Today is Saturday and I had a LP Wednesday and this is awfull!!! The procedure went pretty well but this after stuff is horrible. I made sure to drink a ton of water the days before so the csf would come out fast, which worked. They ended up taking out a little more (14 instead of the 12) and she said I might have a headache because i’m tiny (5’ tall, 95lbs, age 41). I have been drinking caffeine and it gets better in the evening but in the morning the head/neck pain is excruciating. I called the Dr yesterday morning and she called in a prescription for Butal-Acet-Caff and told me to switch from Dr. Pepper to Mountain Dew and just wait for the hole to close. I really don't want to have a blood patch. So I got up at 4am, in pain, taking the pill and drinking a lot of Mnt. Dew and laying completely flat without a pillow and it is helping but if I stop the caffeine it all comes back. I HAVE to go back to work on Monday because with the holiday next week there is limited staff. My question is is there a light at the end of this tunnel? I’m afraid I won’t be able to stay upright for very long to work at my computer. UGH. My MRI had 15-20 white spots on the outer parts of my brain and that’s the reason for the spinal. EMG was fine. My symptoms are random nerve feelings in my hands, various strange feeling spots that come and go on arms/legs, constant creepy crawly feelings on face for 9 weeks that showed up after a really really bad cold sore and random arm/leg weakness. I have enjoyed reading everyone’s post on here and appreciate this site.Post lumbar puncture spinal headache
Post lumbar puncture spinal headache
Today is Saturday and I had a LP Wednesday and this is awfull!!! The procedure went pretty well but this after stuff is horrible. I made sure to drink a ton of water the days before so the csf would come out fast, which worked. They ended up taking out a little more (14 instead of the 12) and she said I might have a headache because i’m tiny (5’ tall, 95lbs, age 41). I have been drinking caffeine and it gets better in the evening but in the morning the head/neck pain is excruciating. I called the Dr yesterday morning and she called in a prescription for Butal-Acet-Caff and told me to switch from Dr. Pepper to Mountain Dew and just wait for the hole to close. I really don't want to have a blood patch. So I got up at 4am, in pain, taking the pill and drinking a lot of Mnt. Dew and laying completely flat without a pillow and it is helping but if I stop the caffeine it all comes back. I HAVE to go back to work on Monday because with the holiday next week there is limited staff. My question is is there a light at the end of this tunnel? I’m afraid I won’t be able to stay upright for very long to work at my computer. UGH. My MRI had 15-20 white spots on the outer parts of my brain and that’s the reason for the spinal. EMG was fine. My symptoms are random nerve feelings in my hands, various strange feeling spots that come and go on arms/legs, constant creepy crawly feelings on face for 9 weeks that showed up after a really really bad cold sore and random arm/leg weakness. I have enjoyed reading everyone’s post on here and appreciate this site.
Re: Post lumbar puncture spinal headache
i had that headache WHICH SUCKS and i didn't want the blood patch either. i gave myself a strict weekend flat on my back and it got better in time for monday. no one said anything about caffeine being good for it. and do i understand you right, that without caffeine it hurts even if you stay lying down? mine was completely postural nothing to do with pills or caffeine. if i sat up or stood, pain. if i laid down, ok. so yea by really keeping as still and as prone as possible over a whole weekend, i managed to dodge the blood patch bullet.
quite a long time after i was all better, i found out that i was definitely deficient in zinc at the time i was diagnosed and had the LP. so in hindsight i think that was part of the reason for the slower healing process. zinc is really important for good wound healing.
hope you get some relief in time for work monday!
we've had tons of previous chats on here about how to avoid the post LP headache - if you ever have to do one again, could be some useful reading in the 'archives'
quite a long time after i was all better, i found out that i was definitely deficient in zinc at the time i was diagnosed and had the LP. so in hindsight i think that was part of the reason for the slower healing process. zinc is really important for good wound healing.
hope you get some relief in time for work monday!
we've had tons of previous chats on here about how to avoid the post LP headache - if you ever have to do one again, could be some useful reading in the 'archives'
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Re: Post lumbar puncture spinal headache
Hi Wombat,
Welcome to ThisIsMS. I had the post tap headache for a week. It felt like someone was trying to pull my brain out of my skull by pulling it out the back of my neck. I went back for the blood patch and it was gone in about a minute. The blood patch was painless.
Welcome to ThisIsMS. I had the post tap headache for a week. It felt like someone was trying to pull my brain out of my skull by pulling it out the back of my neck. I went back for the blood patch and it was gone in about a minute. The blood patch was painless.
Re: Post lumbar puncture spinal headache
Laying down is ok. Sitting up or standing is bad. Seems the caffeine isn't working as well anymore while standing. I'm going to keep laying flat and hope for the best for tomorrow. Not sure when I'm going to throw in the towel for the blood patch. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for replying.
Re: Post lumbar puncture spinal headache
ok that's good that laying down is not a problem pain-wise.
if you are so inclined, maybe see if you can get somebody to hit up a health food store for you, and bring you something like these:
http://www.nordicnaturals.com/en/Produc ... rodID=1411
regular use for health maintenance would be 4 per day which delivers 8mg zinc. you could go to 8 per day no problem while trying to sort out the LP side effects.
for comparison when i take zinc i take it 50 mgs at a time (balanced with some other stuff) so it shouldn't be a problem to take 16mg per day for a few days, to help speed up your healing process
if you are so inclined, maybe see if you can get somebody to hit up a health food store for you, and bring you something like these:
http://www.nordicnaturals.com/en/Produc ... rodID=1411
regular use for health maintenance would be 4 per day which delivers 8mg zinc. you could go to 8 per day no problem while trying to sort out the LP side effects.
for comparison when i take zinc i take it 50 mgs at a time (balanced with some other stuff) so it shouldn't be a problem to take 16mg per day for a few days, to help speed up your healing process
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Re: Post lumbar puncture spinal headache
Update: It's now been 7 full days and i still can not be upright for longer than 18 min without getting a bad headache. Ugh. I want to say it's slightly better because I can now tolerate a pillow or 2 but it's not healing as quickly as it should be. The Dr. said I have to go to the ER for the blood patch. It sucks you can't make an appointment for that. I am lucky my job let me work from home this m-w. The husband took me to work to get some files Monday morning and I literally had to lay in the floor while the files copied over it hurt so bad. Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving I will stay horizontal, tough it out and go to the ER Friday morning. I doubt it's going to be better by Friday but I will keep hoping. I'll keep you posted.
Re: Post lumbar puncture spinal headache
boo sorry to hear 
did anyone get you some nordic berries for speeding up the wound healing process?
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Re: Post lumbar puncture spinal headache
Not yet but I will look into it. Thanks for the info.
I did go to the ER for the blood patch Friday and that was a little worse than the LP for sure. My lower back was in a lot of pain and still is. At least my head is feeling better so I'll say it's an improvement. I have just a tiny headache that comes and goes even when I lay down but that ok. I got some pain pills and I think I will make it to work tomorrow. This whole process has been a nightmare. I just hope the results of the LP are a clear answer or all of this will have been for nothing. ugh.
I did go to the ER for the blood patch Friday and that was a little worse than the LP for sure. My lower back was in a lot of pain and still is. At least my head is feeling better so I'll say it's an improvement. I have just a tiny headache that comes and goes even when I lay down but that ok. I got some pain pills and I think I will make it to work tomorrow. This whole process has been a nightmare. I just hope the results of the LP are a clear answer or all of this will have been for nothing. ugh.