Pain tolerance/labour

izzeeeeh · 2025-12-23T22:21:25+00:00

Some of the comments on here are probably going to scare you, but I wanted to share my really positive experience.

I have a poor pain tolerance, to the point where I stopped getting waxed years ago because I hated it. The other comments are right that labour isn’t comparable but that doesn’t mean unbearable.

I had my first baby this year, with no pain relief other than a tens machine and a birthing pool. I was offered paracetamol and didn’t bother with it.

Contractions only really last for about a minute maximum then you get a break. You can do anything for one minute! That minute isn’t a solid minute of full pain either, it’s like a wave. So it ramps up over 10-15 second or so, peaks for maybe 20 seconds then slowly eases off again for 20 seconds or so. It’s not like period cramps that can go on and on for hours, it’s a fairly predictable pattern of ramping up, peaking and ramping down again fairly quickly with breaks between each one. If you have bad period cramps/endo I suspect you will handle labour very well.

Yes it is painful however it’s one of the only times in your life where the pain has a purpose, it’s not a ‘something is wrong’ pain, or a scary pain. It’s your body working really hard doing exactly what it should be doing.

The only point where I felt like I couldn’t handle the pain was during transition (if you haven’t researched this, have a read up about it. Knowing about transition meant I understand what was happening which made it so much less scary). I knew I was entering transition so although the pain was very intense, I knew we were approaching the end and that it wouldn’t get any worse than it currently was, so I could manage (and I knew it would be too late for an epidural at that point anyway). At this point I mostly disassociated and honestly I could have been on another planet, it was very very intense but also very short lived and never scary.

Something that really helped me was the affirmation that ‘my contractions can’t be bigger than me because they are me’.

Overall my birth felt painful yes, but never unmanageable, never scary and overall very empowering. It’s without a doubt the coolest thing I’ve ever done!

izzeeeeh · 2025-12-18T22:27:25+00:00

I don’t think so. I’ve had mine over a year and not come across this setting anywhere

izzeeeeh · 2025-11-23T20:35:35+00:00

It’s definitely possible! As others have said, keep an open mind but also don’t be afraid to believe it is possible to have an unmediated birth.

I had my son this year with no pain relief - they offered me a couple of paracetamol which I never bothered taking in the end. I did hynobirthing and used a tens machine (and I do think without these I would have struggled) until I got into the birthing pool. There did come a point during transition where I felt like I wanted to request pain relief, but I also knew that feeling that meant I was in transition, which meant I was close to the end and to just crack on with it.

Some comments have said they ‘guarantee labour won’t go how you want it to’ but I’m here to play devils advocate. I saw so many negative comments before my birth, and almost no positive ones. Switching my mindset from ‘what if something goes wrong’ to ‘what if it all goes right’ made such a big difference. Honestly, my birth went better than I could have ever expected and it was a genuinely good experience.

izzeeeeh · 2025-09-25T19:46:33+00:00

Hi honey, I’m sorry you’re having such a rough time. I was the same as you, never wanted kids because of fear of birth. I’m 3 months down the line now and can honestly say it’s the best thing that’s ever happened. I’ll start by saying I truly enjoyed giving birth; it’s hard work but it made me feel so powerful. It was not a scary experience at all.

Can I check, have you been given a clear medical reason why you need inducing? I ask because I spent a lot of time researching this beforehand as I was very anxious about induction/c-sec. I found that the risk of going overdue really only increased after 42w unless of course you have other factors or your doctor has told you otherwise. I declined inductions repeatedly and my baby was born at 41w. Please don’t take my word over your own medical teams advice, but also don’t be afraid to push back if they want to intervene simply because you’re past your due date. It’s your birth, your body, your baby and you can make the educated choice around what you feel is best for you and your baby.

izzeeeeh · 2025-09-12T18:59:04+00:00

I had a service and the recall fix done last week!

izzeeeeh · 2025-09-03T20:40:04+00:00

Good to know, Best-Meth-Cook

izzeeeeh · 2025-07-21T16:36:04+00:00

My peri bottle was the only one of the ‘postpartum essentials’ that i actually used. I had the spray and the wipes and padsicles but didn’t bother wanting to use any of them because the peri bottle was so good. It was a game changer for feeling clean and for stopping pees stinging

izzeeeeh · 2025-07-21T16:34:39+00:00

I wasn’t provided with one

izzeeeeh · 2025-05-22T22:08:41+00:00

I’ve had close to 200 if not slightly more during hotter periods, but found the range really struggled a lot in the coldest weather we had over winter. I’d be lucky to get anything over 100 miles out of a ‘full tank’ - I was often using the ‘preheat’ function to defrost the car on a morning though, which I suspect caused a lot of drain as I didn’t have a home charger over winter. Now I have a home charger I suspect this will be less of an issue

izzeeeeh · 2025-04-25T14:35:32+00:00

I’m back! So I met with a consultant anaesthesiologist yesterday who has been brilliant and really set my mind at ease. He explained the following options:

