Immediate blood pressure drop upon injection of epidural with no loading dose?

[zylstra]

What would cause a mother's loss of blood pressure, and subsequent drop in the unborn baby's heart rate, immediately upon the injection of an epidural if no loading dose (i.e. bolus) was given?

The amount of drugs injected over, let's say, 10 minutes would be 10 times that given in the first minute.  So why would blood pressure drop so drastically in the first minute but not over the next 10?

I hear that blood pressure drop is common for epidurals, but is it common immediately upon injection of a drip-only epidural (as opposed to bolus injections, or the blood pressure decreasing over a longer period of time after injection)?

[specialmom]

If they do the epidural too fast, it can happen.  It happened to me, actually. It is a very odd sensation and I then addressed it immediately.  

[zylstra]

What happens when they do an epidural too fast?
How did you address it?

[specialmom]

So, my bp dropped quickly which is an intense sensation. I told them I felt bad. They gave me an injection and it brought it right back up. I did feel nauseated from the experience.