Tomorrow I will have yet another procedure; actually two MRIs (one with contrast and one without). I had a MRI a couple of months ago, so I doubt that anything new will be discovered on these but I guess anything is possible. My neurologist also suggested that I have a lumbar puncture to rule out any sort of infections, etc. but I have given the green light to schedule that yet. I've never had a MRI with contrast or a lumbar puncture so I'm a little nervous about how they will make me feel. Has anyone else had experience with these procedures? If so, were they beneficial (worth the time, money, pain, side effects, etc.)?
I found the MRI with contrast no issue at all and have never had a lumbar puncture. With regards to the MRI I am one of those weird people that quite enjoy the experience, I found it very cocooning and interesting.
My mum has had a lumbar puncture and despite staying very still after the procedure still ended up with a nasty headache which her doctor said is fairly common.
I’m sure some others with personal experience will be along soon to help out.
Hugs trish
I've had two MRI's. One with contrast. They put an i.v. in your arm and inject a contrast dye into your vein about half-way through the MRI. The dye is hard on your kidneys, and you will need to drink a lot of water once you get home to flush out the dye and prevent your kidneys from being damaged. For the next 48 hours, you will need to keep very hydrated, to flush out that dye and protect your kidneys. Other than that, not a big deal.
The lumbar puncture, on the other hand, is a big deal for some people. I am one of those people.
My first lumbar puncture occurred at a hospital on November 2nd, 2012, and it was truly one of the worst experiences of my life.
They had me lie down on my stomach on a table that lifts or tilts up-- there were foot rests to keep my feet from losing traction, and to keep me from sliding off the table. They then x-rayed my back to find out where my spine was, and the best place to do the lumbar puncture. Then they cleaned off the area with alcohol and followed that with Betadine iodine solution. Then they numbed the area with small injections of anesthetic. They waited for that to take effect and then moved onto the lumbar puncture. That's when the fun started.
They slowly pushed in the long needle, and I could feel it once it hit my spinal cord area. It was among the very worst feelings I have ever felt. I hurt so much that I really wanted to cry. My legs and my butt started getting weird feelings and involuntary shaking and tremors. My shoulders started heaving and shaking from all the pain. I felt nausea, and felt like I needed to vomit. Sweat was pouring down my forehead and face. It was so horrible. And then, I heard the unthinkable-- they had to do it again because they weren't getting enough spinal fluid out of me. So, they pulled it out and tried again, and all of the above pains and feelings started all over again. This time around I did cry. It was that bad.
Then they rolled me over onto my back and I had to lay there flat for 2 hours. Then they sent me home. My legs were numb. My back was in terrible pain. I could hardly walk. I had a horrible headache. I had to take a taxi home and the ride was horrible. Very painful. Very nauseating. I went home and laid down as much as possible, but it was impossible to get comfortable. My back hurt so much. The next day the numbness in my legs turned into extreme pain. Walking was difficult. My back still hurt. Drinking coffee and lots of water, seemed to relieve my headache.
Finally, by the next morning my back stopped hurting, my legs felt weak but okay, and the headache was completely gone.
I don't know what they hope to understand about me from the fluid. I hope it was worth it.
If I had it to do over again in the future, I would do the MRI and then wait until I talked to the neurologist about the MRI results, and what they found with that, and ask if the lumbar puncture was really necessary.
In fact, I don't think there is anything that could ever make me have another lumbar puncture done for the rest of my life. I don't think I will ever be able to emotionally allow them to ever do that to me again.
I still have T.N., but the gabapentin prescribed by my doctor has helped a huge amount. Attacks were frequent and long lasting and severe. Now they are rare, of brief duration, and not as severe.
Also, eating very slowly and carefully helps. Not getting excited about the food helps. Eating cold, soft, or liquidy foods helps. The less chewing, the better.
I'm losing weight, but not by choice. I just don't eat as much anymore. I'm afraid of eating at times, and try to just skip a meal, if I have an important meeting coming up. I no longer look forward to meals. I dread them. Same thing with brushing my teeth. I dread it.
Hi G. I hace had variius MRIs MRAs and MRVs with and without contrast. The test will take longer than a non-contrast MRI of the brain. This is because they will have to repeat some of the series of scans they did prior to contrast.
As Nippers said, you should drink a lot of water after the test. You dont want have contrast sitting in the kidneys for too long.
I have also had lumbar punctures done. 10 total so far, plus the lumbar drain i have in right now. There are various ways to get a spinal tap. You can be lying on your stomach on top of tge x-ray table. They use fluoroscopy to guide the needle. I have also had it done lying on my left side, very close to the end of the table. Then they have you tuck into tge fetal position. When done this way, my doctors dont use fluoro or x-rays. They go by touch and anatomical guides. You might feel spasms and electrical shocks going down ur legs. If it hurts too much, tell the Dr. They do it in a spot that is not as tightly held together to limit nerve pain/damage. Drink lots and lots of fluids and dont do sudden movements.
Why both MRI and lumbar puncture (LP)? It can be to check for infections, MS, Lyme’s disease, high cerebeal spinal fluid (CSF) pressure, it can also be done for tharapudic reasons such as releasing some of the pressure. Im assuming there are more reasons to LPs than what i mentioned.
Well, I survived the MRI's with and without contrast and also ended up having the lumbar puncture. The latter just took place this past Monday. I ended up with what I believe was a CSF leak and subsequently a terrible spinal headache which began on Tuesday (about 24 hours post-spinal tap) and has just now let up enough for me to use the computer, check e-mails, etc. I don't believe the doctors and nurses at the hospital properly stressed the importance of laying flat and remaining still for the rest of the day after the procedure. At this point I'm not exactly sure what all my neuro was testing for with the LP, but he did say that all of the results he has received so far were normal. So, I assume that these were just two more expensive procedures which will rule out things but provide no answers or diagnosis with better treatment options. Ever since I had the thin cut MRI of the trigeminal nerve, which did not show a compression, my doctor doesn't even refer to my condition as TN. In fact, he completely avoids the question if asked "what is this" or "what do I have". He used to use the billing code for trigeminal neuralgia but now he uses the code for atypical facial pain.