Hi all,
For those who have had a lumbar puncture, how long did you have to wait for your appointment?
I have currently been waiting 3 weeks and still haven’t heard anything, just wanted to check this is normal?
Thanks!
Hello
I waited about 3/4 weeks then rang up and they booked me in over the phone for 2 weeks later! Give them a ring maybe and chase it up?
Mel
I was asked if I wanted lumber puncture ??? This was about October November time, it a few weeks later I got an appointment for January, NHS are not speedy at best, or get this I had an appointment with the neurologist in April and received another appointment for the neurologist in April next year.
kay
Thanks for your comments 
I phoned them and they assured me they would chase it up for me. It’s the waiting that drives me crazy
My neurologist doesnt do them anymore unless its really necessary as he said they are too intrusive and wont tell you that you have MS but eliminates everything else which can leave you with MS diagnosis.
A sample that shows abnormal results in proteins and inflammatory cells MAY indicate MS. The word MAY…doesnt mean it does.
I had all the stuff in mine O bands but you have a blood test at the same time, which was taken from the vein on the front of my hand which hurt me MORE THEN THE LUMBUR PUNCTURE LOL. It showed inflammation and therefore it became negative for MS. My neuro said they can muddy the waters, and all other tests pointed to PPMS.
They are a specialist test and need specialist person to do them so at the moment the departments are busy so i would expect a wait for about six weeks. Mind you its a lottery code in this country.
My doctor/consultant called me in on the 1st March for results of my mri and then told me he would like to do a lumbar puncture due to the results from the mri (he wanted to do it then as lesions has shown up as similar to ms ones )I refused as it was my sons 3rd birthday so I was then booked in on the 18th march and had it done then.
When I was in hospital the Neurologist wasn’t convinced I had MS so insisted on a Lumbar Puncture. It took 3 attempts to get any spinal fluid and I had to have a guided one under x-ray. The same neurologist who told me he didn’t think it was MS told me it was MS a month later after the Lumbar Puncture.
It’s all part of the general picture. On its own, an LP can’t be used to diagnose MS, but in combination with MRI, VEP, bloods, physical exam and maybe other tests, especially those to rule out other diagnoses, it’s definitely useful.
The general advice now is to stay laying down for at least an hour after the LP, longer if you can. Plus, drink lots of caffeinated drinks, especially full strength coke, the sugar as well as the caffeine helps. (Take a bendy straw with you so you stay laying down.) The idea is to replace fluids. A side effect of the LP can be a ferocious headache, the coke and laying down helps.
Having said that, lots of people don’t do either (and when I had mine 22 years ago, the advice wasn’t available, so I didn’t follow it), and still don’t get the headache from Hades.
Sue
Sue,
I had to lie down for 4 hours, its a good job my tea wasn’t too tricky to eat. And make sure you go to the toilet before you go in, by 4 hours I was desperate for the loo.
.