No I haven't but as an RN, I have assisted in the procedure many times.

Although done for entirely different reasons, ie diagnosis, a lumbar puncture is done exactly the same way. The main difference being that fluid is withdrawn during a lumbar puncture, and drugs are injected during an epidural.

If you wish to get personal experiences I suggest you ask about Lumbar Punctures in our Multiple Sclerosis Forum. Tell the readers that you do not have MS but are going for an epidural and want to know about people's experiences with those or similar procedures such as LPs. You might ask "Has anyone here had an epidural or a lumbar puncture? http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum17.html

Other situations to consider are:
Mothers often have epidurals during childbirth, spinal anesthesia is common now during some surgery (like gynae) and lumbar punctures are used to diagnose some conditions such as MS, encephalitis, meningitis. Any one who has gone through any of the above could help you out.

---------------------------------------------- IT IS LIKE A LUMBAR PUNCTURE - LOL !
I DO HAVE MS -- FOR MOST OF MY LIFE -
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ALL OF MY INJURIES HAVE BEEN FROM MS PROBLEMS CAUSING FALLS !
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ALL THIS ANXIETY -- SOMEONE AT THE SPINE CLINIC SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME --
- THX FOR THE LINK TO MS FORUM -- I WILL VISIT SOON --
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HAVE A GOOD NIGHT --BE WELL ... DVORA

I too have MS...... so welcome to our Forum in advance.

If you've had a Lumbar Puncture in the past, then this is just the same.

Good luck with your procedure. I'll look forward to hearing how it went.

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thanks so much for your help -- i am sorry you have ms also --
but glad to find so many good people here --
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yes - ofcourse i will let you know how everything went --
shalom from dvora