Epidural Complications: A Mother's Experience & What to Know

Question
I had a fairly complicated delivery with my daughter. I chose to have an epidural which apparently wasn't administered properly. It was a hectic time so all I really know is that it wasn't working (my left hip was numb but I could feel everything in my back and abdomen) so my nurse went and got the anesthesiologist who put more of the pain killer into the tube. After he did that I couldn't hear anything except for a loud ringing. This lasted a few minutes. The next thing I know my ob/gyn storms in and starts screaming at the anesthesiologist - "What are you doing, you have no business..., you knew you made a mistake with that epidural from the beginning..."
Long story short, I ended up having an emergency C-section so I had completely forgotten about the epidural.
Until my husband and I started having sex again. To this day, every time I have an orgasm my hearing goes away and I get the same ringing in my ears just like when he put more of the drug in the epidural tube. Nothing else triggers this.
The bad thing is I don't really know what happened. No one had the time to explain it to me then, and afterward it was the last thing on my mind. I'm sure it's nothing very serious because my OB is a good doctor and I know he would've told me.
Is this common, or at least is there a logical explanation for it?

Answer
Hi Ashley,

Usually when you experience ringing in your ears, the epidural is in the wrong spot.  It is either in a vein or in the wrong spinal space.  So, it sounds like that is what happenedto you.  Whether the c-section was related to the epidural, I don't know.  It sounds like when you have an orgasm, you may be experiencing a drop in blood pressure suddenly and that is why you are feeling that way.  I'm not sure if this could be a lasting effect from the poor epidural placement or not.  I'm sorry your delivery turned out that way.  We all have this idea that we are going to go through a nice labor and have a nice healthy baby.  Sometimes that isn't the case.  The end result is the most important though!  Good luck!