Hi
I had an lp in August. Since then I have been suffering from migrane type headaches and associated nausea. It's left me unable to work. I was taking codine and amytriptalene. That didn't help. Now on pregabalin. This makes my head spin. So far all tests are clear. So it seems that all this is down to the lp.
Anyone in a similar position or now recovered?
Any comments/advice much appreciated.
A
Pregablin made my head spin so I stopped it and I cant take codiene so i am on Butrans patchs ( morphine based )
Thanks for the info. Did you have an lp?
Hi. I also had a lumbar puncture procedure performed back in August. Since then, I've been suffering from chonic daily headaches for the last 4 months. I had a blood patch after 3 days of horrid spinal headaches. Though the headaches are now mild, I continue to have the dull/pressure/sharp/radiating headaches that do not subside when lying down. The headaches are not in one particular area of the head. They occur at the top, back and sides of the head and I get them 50+ times a day. I also currently have tinnitus (ringing in my ears and my left ear is clogged half the day). I also had fainting spells, nausea, heart palpitation, numbness in my extremeties, and fatigue for about 3 months. Feeling very frustrated!
I also want to add...
Do you suffer tinnitus as a result of the lumbar puncture? The ringing in my ears are very bothersome especially at night. And I have become very sensitive to sound. Going to a mall and eating at a restaurant has been nearly impossible because of the hustling/bustling sound of the environment that gets amplified in my ears and that makes me dizzy at times. I also noticed that I've been dreaming a lot lately and find myself waking up from an intense dream. Do you have the same problem? I saw 2 neurologists. One prescribed me gabapentin and another nortryptalene, but I was hesitant to take it due to its multiple side effects.
Hi. I also had a lumbar puncture procedure performed back in August. Since then, I've been suffering from chonic daily headaches for the last 4 months. I had a blood patch after 3 days of horrid spinal headaches. Though the headaches are now mild, I continue to have the dull/pressure/sharp/radiating headaches that do not subside when lying down. The headaches are not in one particular area of the head. They occur at the top, back and sides of the head and I get them 50+ times a day. I also currently have tinnitus (ringing in my ears and my left ear is clogged half the day). I also had fainting spells, nausea, heart palpitation, numbness in my extremities, and fatigue for about 3 months. Feeling very frustrated!
Do you suffer tinnitus as a result of the lumbar puncture? The ringing in my ears are very bothersome especially at night. And I have become very sensitive to sound. Going to a mall and eating at a restaurant has been nearly impossible because of the hustling/bustling sound of the environment that gets amplified in my ears and that makes me dizzy at times. I also noticed that I've been dreaming a lot lately and find myself waking up from an intense dream. Do you have the same problem? I saw 2 neurologists. One prescribed me gabapentin and another nortryptalene, but I was hesitant to take it due to its multiple side effects.
Not sure of the other cases listed, but ang1to10's chronic condition likely had to do with the combination of amitriptyline and codeine. Amitriptyline can have serious side effects, which is why newer medications are usually substituted. Not only that but it does not get along very well with codeine, at all. The two have been known to trigger Serotonin Syndrome, Anticholinergic syndrome, and CNS disturbances and depression. That is probably why your doctor switched it, you will likely start feeling better soon. I seriously doubt it has anything to do with the LPs. LPs do cause headaches and lethargy, due to increased blood volume in the brain, but only for a few hours. 
Hi ang1to10
If you read this. Could you please tell me what your migraine headaches feel like? Are they like radiating headaches that can creep up anywhere on your head on and off throughout the day? That's what mine are like. I get the dull, radiating headaches on the top, side and back of my head throughout the entire day - from the moment I opend my eyes until I fall asleep. I don't understand how I could end up with chronic daily headaches for almost 6 months since the lumbar puncture. And I've also got this terrible ringing in my ears 24/7. Thanks.
Suffering from Canada
Hi in feb 2014 i was severely ill. It started with headaches around the forehead and eyes and progressed quickly to around my crown area. I tried to sleep it off as i kept going to gp and being told i had a migraine. (I knew it wasn't as if i slept with a migraine it would have gone when i woke up) It got to the stage where i couldn't breastfeed my newborn baby and i was in bed for days.. to the point where i had a cold black flannel over my eyes and face. I could not stand any light or sound. I was like that for days on and my mum was staying to help with my baby as my partner works long hours. I started being sick i literally thought i was dying.. my mum phone 111 and i was taken to hospital. They suspected a brain hemorrhage so i had a CT scan done which showed it wasnt. I then had to have a lumbar puncture done. It was confirmed that i had Viral Meningitis but unsure of the cause. 3 days later i found i also had shingles. (This was a tiny itchy patch on my back. Which paramedics, 2 nurses and a doctor said was nothing!!)
Before the lumbar puncture i was talked through the procedure.. and a different doctor came to do it for me along with somebody else may have been an Anesthetist . I was told before i was to lie flat for so many hours after.. this did not happen. They sat me up slightly.
