…and I am terrified…I have not been diagnosed yet…
Don’t be thinking about it. It’s not bad if you have a good do for doing it. Just make sure you do as they say. Let them know if you get strange feelings In Your body/limbs. Drink plenty of full fat coke lying down. A glass and straw handy here. After two hours, only then get up and not before. This should prevent the headache some complain about. For me this worked. 
dont let them force you out before then. Hope this helps BE
Hope it went ok. Mine was completely painless.
Looking forward to hearng how it went.
Shazzie xx
I’ve recently been there, done that and got the t-shirt! (My other half bought me a “Spinal Tap” band t-shirt for the occasion - he had an inkling of how scared I was about it, and he knew it’d make me smile.) All I can say is that the LP itself wasn’t half as bad as I feared, but do heed all the advice, stay flat on your back for as long as you can afterwards, and I’ve heard that thing about drinking full-fat coke too. I didn’t dare try it, as caffeine is not a good idea for me when I’m not allowed to get up and run for the loo!
An LP - a lot of luck. I’ve had one and it took quite a while to get needle into right place, I was not a happy bunny. Had to squeeze the hand of the nurse. It was not painful, just very frightening. Got another one in a couple of weeks - not looking forward to it. Got to man up, a 58 year old bloke doesn’t cry.
The LP is part of a medical trial for SPMS. Supposed to be a thin needle, gives me the shiverss just thinking about it
Patrick
Try not to worry too much, let them know how nervous you are. The staff were great at making me feel at ease. But afterwards when they say stay flat, stay flat!!! The post puncture pressure headaches are insane!! I found caffeine helped, so a great excuse for full fat coke & Starbucks
Try not to worry too much, let them know how nervous you are. The staff were great at making me feel at ease. But afterwards when they say stay flat, stay flat!!! The post puncture pressure headaches are insane!! I found caffeine helped, so a great excuse for full fat coke & Starbucks
Hi there,
Everyone has pretty much covered it so far…but wanted to add that I was incredibly nervous before mine and I let everyone know it!! It was definately not as bad as I had feared and everyone in there was great.
The worst part for me was the laying down afterwards, they kept me on my back for nearly 5 hours but it apparently does ward the headache off so can only be a good thing really.
Please try not to worry too much about it and I know thats easier said than done but I’m a massive wimp about needles etc and if I can do it anyone can!!
Take care and let us know how you get on
BeckyX
Sorry for being thick but what’s full fat coke ?
Ordinary full sugar coke - not diet. (It’s just a joke because of the lack of a diet option!)
Hope that everything went OK. I was really terrified about going for one but the reality wasn’t anywhere as bad as I thought it was going to be.
I have had 2 of them and both times they couldn;t get the needle in the right place and had to call another consultant in. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Make sure you stay lying flat afterwards though and drink plenty of fluids as well.
It’s 20 years since I had mine so not sure how things work now but mine was absolutely fine - best to just do what they say and let them get on with it. Remember they do these all the time. I went back to work after, drank lots of coffee and took painkillers and was fine.
13 years since mine. No pain during the process but 10 days of terrible headache and sickness. It was so bad we had to call the GP to receive assurance that we had nothing to worry about. Probably a result of the 2 hour drive home after the procedure. QMC was poor at patient care and after further poor treatment I transfered to Lincoln.
Hello Rebecca 1981,
I relly do appreciate your words, I have definitely got to man-up to and stop being a wimp.
The LP is on Tuesday 6th of August. 188 hours to go and counting. I will report back afterwards. Also I will write something for website
Patrick
[quote=“Ronin”]
Sorry for being thick but what’s full fat coke ?
[/quote] Ha ha sorry envy one at work orders diet coke so I order full fat coke!
Hi Mine was fine…no problems at all…during or after…and I didn’t lie flat or drink coke !!! Unfortunately one horror story will stick in your mind and ramp your anxiety up a level but everyone that I know who has had one, reports no problems at all other then the sharp scratch when the local anaesthetic goes in. Best wishes Catherine Xx
Hello Rebecca and others,
The Lumbar Puncture was completely painless. No idea why I was getting so worried and tense.
Drawing the lines on my back is the bit that hurt the most. Drinking water while flat on my back was quite interesting. Something the hospital (Royal London) had not thought about. Eventually they found a straw for me.
Patrick