Hi everyone, I had a lumbar puncture two weeks ago, it took four attempts to get any spinal fluid. What’s the normal wait for the results? I don’t have another appointment with my consultant until 27th April. Part of me wants to ring his secretary and chase them and the other part of me says that if I don’t here anything before my appointment then everything was normal.
I was away for the weekend with my daughter. I’m really tired today and my right arm and leg are really heavy and don’t feel right at all.
Has anyone had flashes in their eyes? I keep getting a small flash of light right in the outside corner of my right eye.
LP results can take a long time So maybe give it a month before you start phoning? With any luck you’ll get it before then anyway.
Please see an optician about the flashing light. It could be something benign, but it could also be a sign of something that needs immediate attention. Better safe than sorry!
(Btw, I have flashing lights in both eyes. Possibly migraine or meds related, but no one can tell me for sure.)
Well I guess I just have to be patient! The longer I don’t here anything the more chance of it being normal. My appointment isn’t until 27th April and whatever the result it’ll still be the same then.
The flashes in my eye are very infrequent and it only seems to happen at night. It’s kind of a blue very small flash that’s very quick. In fact they are so fleeting and small I’m not even sure sometimes if it’s happened.
I’ve started pilates and going to the gym in the hope that it might improve my fitness. It might stop me getting so tired and help with stamina. Can’t do any harm anyway.
I’m in a slightly better position than a lot of people in that I’m a practice manager for a gp’s surgery (not my own!) so I probably have better access than a lot of people to consultants secretaries etc. But one of my gp colleagues says that sometimes you get given a time longer than necessary as to when results will be ready to stop people ringing all the time, he could be right. We get people have x-rays in the hospital in the morning and ring the surgery in the afternoon for the result!
To be honest I’m too scared to ring, I want to know and I don’t. If the lumbar puncture is ok I’ve no idea what happens next. Will I just be abandoned? My consultant said the MRI was abnormal but not typical for MS. The thought of just having to cope alone is horrible. I forgot to take my gabapentin last night and woke at about 4.00am in pain. The thought of being like this forever is very depressing.
I keep swinging between ‘everything will be fine’ and everything won’t be fine’. Whenever I’m tired everything gets worse, heavy arm and leg, numbness, pins and needles, burning. My job is very high pressured, even more so at the moment. I enjoy it but some days it’s hard to cope and keep my ‘happy face’ on.
Sorry, I’ve had a bit of a moan but today has not been a good day.
The lumbar puncture that worked was actually not that bad. If that had been the only one then I would have found the whole thing ok. It was the other three that were not good, I had nerve pain on one attempt as well. Lots of bruising the next day and very uncomfortable for about three days. I did have a headache but nothing too bad. I’ve still not heard nothing, it’ll be four weeks on Tuesday. Still got my head in the sand.
Today my right arm and leg have felt really odd and numb. I kind of felt it get worse this morning, I felt the numbness ‘sweeping’ round. Very odd!!
Still waiting!! I saw my gp on Friday evening and he upped my dose of Gabapentin to 600mg , three times a day so I’m now gradually working up to that dose. I’m starting to feel a bit better now.
I asked him to chase the lumbar puncture result so hopefully the secretary at my surgery will be able to find out. I’m trying not to think about it but it’s difficult. I’m so scared that I’m just going to be told, ‘we don’t know what’s going on’ and that I’ll be left to get on with it.
I know that something is wrong and it’s horrible not knowing.
I had my LP early march. My Neuro thought it was going to take longet to get an LP appointment so gave me a new appointment to see him at the end of June! However, I rang the hospital this week and they told me that the results are available and due to the long wait for my next appt they will get the neurologist to write to me. Perhaps if you haven’t got them yet, then maybe you could ask them to write, to either you or your GP. Mind you, if they take long enough with the letter it will be nearly time for your appointment. I am nervous about my results but think I would rather know if it shows anything definate. If you get on with your GP then perhaps he chasing or talking them through with you might be a better option.
I got my results a few weeks ago. My consultant wrote to me. Positive for oligoclonal bands in the spinal fluid and negative in the serum. He said this was what they looked for in people with Multiple Sclerosis. Therefore my symptoms were ‘quite possibly’ due to MS. I’ve got another appointment with him on 27th April when he said we can discuss matters further.
So I think it’s a good bet that I’ll be told that I have MS at that appointment. I don’t think for a moment anyone would be told by letter! But at least I can then move forward once I know what it wrong. At the same time, a little part of me says the consultant will say ‘no, we still don’t know what’s wrong’.
Hi Lynne, I am in the same boat as you. I recently had my LP results in writing, nothing was found in the serum, but o-bands were found in my CSF suggestive of a demylinating disorder. My results took nearly 2 months. Seeing the neuro on 17th but got a feeling he won’t diagnose anything yet.
I may have been a bit optimistic about getting my results! I have seen the front page of them, which described what tests were done, as they were sent to my GP to impart the news. However, the results weren’t actually attached. The GP was very surprised that the results were being sent to her. She thought it should be up to the neuro to give me the results. Frankly I don’t care who gives me the results, I just think I am entitled to them before the end of June. The front page received from the testing centre had a date stamp of 22 March, so I know how long they have been available. There is a lovely little bit on the NHS website that says that if you are being tested for MS you are supposed to have all the tests and the results within 6 weeks!
My GP is going to try and chase them for me, so watch this space. I hope any one else still waiting gets their results soon. This waiting around when you know they are out there is maddening.