It is now September 2015. When sat up for longer than 10 minutes(if i am lucky) i get severe pains when i stand up or if i am stood in same position for longer than 10 minutes i go to move and get nasty pains. All this time i have been fobbed off by GP with different painkillers. It seems they were trying to cover the pain but not really getting rid of the problem. My new GP has just sent me for an MRI scan on my lumbar spine 3 wks ago still awaiting my results. I have nasty headaches all the time and often feel sick. I just do not know whats going on but i have a gut feeling something went wrong with that lumbar puncture i felt very strange and it hurt like hell when i had it done. I wonder now if it was the reason the first wk recovering with the IV in i could not walk or stand up properly had to have a wheelchair. I am 24 years old i should be fit and healthy but i just have these gut feelings something's not right. I read the headaches can take up to a year to go away but not sure if that's down to l.p or meningitis. Since the illness i have lost 4 stone. Although joining slimming world may of helped i just do not know if i have something else wrong.
Greetings, you have the same story as me and I'm in constant pain. Ive bee five months into this and still in pain with noise in the ears and headaches.... Have you found any relief? Its been 11 months since you have posted. Would like to know how your doing. Best regards
Mon
Hi Mon. I'm sorry to hear that you're going through the same thing. Things have not improved for me. My headaches are still very debilitating. I've tried several medications and I'm just getting worse. In addition to the headaches and ear issues I've also developed a balance problem. Things just aren't the same for me anymore. I'm sorry i don't have good news for you. Take care.
I had an lp to confirm diagnosis of MS. Got post lp headache and had a blood patch. First person in 6 years according to neurologist. Was off work for a month (self employed so yeah not great.) Headache gone but had very localised pain due to blood patch I thought. Had another MRI, no hematoma or anything suspect.
Over the next 12 months if I leant into a chest freezer (I run a good business) I would feel quite ill after wards, pressure in head, ringing in ears etc....kind of like a migrane but more like the post lp headache
Slowly returned to almost normal. I leant into freezer....my partner had been doing this job, so I didn't have to.......I developed what I can only describe as a less intense lp headache....relieved by lying down.
It has very very very slowly improved over the course of 3 months. I've not been able to work. I was feeling much better after (coincidentally) taking
coenzymeQ10.......then I overdid it.......back to feeling rubbish again.
So frustrating, especially as I got mine done as a diagnosis for a potentially disabling illness! The irony......neurologist says they would maybe do another blood patch if it gets worse! No answer yet to what happens if it doesn't get better. I'm pretty sure they are blaming it all on ms symptoms. My ms has been inactive since well before the diagnosis......
Hi there i had a LP done almost 2 years back. The LP was done to confirm MS. the fluids returned clear. I had the blood patch done 3 days after the LP. Since then I have experienced extreme nausea, severe pain on my lower spine and also headaches. I have informed the neurologist and he could not explain it. He said that it would pass and it almost 2 years and nothing has changed.
Some days i cant even work, i jusy lay in bed the whole day. I dont know what to do as the meds didnt help at all. So in my opinion your condition may not even end up improving.
On way to hospital now for nerve conduction test. Just been 2 years since had my lumbar puncture. Severe headaches bad bain lower back next to or maybe even on spine cannot pin point. Also get stiff back alot of the time. Stil awaiting test results from MRI on brain and lumbar. In meant tome they want me to have 75mg amitryptaine. I want the problem sorted and they just want to mask pain. Sorry quick message as about to get off tram. Feel your pain!
i am so happy to hear that i am not the only one who has suffered for 2 years. i just dont know how to proceed. what should i ask my neurologist to do?
Hi jac84lp, Your story is very much familiar. Can you tell me if your symptoms started immediately following the LP? And has it improved? Any medication helping? Our situation is very similar, LP performed, Headaches began within hours and hasnt gone away. Ringing in the ears began approx 3 months after the LP and seems to be getting worse. Currently on amitriptlyine, gabapentin, and Topamax. Topamax takes the pain down to 6/10 vs previously it being 8/10 (somedays just unamanageable).
Any info you can help me would be great.
Hi monika51816, Can you tell me if your symptoms started immediately following the LP? And has it improved? Any medication helping?
Our situation is very similar, LP performed, Headaches began within hours and hasn't gone away. headaches are always in same spot, just above ears, and can creep up to the top of head. Ringing in the ears began approx 3 months after the LP and seems to be getting worse. Currently on amitriptlyine, gabapentin, and Topamax. Topamax takes the pain down to 6/10 vs previously it being 8/10 (somedays just unamanageable).
Any info you can help me would be great.
Not sure if you are still having issues or even seeing this post, but I had an lp 3 months ago and still have head pain and nausea. Also have constant ringing in my ears. Can anyone else relate?
Hi my name is Lauren I had a lp done 10 days ago but I am still not back at work and I have the ringing ears and feel like I am under water I have iih and so does my mum she was in hospital for a week after her lp but surely I should be feeling better by now I am either on the couch or in bed it frankly getting me down now any advice thanks Lauren
Hello,
I recently been having very intense pain behind left eye. I have had every test that you can think of done to see what is going on with me. My latest visit in the last 20days was to the ER where the Doc believed I should do a spinal tap to check for meningitis. So I did and everything came back normal but I suffered from the headaches when sitting up and intense ear ringing beginning last night. I already went back to the ER to get a blood patch done on spinal tap which has subsided the massive migraines but I still have ear ringing. To top it all off I still have no answers to what has been going on with the pain behind left eye.