lumber puncture

[mojo]

iam awaiting to go for one and iam very anxious about this, has anyone had this and has a positive experience they can share with me,, since having a stroke 6 months ago i have been having headaches, sharp shooting pains in my head, and my feet n legs are going numb week and feel very heavy i can harld lift them, so iam geting this done and some elctos test,,, not sure wot to expect, thanx ..

[Purpletop]

I had one 2 weeks ago. The procedure isn't painful, you get a local anaesthetic initially, then a needle is introduced to collect the fluid. My radiologist did this procedure while I was sitting with my back at him, hugging a pillow. I felt a slight pressure when the local anaesthetic was injected but no pain. He warned me in advance that I might feel pain in one if my legs or severe headache afterwards but to drink caffeine and rest flat and take it easy for few days. He sent me back home immediately after. I had backache from the beginning but that was bearable while I was laying flat.

A violent headache developed as soon as I started to get up and do things in the house (cleaning, etc). The neurologist said that the hole where the needle was introduced wasn't healing properly, it was opening each time I was getting up and about, letting spinal fluid leaking internally, which caused loss of inter cranial pressure and headaches. So he told me to stay in bed for the next 4 days, drink loads of caffeine and take paracetamol and ibuprofen.

The headache resolved but the backache is still going on - my lower back, hips, top of my thighs are all painful even after 2 weeks. I'm waiting for a call back from the neurologist to see what to do about it.

But my experience is apparently unusual, most people suffer with the posture headaches which can be resolved by laying flat.

You might have no side effects, who knows, we are all different. Good luck!

[SarahHeney]

I have had one. The main thing to do is stay lying down flat for a day after it if you can. It allows the spinal fluid time to top back up again. If you dont, or even if you do, you can end up with a killer headache so have good painkillers to hand after. Also buy some coke. My consultant said the best thing to counteract the lumber puncture headache is caffeine and drinking coke would be the best way to do this. Yup medical advice from an expert! You may get sedation. I didn't. It is a bit sore but tbh nothing worse than anything else us lupies handle all the time. You will lue on your side in foetal position. It doesn't take long. You will be fine xx

[bambialice]

I've had 4 of them. The main thing is to stay flat on your back for at least 12 hours after. With my last one, I was made to leave straight after and ended up back in hospital the following day with severe migraine type headace

[farmerfester]

Hi mono

I have had two lumbar punctures both were fairly painless only takes a few minutes I was told to take plenty caffeine I was in hospital at the time so had about four cups one after the other no problems at all

[artemis5]

Hi there, I had a LP when I was a child, I totally repressed the experience but my mother says it was very bad and still feels guilty for agreeing for it. My neurologist suggested having another one. I did not agree to have it but she said that the lumbar puncture itself is painful just for a short while ( just like spinal block for C-section) but patients complain more about after-effects. Make absolutely sure you lie flat on your back for at least 4 hours after (more if you can), dont let them send you back home too quickly! And like the others say, drink plenty of strong coffee, esspresso will be the best as you dont want to run to the bathroom every half an hour.