Has anyone had a blood patch following a lumbar puncture? I’m on day 6, still in bed with the headache and really loud tinnitus in my left ear. Can people please tell me about their experiences with the lumbar puncture
Hi I’m currently exactly the same after lumber puncture , did you end up having the blood patch as this is what I’m looking at myself now but not sure where to start
Hi! I turned a corner on day 7 and the headache eased up. Took about a week after that to feel semi normal. The 2nd doctor in a&e advised against the blood patch as there’s risks that come with that. The headache can last up to 7 to 10 days after. I just remained in bed and only got up to go toilet. Tried my hardest not to cough or do anything that would cause pressure and got there eventually without the blood patch!
If you still have the headache after 10 days then the blood patch is probably the route to go down. Hope you’re ok and feel free to message me, it’s awful! And I never want to go through it again!
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Hi that’s awesome news ,
Did the tinnitus subside? My headache is only when I strain/cough etc it’s the sound and pressure in left ear in my left ear that’s driving me mad, not sure if I can message directly as I’m new to the forum, thanks for replying
The tinnitus did take a little while longer to stop. I still have tinnitus but I had it before the procedure as well. But the extremely loud all day tinnitus in my left ear has definitely calmed right down!
Blood patch does sound like a wonderful idea when you’re in the midst of it but in hindsight I’m glad it didn’t come to that!
Carry on drinking caffeinated drinks as well that does actually make a huge difference
Thanks your replies have helped ,
also a long time tinnitus sufferer over 20years but this sounds like a car engine in my ear and sound is also muffled/ distorted
Spoke with ms nurse who said it can happen and like you said she has told me to drink 1L of coke a day
Goes against my diet at them moment but I’ll try anything , lumbar puncture was 5 day’s ago this started next day so hopefully will settle like it did for you
Thanks again 
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I drank green tea (lots of it) and Yerba maté. Can’t hack coffee anymore, and sometimes a black tea is ok. My mum has a coke every now and then if she’s got a headache. I don’t have any sugar or sweeteners in my diet so couldn’t have soft drink although i imagine they are refreshing. Another thing I tried was pro plus tablets. At first they were amazing, but they had a sweetener in that ended up giving me a tension headache as well as the lumbar one and I was in hell!
The tinnitus with the lumbar puncture is horrendous, made me feel claustrophobic in my own head. It should go down, just be patient and don’t trying doing anything. I found it frustrating as I had to rely on other people but it just prolongs it if you try and do stuff. X
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Hey! How are you feeling now? Hope the headache has gone x
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Hi
I’m almost to scared to say it’s gone incase it comes back 
Headache passed but noise sensitivity got worse and also more distorted, then over a couple of days everything returned to normal 
Thanks for your input it definitely helped me
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That’s wonderful! I know what you mean, I was so scared to cough etc just incase it came back! I’m back to working out now but I did leave it a few weeks! Just take it easy and try not to over do it.
It’s great about the tinnitus too, mine was also worse after the headache went.
I really doubt we would ever be asked to do that again! I hope the results are quick, mine took about 2-3 weeks
I’ve told the ms nurse already that I’m never having a LP again, I felt so angry at the time that they never told me it was a possible side affect
Thank you again
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it took me a good ten days to get over the headache from the puncture, it was absolutely awful. i did some googling and thought about the patch, but in the end lots of people said wait a couple of weeks before despairing so i did, and i guess they were right. i’d say maybe give it a little longer before making a decision
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Really glad I waited considering it’s added risk with the blood patch and it’s not necessarily going to work! You just feel so desperate when you have that headache!