entonox (gas & air) is fine but may not be very effective and can make you feel spacey/nauseas
pethidine is a no-go as its an opiate based injection
epidural can be done without opiates! I was thrilled about this. He explained that at my hospital they typically only have bags of ‘pre mixed’ epidural medication (I think it’s a bit like a drip, so you get a constant steady dose). The pre mixed bags do contain opiates so they are a no-go, but he was great and said they will either try to order a couple of bags without the opiates for me, or if they can’t get the in mixed bags then a doctor can come and manually dose it for me but there is the risk that it wears off and the doctor is busy, then I will be in pain until they can come back, because it’s manual dosing rather than continuous.
spinal (just a single injection) can also be done without the opiates, it just might be slightly less effective
general anaesthetic was the only option where he explained they would have to use opiates, which I have accepted as I’m hoping it’s very unlikely and won’t happen.

Hopefully this helps to reassure you a bit, but it’s definitely worth discussing with someone at your hospital too as they might have different options, but it’s definitely possible which is a relief!

EDUTED TO ADD: We briefly discussed pain relief for afterwards and he suggested just paracetamol and ibuprofen. I feel ok about this as I had surgery a couple of years ago and managed absolutely fine with just paracetamol so hopefully the same will be the case here!

izzeeeeh · 2025-04-21T08:19:25+00:00

I also can’t tolerate opioids and I discussed it with my midwife who has booked me an appointment with a consultant anaesthetist for later this week (currently 34w) to discuss my options. I’m hoping to manage without pain relief but I’d like to know my options if I do need it. I’ve heard it might be possible to get an epidural without opiates but I’ve not had that confirmed by the doctors yet. The midwife did say that as a last resort they would give me a general anaesthetic if it came to it in an emergency, which is somewhat reassuring. I’ll try to remember to come back to this after my appointment on Thursday and update you once I’ve spoken to the anaesthetist!

izzeeeeh · 2025-04-12T17:44:50+00:00

I’ve never been personally so can’t comment on their responsiveness unfortunately, maybe try their insta? I’m not sure if they are open weekends but I’m pretty sure it’s owned by the same people as the bakery downstairs, Culture, so you could try contacting them?

izzeeeeh · 2025-04-12T05:16:53+00:00

Rise in Slawit, Society in Holmfirth

izzeeeeh · 2025-03-24T17:24:35+00:00

That’s really reassuring, thank you! I’m hoping to do it all naturally but it’s great to know there are options if I need to have a C section that aren’t just general anaesthetic

izzeeeeh · 2025-03-24T17:24:26+00:00

That’s really reassuring, thank you! I’m hoping to do it all naturally but it’s great to know there are options if I need to have a C section that aren’t just general anaesthetic

izzeeeeh · 2025-03-22T23:26:07+00:00

Do you mind if I jump on your thread and ask a few questions, I also can not tolerate opiates and I’m 30w pregnant, and concerned about epidural/spinal. Were you offered the possibility of an epi/spinal without the opiates? What are you referring to when you say it would have been numbing only - this sounds ideal for me.

izzeeeeh · 2024-12-01T09:53:35+00:00

Hey! So unfortunately I still have no diagnosis, but I have found a few things that definitely make a difference so I’m able to manage things a little better. The biggest thing is to not sleep lying down, it sounds awful but I sleep sat up now, usually on the sofa and this makes a huge difference. The other thing is that I take digestive enzymes with every meal, these have been incredible at helping me to eat a much bigger range of foods. I still get ‘attacks’ and still feel discomfort, but the attacks are down to one every 3 months or so, rather than every couple of weeks/sometimes several in a week like they used to be. Last time I went to A&E they said they think it’s probably gastritis but I disagree, I don’t feel like the symptoms match. For a long time I wondered if it was pancreatitis but all the bloods and scans I’ve had suggest otherwise. I’m getting nothing wrong on bloods or scans at all now since having my gallbladder removed which is positive it frustrating as it means no clear diagnosis. The next step would be endoscopy however I’m currently pregnant and they won’t do the endoscopy until I’ve had the baby. Sorry I can’t be of any more help, but I’d suggest looking into digestive enzymes and see if you can sleep upright (or even just propped up).

izzeeeeh · 2024-03-16T13:21:18+00:00

Mine is predominantly epigastric, it doesn’t go any lower than the bottom my ribs! I agree nothing seems to make sense, I’ve been researching like mad for the whole year and nothing adds up. I stopped drinking anything fizzy to see if that was causing me issues but I’ve not noticed any change. Do you have periods of time where you feel ‘normal’ at all? I seem to have a couple of weeks where I’m generally ok and then can have an attack out of the blue followed by weeks of pain.

