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.

Ha ha Ha! Thanks I needed the giggle. Gotta love the free stuff!!!

~M~

I've had 3 over my lifetime. None of them bothered me and there was 'little' discomfort.

I was told to drink plenty of water the day of and to lay flat. I never had any problems afterwards either.

Take care.

Hi MistiC

As most people said the lumbar puncture was not bad--more nervewracking waiting for it then going through it. I didnt' feel any pain (just the first needle putting in the pain killer). Afterwards I had a lower back ache but nothing a few ibuprofen couldn't fix. As far as the results coming back...I did not have the O-bands which apparently 90% of people with MS do. But I had one other abnormality (high IgG index) that pointed to MS. I only have brain lesions.

Good luck!
Natalie

I have a severe bad back that they did not take into consideration....So mine was bearable at first...Then unbearable....They gave me a Vike......Then I'm like Hello'oooo......May I have another one so I can get out of here.....

So I had an abnormal time.....Maybe 3-5 days of hellish pain....But it really was not from the LP...It was the LP making my back flare up badly.....


If you have the ability to just do and not think your far ahead of this process and this disease...

good luck with prayers added for more luck...


pete

Giving birth 7 times was way easier and a LOT less painful. Mine was awful, the Dr did any awful job and stuck me over and over again with no numbing meds. I got that awful headache the next day and went to the ER, they gave me a caffeine IV and than sent me home still in a little pain. The next day I was back in the ER with the worst stomach bug I have ever had, they gave me meds and sent me home. Well over the next week and a half I got 2 more stomach bugs and was in a awful amount of pain (my back and my head). So my LP was the worst 2 weeks of my life.

I don't understand why he needs a LP to confirm MS anyway? My first question to him would be "do the results of this test have the potential to change the dx, and if so, to what other disease?"

Unless we have an acute Transverse Myelitis attack (which you didn't) there are only a very few non-MS related diseases that can cause "lesions" in the spine, including; ADEM (Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis), Sarcoidosis, Lyme (Borrelia burgdorferi) and SLE (Lupus). See link:

ALL of those diseases also have O-bands:

http://www.diseasesdatabase.com/resu...ClassSort=True

There are "other" tests that can be done to rule out those disease, like chest x-rays (for Sarcoidosis), Western Blot (for Lyme), blood tests positive serology with ANA and double-stranded DNA (for Lupus). Sarcoid, Lyme, and ADEM also do not have dissemination in time, which MS has. See link:

The LP itself did not hurt me, at least no moreso then an epidural did with the delivery of both my kids (and there's NO WAY they could have talked me out of that procedure at the time! ). However, my LP was botched, and I was left in the Brain Trauma Unit for a week after having it, so I flat out refused to have another when they desired to "see" the O-band details years later.

I just don't see how having this test is going to prove anything to him?

Cherie

Good links Cherie, thanks!

Cherie provided some good information!

I have had 4 LPs. I have one lesion on my spine. 2 LPs were negative, 2 were positive for MS.

None of them were painful. I will add, tho, that following the 2 positive LPs I did have the dreaded LP headache. My neuro, who performed all 4 of them, says it's just coincidental!

Follow the post LP instructions to the "T", if you decide to have one. It is not required for a diagnosis.

The decision is ultimately up to you. Here's a like to the Revised McDonald Criteria for Diagnosing MS http://www.mult-sclerosis.org/DiagnosticCriteria.html

It's been awhile, but I don't remember any pain, just pressure....But, even though I was in the hospital and laid flat for 24 hrs (almost), after, I still had the headache, when I got home. I had a myelogram with the LP, and that was bloody uncomfotable, but not painful.

Good luck...let us know how it goes..