says there are so many options so speak to your midwife about them.

best wishes

di xx