Spinal Tap

[MommyofNatTyZach]

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it has taken me so long to get on. I was doing pretty well and started a new job, but then started having symptoms again. I am having a spinal tap on Wednesday. Does anyone know how long it takes to recover? I heard you can feel really bad afterward for a couple of days. I am taking Wed. of off work, but I didn't know if I should take Thursday too.

[MommyofNatTyZach]

Thanks for responding. I took of Wed. and then told them I would be there Thursday if all went well. The pertussis started around March and went on for several months. My doctor kept giving me meds for bronchitis and then I seen a different doctor and he tested me and said the reason the meds wasn't working was because it wasn't bronchitis. I got the shot in September and haven't been sick with it since!

I hate that the spinal tap wont show if it is for sure MS. My neuro seems to think it is with the lesions and my symptoms. I would just like answers. I go through phases where I am so forgetful, and then other times I am ok.

[immisceo]

Oh my goodness. I just read that you have had pertussis! I've never known anyone who had it and this can certainly show up in the protein levels of your lumbar puncture. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21663570 (this is admittedly dealing with infant pertussis, but perhaps the results can be extrapolated).

It could also explain some you have been dealing with. I'm sure your doctors will be taking your whole medical history into account when looking at your lumbar puncture results (as well as your MRIs, clinical exams, etc.).

[immisceo]

Unfortunately, a lumbar puncture won't 'show MS' per se, but it may help narrow the focus for your doctor. It may show things that indicate current or past infections which may lead the doctor in another direction. It may show oligoclonal bands unique to the CSF which is a finding in support of MS (but not the same thing as a home run), or it may show nothing at all. The latter result does not rule out MS, it just means the test didn't really clarify much.

The blood drawn at the same appointment (make sure they do this!) will be compared to your spinal fluid to search for the aforementioned unique (found only in the CSF) oligoclonal bands.  

You may find this Health Page of interest. http://www.medhelp.org/tags/health_page/7687/Multiple-Sclerosis/Can-you-Diagnose-MS-with-an-LP-that-is-Negative-for-O-bands?hp_id=142

As mentioned, everyone is different. Plenty of people have no headache, no adverse effects at all. I did and three years later I'm an avowed coffee drinker (after not drinking it at all my first thirty years) because of the hardcore positive reinforcement from the relief it provided me! It increases intracranial pressure which helps mitigate the loss of pressure from the leaking cerebrospinal fluid that causes the pain. This is why giving up a heavy coffee habit causes headaches. That artificial pressure increase is taken away!

It sounds like you've taken good steps. Arranging for a relaxing day or two is a good idea, regardless of how smoothly the lumbar puncture goes. We have these procedures in the hope of answers, so I think it pays to take a bit of time to relax, realise we're making positive steps to get the answers we need, and generally just be good to ourselves as we wait on the results.

All the best for Wednesday!

[MommyofNatTyZach]

Thanks! I didn't know if I should let the school I work at, that I would need two days off! When you have a spinal tap, what shows MS?

[Poppy7402]

Everyone is different but I was fine the next day, apart from the headache, and could have gone back to work.