I just had parathyroid surgery yesterday and today I have a very bad headache. Yesterday, I felt "out of it" and relaxed, but today I have this BAD headache. I never get headaches so this is really bothering me. The Dr. told me that I can take 800 mg of ibuprofen every 4 hours and I am doing that but the head still hurts. Could this be from the anesthesia? Also, I have never had an operation before but when they put the "cocktail" in the IV I felt a sudden bad feeling all through my body. It didn`t last long and then shortly after I felt very relaxed. What was that uncomfortable feeling? I`ve talked to others and they never felt that. Thanks alot!! 

I hope you have recovered from your headache. Many drugs can cause headache. If you go to any drug reference in book form, on the internet, or in the product insert, you will find headache listed as a side-effect. 

One possible cause of postoperative headache is drug withdrawal. The most common drug responsible for this is caffeine! If you drink more than a couple of cups of coffee each day, and haven't had any for more than a day then this may be your problem. 

Headache is not a typical side-effect of anesthesia, unless you received a spinal or epidural anesthetic. Unlikely for parathyroid surgery! 

New onset headache that is severe and persistent should take you to the doctor or the hospital as soon as possible. Warning symptoms include any neurologic effects, like difficulty with speech, movement, sensation or balance, fever or neck stiffness, visual disturbance, or general unwellness. 

I am not sure what the "cocktail" was that you had injected into you. Not a pina colada presumably. You would have to be a bit more specific about the "bad feeling" through your body. You may have been given a medication called midazolam which is a sedative and anxiety relieving drug. It sometimes burns a bit immediately after injection into the vein. 

I recently had a spinal epidural during childbirth and am now having severe headaches. The difference is the headache began about a week ago and my child is 5 weeks old. I realize this is an extended period of time. Is there a possible relation? 

ﾠMost post-dural puncture headaches (PDPH) - the official name for a spinal headache - occur with a few hours to days after a recognized dural puncture. A dural puncture is when the needle penetrate the dura - the membrane containing the spinal fluid, nerves and spinal cord. Your headache is unlikely to be due to PDPH because its onset a month later is so distant in time from when the epidural was performed. Another factor is, unless you have forgotten to mention it, that there was no obvious dural puncture - in most case when this occurs, the doctor is aware that the needle has made a hole in the dura. 

There are many cause for severe headache, and quite a few of these can have very serious consequences. Unless these headaches conform to a previous pattern with a known, benign cause, like tension headache or migraine, you should definitely seek immediate medical attention. 

Iﾠhad a spinal anesthesia for surgery to have a McDonald stitch done.ﾠﾠI am 14 weeks pregnant and it`s been 2 weeks since the surgery, butﾠI am still getting these headaches. MyﾠOBﾠdoctor prescribed my some headache medicine but my headaches last untilﾠI go to sleep, sometimes 48 hours.ﾠ How long willﾠI be getting these headaches? 

ﾠThere are many possible cause of headache. You need to find out whether your headache is related to the spinal anesthetic or not. A "spinal headache" is usually postural - that is, it worsens considerably when you stand up, and is minimal or absent when you lie down. If your headache is postural you should try to be evaluated by your anesthesiologist. If a spinal headache is diagnosed, there are specific treatments that can help, such as an epidural blood patch. If a spinal headache is untreated it will eventually go away but this may take several days or weeks. 

My daughter has been experiencing neck pain and headaches since her epidural/spinal for a c-section. They did a blood patch the following day after her surgery, but four days later, the problem still exists. What can be done to alleviate this pain? How long can she expect to experience this type of pain? Is the neck pain normal? 

An epidural blood patch is the recommended treatment for severe post-dural puncture headache (PDPH). Dural puncture is a recognized complication of spinal and epidural anesthesia that unfortunately occurs in around 1% of cases. The blood patch is effective about 90% of the time. In cases where the patch does not relieve the pain it is sometimes necessary to repeat the procedure on a second occasion. After a second blood patch almost all patients will have their pain relieved. 

A PDPH is a self-limiting condition. In other words, the pain will eventually go away, even without treatment. This may however take more than a week, and during this time the patient with a severe headache is often quite unable to function normally. The hallmark of PDPH is a headache that is postural - it occurs when standing or sitting and so the patient is forced to lie in bed. Not the ideal position for a mother with a new baby! 

Epidural blood patch is a very safe procedure, but, like any medical procedure is not completely without risk. One of those risks is that another hole is made in the dura, leading possibly to a worsening, not improvement, of the condition! The person performing the blood patch ideally is someone with a fair amount of experience doing epidural anesthesia. 

The decision to repeat a blood patch should take into account the risk, and inconvenience of a blood patch, versus the amount of pain being experienced and its effect on the patient. If another blood patch is not done, the treatment would be analgesics (pain medication) such as acetaminophen, anti-inflammatories or codeine, and lots of fluids. High doses of caffeine have also been shown to help. Although the diagnosis of PDPH is usually obvious, it is a "diagnosis of exclusion". That means that other, potentially serious conditions, such as meningitis, must be "ruled out". This requires the doctor to take a careful history and do a physical examination and possibly some blood tests or imaging (xray) studies.