question on L P

[tonyad]

I am being scheduled for an LP in the next week or two.
Please excuse my ignorance on this.......My question is;
Will you ALWAYS show O-bands or will there be more when you are in a flair? Or does it matter when you have it done?  To sum it up, Is there a better time to have an LP than another?
Sorry for so many questions but if I am going to have this test I want it to be at "the right time"?
Thank you in advance for your response.
Take Care and Hugs to you all,
~~Tonya

[tonyad]

YES!   Your daughter does sound very wise (grin).
I know what you mean about clinching the dx but still not settled in my heart about having it done.
I am going to have it;  just to have that test added to all the rest. (haha )

I am very nervous about the procedure in itself.

Thanks for all your thoughts and information,
~Tonya

[Sarahsmom46]

Your doctor wants to clinch the diagnosis with the LP.  But, if your MRI and exam screams "MS" then why are they wanting to do such an invasive test such as an LP?  Hmmm...Maybe they just want to be absolutely sure since the drug treatments available are no walk in the park.  

My daughter said something to me today that made very good sense.  She said "mom, would you rather have a correct diagnosis or a possible misdiagnosis".  She is wise beyond her years as that had not occurred to me.  

Take care and rant whenever you feel the need to.  

Julie

[tonyad]

Thank you :)  So they will always be there whether you are in a flair or not, but maybe not there if it is newly onset of ms??

I did copy off infor from the Health Pages to share with Neuro at next visit. Not that it will do any good because from around here.....all the neuro's will only give a dx "ONLY IF" you have both a positive MRI and a positive LP. If either one is negative then they say "NEGATIVE" to ms.

my MRI says "YES" to ms as well as my "clinical exams". But by golly they want this Dog-gone LP done!  i do not feel good in my heart about doing the LP. I kinda feel like I am being bullied into it!
I also had some cognitive testing done and scored VERY LOW.  
Please believe, I DO NOT in NO uncertain terms want a dx of ms but I DO want to know what the heck is wrong with me.

I am just going to pray about it. Thank You all for listening. I neede that little rant!

Bless you all,
~Tonya

[shoshin]

When I looked this up a while ago, the info I found seemed to indicate that they think that in MS o-bands, once they appear, don't go away. There are some other conditions where this isn't true. So I don't think there's a better or worse time. Just keep in mind that they are more commonly negative early on and a negative LP doesn't mean no MS.

sho

[tonyad]

Thanks for the info.
Yes, I did look on the health pages first before I posted but from what I read, I did not see an answer to my question. but then again sometimes it is there jumping out at me and I still did not see the answer. LOL

I would just hate to go through this test and find out that there is a better time than another to have it done. you know what I mean??

Hugs to you.
Have a great night and even better tomorrow :)
~Tonya

[Sarahsmom46]

What a very good question.  I asked my neurologist this afternoon a very similar question and his response is that 0-bands will show if you ever had a flare past or present.  In other words, you don't have to be in the midst of a flare for them to show up.  Once you do show 0-bands in the fluid, they will generally stay throughout any further testing.  Keep in mind, however, that there are people who do not demonstrate 0-bands initially especially when it is early in the disease.  

Your other questions is on whether you will show more bands in the midst of a flare...If for example you had an LP before and it showed 2 bands and then you have a flare and you call your doctor who may want to do another LP to see what is going on.  You can possibly show more bands in that situation, but not necessarily.  That is what my doctor told me.  If this is incorrect, please someone on the forum let me know.  I could have misunderstood my doctor.  I hope this helps.

Have your read the health pages on O-banding yet?  

Julie