Regretfully I have been subjected to a lp, lumbar puncture, more than once in my 30 odd years of migraines.  (They started about age 12 on me)  Mainly, since I grew up in south Florida, it was to rule out meningitis, etc.

 

They can be useful at times for diagnosing mystery migraines.  And if you tried 4 different pain meds I would understand him the doc wanting to do an LP on you.

 

hth

Raven

Yes, back in the early 70's- 80's when testing wasn't quite as sophisticated as it is now, spinal taps were used to determine if there was unusual pressure on the brain/spinal cord. In my case, it always revealed increased pressure due to swelling from inflamation on the surface of the brain.

Yes I was tested for Spinal Meningitis when my "headache" would not go away. Having a severe headaches is one of the signs of Meningitis. My test was negative, and I was then diagnosed with migraines, and prescribed Imitrex, problem solved :) Sorta LOL!

Good Luck and God Bless....

 

"The possibility of spinal meningitis is taken very seriously, and a physician will first order a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) so that he can microscopically examine cerebrospinal fluid for a complete blood count with differential. He will also perform a chemical analysis and bacterial cultures.

Because spinal meningitis affects the brain as well as the spinal cord, neurological defects are common. If there is any sign of intracranial pressure, the physician will order a CT scan of the cranium to try and locate any points of brain herniation or brain damage.

In all cases of spinal meningitis, the patient must be hospitalized for close observation and to administer medication. For bacterial meningitis, antibiotics will be given orally at first, and then delivered intraveinously until the worst of the symptoms pass. Antibiotics will be given even more regularly if there is a possibility of intracranial pressure from the swelling of tissues"

 

My daughter had a spinal tap done at 16.  She had a severe headache attack and severe vomitting.  It turned out that she had Viral Meningitis with a touch of

encephalitis. To this day, she gets Migraines.  She is now 37.

i am 35 yrs old when i was 32 i was diagnosed with valley fever and spinal meningitis  to releive the pressure from my braini have to get a spinal tap once a month i  also had a shunt put in my brain that goes down into my stomach i had one in my spine but it failed so they put it in my brain the first one also failed so i had it done again after about a yr it worked its way out of my stomach and i began to have seizures not grand mall seizures but just minor ones where my lip would sag and i would drool a little bit so i take meds that stopped the seizures i had surgery on my spinal cord to clean the cocci from inside my spine i probably have had about 30 lp's done so far and i have to get them for the rest of my life i was using a walker and back to a wheelchair then back to a walker and now back to a wheelchair but have faith that i will walk again maybe with a cane but its like 1 step forward 2 steps back i have the meningitis controled so im dealin with the damage already done to my spine but please dont be scared of the spinal tap it only hurts for a min. it just seems like forever when its being done i have a good dr that does maybe 10-15 a day so that helps!!