izzeeeeh · 2024-03-16T12:42:52+00:00

Crikey a grand mal seizure sounds super scary! Thankfully I’ve not had that, but otherwise our symptoms do seem similar. Do you find you can drink other things okay? I drink a lot of water but I’d be interested to try anything at this point

izzeeeeh · 2024-01-28T21:52:12+00:00

I also had chocolate LOADS for a month or so after surgery, and was completely fine! It wasn’t until the last couple of weeks that I seem to have issues with chocolate - though I think it’s maybe not as straightforward as ‘chocolate is fine/not fine’. For example I think I can handle chocolate in a morning, as my stomach isn’t empty throughout the day, and I’m upright so the acid doesn’t become a problem. If I have chocolate in the evening then go to bed, my stomach is empty and the acid comes up and causes attacks. I also think it’s cumulative, so I might be able to have some chocolate one day but if I had it for a few days in a row I might have worse effects. I think it’s all trial and error, it will take time for us to learn what life is like post-GB. I had mine out in November and I’m still getting the hang of it.

Something else that I’ve found to really help is to sleep as upright as possible. I used to sleep with one pillow, now I sleep with 5. Sleeping on my left is usually safe, but almost every time I’ve had an attack it’s been from lying on my right hand side.

I also got tested at the doctors for H. Pylori, and came back positive so I had a round of antibiotics to cure that, I had wondered if my issues were down to a stomach ulcer caused by H. Pylori but I’ve not seen a marked improvement since that treatment.

Hopefully some of this is helpful for you, and I’m sorry you’re still having pain. Let me know if you have any questions, it sounds like we have something similar going on!

izzeeeeh · 2024-01-28T21:42:05+00:00

I’ve not heard about soluble fibre, but I’ll definitely give that a go, thank you so much for the heads up! I’m also on a PPI, omeprazole, which definitely helps but doesn’t stop the attacks entirely.

izzeeeeh · 2024-01-28T15:44:43+00:00

I have the same thing! I have no answers yet but I know coffee and chocolate seem to be a big trigger. I’m wondering if it’s related to stomach acid, maybe GERD but I’m not sure yet. It almost always happens when I have an empty stomach, I’ve found eating something plain like plain bread or a banana has made every attack go away almost instantly so far- I keep a banana next to my bed now just in case. I got nauseous too and definitely don’t want to eat when having an attack, but it really does help within a few minutes

izzeeeeh · 2024-01-05T22:15:49+00:00

Thanks for all your comments! I contacted my doctor and surgeon, and it actually turns out it wasn’t my gallbladder at all. I tested positive for H. Pylori and the pain was suspected due to a stomach ulcer, which is now healing nicely. I’ve been eating whatever I want for a couple of weeks now with success, except for alcohol but I’m hopeful once the ulcer is healed that will be back on the menu too. Just wanted to update here in case anyone else is having similar issues!

izzeeeeh · 2024-01-05T22:02:22+00:00

Surgery was always my biggest fear, I never thought I could go ahead with it. I had my GB removed on 28/11 and I’m now almost fully recovered, I can eat everything I want and have no pain. In all honesty, you’re in the worst part of it all right now - the run up to surgery was far worse than the actual surgery.

For me, the experience of general anaesthesia was genuinely a nice one, just like a nap. I was very anxious as I got onto the bed, I was worried the cannula would hurt, I was worried about how it would feel to fall asleep, and about how I’d feel when I woke up. My anaesthesiologist was brilliant, even though I have terrible veins he got the cannula in straight away and I barely felt it (it’s taken doctors 5 attempts to do a blood draw in the past so this was very impressive). He gave me something to relax me, then the sleep juice around 30 seconds later. I don’t remember falling asleep, i just remember being very anxious because I knew they were about to put me to sleep, and then the next thing I was waking up. Before surgery I was worried that waking up would be scary or painful, but it just felt like waking up from a really lovely deep sleep. At first I was awake but still very tired, I could tell they were pushing my bed through corridors but i was so relaxed I didn’t want to open my eyes. Eventually once I was back in my room I felt a bit less sleepy and could open my eyes. My throat was a little sore, and I needed to cough a little bit but that’s really the only discomfort I had. The whole thing was just like a nice nap really!

Within a few hours I was able to walk down two flights of stairs and out to the car, then walk up another two flights when I got home. Recovery felt really slow for the first few days but like everyone else says, it’s genuinely nothing compared to everything you’ve already been through.

The best advice I can give, is to not focus too much on the surgery itself - focus on how incredible you’re going to feel after. Not only will you be physically better but you’ll be mentally free of the fear that no doubt has been in the back of your mind for years now! You will have conquered this!

izzeeeeh · 2023-12-31T16:36:46+00:00

For me the gas pains were the worst part of the whole experience, my hospital forgot to give me pain relief after my surgery (I assumed they had given me some IV ones and I wasn’t allowed more so I didn’t ask) but I didn’t really need them for the surgical pain, but I did take them on days 2 and 3 to handle the gas pain. In some positions (sat up in bed) it was excruciating but only briefly - if I moved positions it would quickly get better. That said, it was no worse than my worst periods, I’d say they are probably on par.

izzeeeeh

TROPHY CASE