I had a spinal tap done where they were unable to get the fluid, I went thru it all for nothing

That sucks! Sorry to hear that.

I had a spinal tap and wound up with the dreaded 'spinal headache'. To fix the headache, had to go in for a spinal 'patch'. The anesthesiologist that performed the patch said that she'd never have to do the patches if they had anesthesiologists perform the lumbar punctures to begin with...


Not sure how relevant this is to your situation, but maybe, given your degenerative disc dx and previous trouble with the LP, you might be able to have an anesthesiologist perform your LP ??? Good luck.

You could maybe get someone else
to do the next one. I'm not judging,
I don't know anything about the person
who did it..but there is a chance they
could be inexperienced or something.
It's kind of like a second opinion,
it might be better next time.

Good luck to you!!

Did they use x-ray to do the spinal tap? Mine was done in radiology. They had no problem finding the right spot. I had a headache for nearly a week after. Sorry to hear of your troubles. How disappointing! :(

this whole thing freaks me out.

i have a wall of calcium on my backbone from a break years ago.
an epidural during my delivery with my daughter sent me into shock because of the inability to get the needle in.

but when i had my spinal tap...the er...dr did have two tries but managed to get in.
the nurse on duty told me i was lucky to have had that particular dr, that he was the best at giving those.

so, it makes me wonder about the dr administering this to you.
and also, in regards to the headache...they wrote me a script to alleviate any headaches.

the whole experience for me was a positive one. i'm sorry to hear about anyone going thru a bad one......

I had my first spinal tap bedside by a sadist who dug around my spine for about a half an hour. They had to do the tap in radiology with an x-ray 20 minutes later. If it continues to be a difficult, then suggest that they try that cause it wasn't a bad experience.
Good Luck

Ouch! Wow this post makes me nervous. I go for my tap on the 15th. I've had several eppidurals that never worked. The last Dr said it's hard because of scar tissue growth.
I would definately request a new Dr. Good Luck to you. ~ Suzi

I refused a spinal tap to aid in an MS diagnosis, I read it wasn't a definative way to diagnose MS anymore, so the MS specialist and I opted to skip the dreadful thing, and was able to get diagnosed without it very easily. My hubby was diagnosed with MS in 2000, and he had a tap, nowdays they are coming to realize more that a tap isnt always necessary.

Oh that sucks! I can so relate. Mine was in the National Naval Medical Center outside of DC. Mine was 28 years ago and they let a MEDICAL STUDENT do it. He tried 3 times and then the resident took over. It was awful. The resident finally got the needle in and got the fluid. When the analysis came back from NIH lab, they had run all the tests except the one for O Bands,which was the ONLY test that was requested. I was ripping mad, but could do nothing about it. I refused another test.

Military Medicine--a look into our socialized healthcare future--Get ready for the ride! No one takes responsibility for anything.

The recovery from the procedure in the hospital was fine, there was a very nice corpsman (thats a navy medic) who witnessed the whole mess and said he was so sorry and couldn't believe that the resident doc had let the medical student continue and do that to me. (Being a little 98 pounder). He said maybe if you had been some big burly 200 lb guy it would have been ok, but not a tiny dependent like you. He was the only one who said he was sorry and he didn't even know they were going to screw up the lab work.
With the MRI's they have today, I wouldn't advocate a spinal unless it was really necessary for diagnosis.

I am so sorry! I would definitely get another doctor to do it!

That having been said, I had one spinal tap/lumbar puncture and I would NEVER WILLINGLY HAVE ANOTHER. Since they found the three bands of protein (or whatever) that they look for in MS, I guess I have no need for another one either. It was horribly painful and seemed to hit nerves (major twitching and pain in my legs).

I started off with a medical student as well (I was unaware she was a student)
(as if we are not petrified enough as it is), she tied several times could not do it and the a senior nurse tried, all that did was send an electric type shock through my body. Then to radiology was also pretty bad, she did manage but got blood mixed in with the fluid. I shall never have that done again.

You are very brave although all my MRI'S point totally to MS the V.A. is holding me hostage for the LP...I refuse...SO we are in a struggle. Like you I have DDD of the spine the whole thing. Neck to tail bone and the MRI'S show much bone growth...so they say it would be difficult...Not for me...