hi misti and welcome,

when i had my LP i went to a center attached to my local hospital.
the MD radiologist did mine. i laid on my stomach and he numbed the skin.
that's the most pain i felt.

he did mine also under floroscopy. that means they use a machine so they can see where the needle actually is. much more accurate and causes the pt less pain. i don't suggest you go to a teaching hospital. they tend to let the underlings do tests on pts and it doesn't go as smoothly.

they tell you to drink a lot of fluids to stay hydrated. i'm going blank on the reason for the caffeine but that's good too. if you're dehydrated it's harder for the dr to get enuf spinal fluid.

best of luck. bring someone to drive you home. then lay flat for 24 hrs except when you have to get up. will help tame any spinal headache you might get.

IF you get a headache afterwards make sure you call the asap. that way they can handle the problem. my final suggestion is to not have this test done on a fri. if you have any problems and need your dr they may not be available.

please keep us posted.