Lumber Puncture

[mikeb2]

Hello again ,

I have finally seen my neurologist again and this appointment with him was so very different from the first one where I had decided I didn’t like him straight away cause I felt he wasn’t really “listening” to what I was telling him and I felt he snubbed me off cause of my age (I’m 48 years young)


Anyhow, he was absolutely wonderful and so understanding. First thing he said was the brown scan didn’t show anything like clots or tumours or anything bad like that.

Then he said in a very changed and serious voice , and the cognitive test that we did with you when you were here last , unfortunately you didn’t do very well with. He said now if you were 78 I wouldn’t of been too concerned with that result but since you are not 78 and are 48 , we have to take this a bit more serious . His whole face changed the way he was looking at me , and my daughter who was with me noticed it too, it was as if he thinks he knows what it is but won’t say just yet.

I gave him the list of symptoms and changes I’ve noticed in me and what is happening with me and he looked so concerned but was so lovey about it all.

He asked how long had I first noticed any memory issues and I went blank so my daughter jumped in and said about 6 years and then he asked when did I notice it’s really becoming worse and I said the last year and he then asked my daughter would she agree with that and she said yes.

So then he said ok, there are two other tests we will need to have done before we talk further on this and he said one is a psyche test that will take two hours and I have to have two of these and the other is a lumper puncture . He said the psyche test wil be to see if it’s depression or Alzheimer’s or dementia and if it is one of those then we will deal with that if that’s the case. He made me feel so at ease about it all.

Now, I am absolutely terrified of a lumber puncture I have had so many spinal taps with 4 c sections in the past and the last one was horrific as the needle went in wrong and caused the most agonising pain I’ve ever had. It also left my legs to jerk uncontrollably ever since and that was 9 years ago. My legs jerk involuntarily 247 ever since I had that last spinal needle.


My question is , can they not diagnose without the lumbar puncture? I REALLY don’t want it . Like it’s beyond a normal fear of it , I just can’t go through with it and I’m scared he will say if I don’t have it he can’t diagnose me.

Sorry for such a long winded rant.

I wil post my Symptoms if anyone is interested to read them. Maybe someone will be able to relate to what I’m going through with these symptoms and hopefully y won’t feel like me, very alone right now in this .

Hi @Nonnajay
Just wondered did you have the lumber punch or did you go down another route

 

[dbrilyant]

I have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's for some years and was unable toe have a lumbar puncture due to scar tissue from a back injury. I think if you give your doctors the written analysis of your symptoms that you shared with us and say firmly that you do not want a lumbar puncture they will be able to find another way forward. Meanwhile I sympathise with the place in which you find yourself and wish you the best. Finding a way to share where you are for the sake of others is a splendid aim!!

 

[Boneking]

Hello, my name is Kevin and i am just about to turn 59. I have symptoms very similar to yours but maybe not as advanced and I have also been dealing with back issues. I had back surgery at the age of 42 (herniated disc) that was not successful and have had a spinal stimulator installed about 5 years ago which seems to be helping less and less as time goes on. I have had a pet scan and an MRI and they said both look okay so they decided to do a spinal puncture as they said they can almost detect anything from the spinal fluid. It wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world especially with all the scar tissue but I want answers and will do whatever it takes. It has been about 6 weeks now and I still have not gotten the results back. I wish you all the best in the future and I hope you get some answers soon. Best of luck to you

 

[Izzy]

Welcome to the forum @Boneking.