Vertigo following LP? Sick for a week?
 

Last week my niece had a severe migraine so they did the LP at the hospital when my sister took her to the ER.

The LP did not go well, and she had shooting pain down her legs during and also for a few days following.

It has been a week, and now she's had to take a leave of absence from work because she can't drive due to extreme vertigo.

Has anyone had vertigo after an LP?

I'm so worried that this is MS. She's had an MRI in the past that showed spots on her brain that the doctor attributed to her migraines. :(

Well, I didn't move a muscle on the gurney for a week after mine, but I suspect I would have had vertigo if I wasn't too doped up to comprehend the real world at that point.

The first thing that came to mind was Arachnoiditis, which is a differential dx for MS.

http://www.neurology.wisc.edu/public...bs/Neuro_2.pdf

The cause can be from a LP:

"Arachnoiditis has long been recognized as a rare complication of spinal surgery (particularly after multiple or complex surgeries) or trauma to the spine. Other similar causes include multiple lumbar punctures (especially if there is a "bloody tap" with bleeding into the spinal fluid), advanced spinal stenosis, or chronic degenerative disc disease."

http://www.spineuniverse.com/display...rticle180.html

Vertigo can be a symptom of it:

http://www.arachnoiditis.info/conten...ct_arach1.html

The reason she made have had the shooting pain (which can also be from arachnoiditis) may be that they hit a nerve during the procedure. They did the same with me, but that was the least of my problems from the procedure. :(

Cherie

Thanks Cherie,

I emailed that info to my sister, she's a nervous wreck over this, as I would be too.

Ewizabeth,

Since this all started out with a migraine, which can be caused by various triggers (including allergies, hormones, etc.) . . . it may also be that the vertigo has been caused by the migraine.

Apparently a person does not have to have the migraine "pain" at the same time for the vertigo to be directly caused by the migraine:

http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec06/ch080/ch080c.html

According to this consent form, used in Queensland, shooting pains from a lumbar puncture are relatively common from this procedure:

"Leg pain. Shooting pain down the legs at the time of the procedure is common, affecting about 10% of patients. It usually settles when the needle is removed. Rarely, ongoing pain occurs for a few days. Very rarely, permanent pain can occur."

http://www.health.qld.gov.au/informe...medical_01.pdf

These symptoms may very well just be something transient, so I wouldn't get too worried just yet. :hug:

Cherie