Post-lumbar puncture misery.?!
Question: Post-lumbar puncture misery!.!?
Seventeen days ago, I received a lumbar puncture (read: spinal tap) due to a meningitis scare!. It came back negative and was deemed healthy!. Since my tap, I've had near daily migraines, persistent nausea, constant dizziness, and the scariest bit of all: tunnel vision in my left eye!.
I went back to the ER four days ago and was told to "tough it out"!. Gee, thanks!.
Now I know that I'm going to have to return to the ER, preferably at a different hospital, but does anyone have an idea of what's wrong!? I may need a blood patch but the most disconcerting ailment I'm experiencing is the tunnel vision in my left eye!.
A penny for your thoughts!?Www@Answer-Health@Com
I went back to the ER four days ago and was told to "tough it out"!. Gee, thanks!.
Now I know that I'm going to have to return to the ER, preferably at a different hospital, but does anyone have an idea of what's wrong!? I may need a blood patch but the most disconcerting ailment I'm experiencing is the tunnel vision in my left eye!.
A penny for your thoughts!?Www@Answer-Health@Com
Answers:
Post-LP headache is one of the well-known complications of lumbar puncture:
http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Lumbar_punc!.!.!.
http://uscneurosurgery!.com/infonet/surge!.!.!.
Most likely, the hospital which did the LP let you sit/stand up too quickly afterwards!. If you were a bit dehydrated to start with (and if they took quite a bit of CSF on the LP), your chance of getting post-LP headache is further increased!. Anyway, although post-LP headaches can be annoying as h***, they are not dangerous!.
However, I am not aware of tunnel vision being a frequent component of post-LP headache!. True migraines can be a cause of tunnel vision (http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Tunnel_visi!.!.!. ), but what most people call migraines are not real migraines -- they are simply bad headaches!.
A blood patch can certainly help with the headahe/nausea/dizziness component, and if your vision returns to normal afterwards, problem solved!. On the other hand, if you continued to have tunnel vision afterwards, make sure you follow up with an ophthalmologist (eye specialist)!.
All the best!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Lumbar_punc!.!.!.
http://uscneurosurgery!.com/infonet/surge!.!.!.
Most likely, the hospital which did the LP let you sit/stand up too quickly afterwards!. If you were a bit dehydrated to start with (and if they took quite a bit of CSF on the LP), your chance of getting post-LP headache is further increased!. Anyway, although post-LP headaches can be annoying as h***, they are not dangerous!.
However, I am not aware of tunnel vision being a frequent component of post-LP headache!. True migraines can be a cause of tunnel vision (http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Tunnel_visi!.!.!. ), but what most people call migraines are not real migraines -- they are simply bad headaches!.
A blood patch can certainly help with the headahe/nausea/dizziness component, and if your vision returns to normal afterwards, problem solved!. On the other hand, if you continued to have tunnel vision afterwards, make sure you follow up with an ophthalmologist (eye specialist)!.
All the best!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
You definitely need to go back to the ER!. Explain what happened, it sounds to me that you need a blood patch for sure!. Having one done will make your problems go away!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
It usually lasts for two weeks from what I hear as I had a friend who had the same symptoms!. I forget the terminology for it!. !. !.Www@Answer-Health@Com
I'm no doc but I've never heard of that before!. You get another opinion and I do commiserate with you!.Www@Answer-Health@Com