Anyone had a lumbar puncture/spinal tap? (pain, sore, doctor)

[stacylee926]

The nurse is telling me I may not be able to work the day after the test? She says I may have a headache and be very stiff. What has anyone else experienced? I am 47 and in good health - at least until all this stuff my a 'new' lazy eye started.

I rarely take any meds, and if I do, 1 Advil/Tylenol tablet does the job. I would think that 600mg of some pain killer would take away any headache - at least enough for me to do my quiet desk job.

Thanks for any help here. Co-workers have said it is a very painful test - at least male coworkers . I've had an epidural before - not fun, but not horrible.

[cjma79]

Originally Posted by stacylee926

The nurse is telling me I may not be able to work the day after the test? She says I may have a headache and be very stiff. What has anyone else experienced? I am 47 and in good health - at least until all this stuff my a 'new' lazy eye started.

I rarely take any meds, and if I do, 1 Advil/Tylenol tablet does the job. I would think that 600mg of some pain killer would take away any headache - at least enough for me to do my quiet desk job.

Thanks for any help here. Co-workers have said it is a very painful test - at least male coworkers . I've had an epidural before - not fun, but not horrible.

Nope, never had one, but have done one .
and let me tell you is really painful (Pt. trembles sometimes.)

[stacylee926]

Thanks
When the dr told me she wanted the test, she immediately said 'I am very good'. I laughed and wondered why in the world she needed to clarify that. I have now learned the answer to that..... hopefully she got an A+ in lumbar punctures - and she seems to be in her 50's, so I think she has practiced alot.

[Ggschmerl]

I've had one. When I was sent to emergency with suspected meningitis, I was told I had to have a spinal and a CT scan.
To be honest, I was in so much pain from the headaches, I really didn't feel the lumbar, but my son sat across the room and watched, horrified, while they did it to me.
I spent the next 2 nights in the hospital under quarrantine, until it was determined the meningitis was 'viral' and not 'bacterial'. Then I went home.
I'm terrified of needles. Extremely terrified, but like I said, I was in so much pain at the time, they could have done just about anything to me.

[cjma79]

Originally Posted by Ggschmerl

I've had one. When I was sent to emergency with suspected meningitis, I was told I had to have a spinal and a CT scan.
To be honest, I was in so much pain from the headaches, I really didn't feel the lumbar, but my son sat across the room and watched, horrified, while they did it to me.
I spent the next 2 nights in the hospital under quarrantine, until it was determined the meningitis was 'viral' and not 'bacterial'. Then I went home.
I'm terrified of needles. Extremely terrified, but like I said, I was in so much pain at the time, they could have done just about anything to me.

If you had meningitis like you said, the headache is so severe that your brain would block other pains.

[jillz]

Originally Posted by stacylee926

The nurse is telling me I may not be able to work the day after the test? She says I may have a headache and be very stiff. What has anyone else experienced? I am 47 and in good health - at least until all this stuff my a 'new' lazy eye started.

I rarely take any meds, and if I do, 1 Advil/Tylenol tablet does the job. I would think that 600mg of some pain killer would take away any headache - at least enough for me to do my quiet desk job.

Thanks for any help here. Co-workers have said it is a very painful test - at least male coworkers . I've had an epidural before - not fun, but not horrible.

I have had two and you will NOT be able to work after the test. Make sure you drink enough water the night before or they will have trouble taking the fluid. You need to pretty much lay down after (and pretty much the rest of the day) because you can get a wicked headache from it. They make you lay down for 1/2 an hour after and drink water so that you don't get the headache before they let you leave.

The test itself you will not be able to feel. The second one I had I was able to feel something but that is because I had some scar tissue from the first one and he had to wiggle around it and got close to some nerves. They get you really comfy in a curled up position and numb the area. I never looked at the needle because it would scare me. It is big. They then do the test. It took maybe 1/2 an hour. The second one took longer than the first because the spinal fluid was coming very slowly from not having enough water. I also was pretty sore several hours after the test.

Good luck and if you have any questions, send me a note. They aren't bad, just creepy.

Jill

[jillz]

I just wanted to stress again, do NOT expect to work the rest of the day. It is a lumbar puncture for goodness sake! You DESERVE to lay around after. Not to mention, you won't feel like doing anything else.

Jill

[Viralmd]

Actually, if these are done right, they're not at all bad. The problem is that most of the time either the patient is fat (and makes the spine difficult to feel) or the doctor is inexperienced or simply not good at doing these. Radiologists, doing this with fluoroscopic guidance, actually do the best job, followed by neurologists. I have to say, by the time I finished my residency, I was REALLY good at these - to the point the patient would ask when I'd start and I would tell them that it's already done.

And most of them had NO problem afterwards.

['M']

Originally Posted by stacylee926

Thanks
When the dr told me she wanted the test, she immediately said 'I am very good'. I laughed and wondered why in the world she needed to clarify that. I have now learned the answer to that..... hopefully she got an A+ in lumbar punctures - and she seems to be in her 50's, so I think she has practiced alot.

I am giggling at this one ...the last time a healthcare provider told me how good she was, it took her 2 hours to do a 20-30 minute procedure. It was a mammogram...she kept taking it over, and over, and over....and over. Obviously, someone was reviewing her work because she would do the film, and leave, then come back and re-do it. Things just weren't working out so well. Never have I had an experience like that. When I went in the waiting room was empty...when I came out a couple hours later, every chair was filled, by women. I couldn't get out of there fast enough because I didn't want to give too many of those patients a chance to realize that I was the one who was holding everything up. It really wasn't me who took so long, but I was the person this gal was working on.

Not to make light of your situation...everyone reacts so differently to the same procedure. I hope the member who is having this procedure came out of it with a minimal amount of discomfort.

[cjma79]

Originally Posted by Viralmd

Actually, if these are done right, they're not at all bad. The problem is that most of the time either the patient is fat (and makes the spine difficult to feel) or the doctor is inexperienced or simply not good at doing these. Radiologists, doing this with fluoroscopic guidance, actually do the best job, followed by neurologists. I have to say, by the time I finished my residency, I was REALLY good at these - to the point the patient would ask when I'd start and I would tell them that it's already done.

And most of them had NO problem afterwards.

I sincerely dough that, I even seen a spinal tap done by a neurologist (with 20 years of experience) and still see the pt with pain.