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Lumbar puncture headaches

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sam29190
sam29190

Hi all,

Struggling with the normal headaches when standing after a lumbar puncture I had on Tuesday (4 days ago). I have done so much searching and reading on the Internet to know it is normal however want to question the advice my doctor gave me yesterday.

Firstly, there was little advice really In terms of managing it. Following what I have read online I am trying to drink as MUCH water as I can. Not that it is helping. Also going to get some Dioralyte today to see if that helps with hydrating. Open to all suggestions though, if anybody has any.

I am not taking any paracetamol/pain killers as they weren’t helping and doctor said if the don’t help to stop as they could make the headaches worse..

Now what I am questioning is my doctors advice that I need to give it 2 weeks before going back for a potential blood patch. For anyone else in the UK is this normal practice? Everybody online seems to have had the blood patches within a few days. 

I really would of course like nothing more than to avoid another needle in my spine, but feel like if it’s not going to get better on it’s own then this is the only choice. I’m struggling on day 4 of lying down and really worry for my mental well being if I get to two weeks.

thank you for your time.

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