HELP Please anyone, having a spinal tap tomorrow they want me to drink caffeine
#322570 - 01/17/08 02:00 PM
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LtDanFan
Reged: 12/17/03
Posts: 588
Loc: Ohio
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Help anyone, I have been told after my spinal tomorrow, I am to lay on my back in the hospital and once I get home, but they want me drinking a lot of caffeine tomorrow. How is that possible with IBS-D..........If i have to lay flat, I can't get running up and down going to the bathroom, but the caffeine is for medicinal purposes, they know I have IBS. Any suggestions on "safe" caffeine. Please help
Thanks
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IBS-D, extreme pain and cramping - GERD - lactose/dairy intolerant, OCD, Fibromyalgia
DX: w/ Multiple Sclerosis 3/10
I can do all things through Christ who strenghtens me. Phil 4:13
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Oh my goodness... I can't imagine why they would want to you to drink caffeine...
Everyone is different but I actually seem able to tolerate aspartame, so I would drink Diet Coke. If you can handle HFCS then perhaps you could drink regular soda.
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IBS-A since age 12, and fructose sensitive; with the exception of my pregnancy, have been following Heather's diet since Nov. 19, 2007.
Taking 12g of Acacia per day. Relatively stable since March 2008!
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With a spinal tap you don't want to be up and running around. You WANT to lay on your back. You can not clot properly and then you spinal fluid will leak out and you will get a spinal tap headache. It is when the fluid leaks and isn't able to cushion your brain properly! Let me tell you it is MOST PAINFUL. I didn't drink anything with caffine in it after mine. However I did get up and caused the headache. This is what I was told that happend to me.
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Crohns, lactose intolerant
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I'm not sure if I'm too late to respond, but I had a spinal tap years ago and the next day or so I still couldn't sit upright. If I did, the spinal fluid leaked and caused a MAJOR headache and nausea. At the time I was drinking coffee, so I tried to drive to DD (I know, crazy) for a caffeine rush hoping it would help. But while I was in the car, I actually had to lay down across the front seat at a red light b/c I almost passed out from the pain. Long story short, they took me back to the ER where they said that my blood wasn't clotting and they had to go back in the same spot and inject my own blood (taken at the same time as the procedure from my arm) back into that spot. ANyhow, I don't mean to frighten you, I just want to advise you to follow doctor's orders and stay flat for as long as possible. Don't worry, if you have to go to the bathroom, you could always lean over on something while you are sitting on the bowl as a last resort. The caffeine is probably for the headache I would think but I'm not a doctor. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
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Originally IBS-D for a million years!
Then IBS-A, Now a transformed slightly C
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Thank you everyone, I was just wondering if the ones who responded, would let me know why you had to have it done, IBS related? If you don't want to share that is fine. I know that I am not supposed to get up, when my husband was diagnosed with MS, he has his and he thought reclining in the recliner was laying down.....needless to say, we were back in the ER for the blood patch, so I have no problem laying on my back, I'm just so frightened that if I start cramping and have to had a BM and with IBS-D, they become frequent, I'm going to have to keep running to the bathroom, thought about a bed pan?? I found Lipton iced tea and it does not show it has HFCS, which I do not feel I can tolerate. Could not find any pop without it and I used to drink coffee, but it would stimulate my colon.....I wonder if I drank de-caf, it has a little in it....Geeesh, I'm scared about this. Thoughts and prayers appreciated.
Once I'm up and on the computer I will let you know how everything went. It's killing me because my nephew's second birthday party is Saturday and he is the apple of my eye and it's gonna crush me if I have to miss it 
Thanks everyone. I will be checking my e-mail in the am before I leave for the hospital.
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IBS-D, extreme pain and cramping - GERD - lactose/dairy intolerant, OCD, Fibromyalgia
DX: w/ Multiple Sclerosis 3/10
I can do all things through Christ who strenghtens me. Phil 4:13
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Good luck. You can do it.
If you do get up and need to go back, a blood patch isn't fun but they only take about 10 minutes. The good thing is that they work right away. I lived at home for a week and a half with one (spinal tap headache). It was HORRID.
I have crohns and I had to take remicaide to bring down my immune system so I wouldn't get sick, well long story short my doctors thought they lowered my immune system so low that I got meningitis, but I hadn't. It was really scary. I was very ill.
Let us know how it went.
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Crohns, lactose intolerant
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My spinal tap was not IBS related. I was having symptoms of meningitis so they did the spinal to check.
I would speak to your doc about your worries about the d and the caffeine. Find out WHY you need to have it...if it is for a headache, then maybe you could take something else like tylenol, etc... Also, how about asking for a "calming" type med like klonopin to help with the anxiety? Your doc would be able to tell you how it interacts with the other meds for the procedure. Oh..and one more thing...when I was having the meningitis symptoms, I also had d (which I'm convinced was stress-induced). Besides being in pain, I was so worried about he d b/c I couldn't really get out of bed (prior to the spinal tap). So the nurse gave me some STRONG narcotic in my IV to take away both the severe neck pain and stop the d. Boy, it sent shivers through my body, but it worked INSTANTLY. Are they giving you any pain relief before the spinal? You really should be frank with your doc about your concerns. I don't mean to be promoting meds so much, I just think that for one procedure where you need to me immobile, it is worth it to go that route instead of making yourself crazy. Good luck!!
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Originally IBS-D for a million years!
Then IBS-A, Now a transformed slightly C
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Thanks everyone, it is very difficult lying flat on your back and type on the lap top. I survived the lumbar puncture and am flat on my back, but I kept getting so many different things to do, I did what I wanted, I have a about 3/4 of a lipton tea, room temperature and the rest has been my acacia water and peppermint tea. I have also had several diferrent advise on this weekend, one person said I could resume my normal acitivities Saturday, the hospital said to see how I felt in the am and the third said to "lay low" all weekend..........my nephew has his second birthday party tomorrow and they live about 50 minutes away and it's gonna kill me if I have to miss it, I'd love to go just for 15 minutes, but my poor husband (who has MS) and has been ill lately from the stress of his father passing away unexpectedly, his Mom had to be taken to the hospital and was admitted for 3 days and he took care of her, so basiclaly since he Dad died January 6, he has not had one free day just to sit a properly grieve by himself and if I go tomorrow he'd have to take me. Life sucks sometimes, we had so many problems last year and had decided this year was going to the GREAT, losing his Dad was the worst thing ever, he was the best person in the world and treated me like his own daughter........If you get a headache is it right away or a couple days later? Thanks
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IBS-D, extreme pain and cramping - GERD - lactose/dairy intolerant, OCD, Fibromyalgia
DX: w/ Multiple Sclerosis 3/10
I can do all things through Christ who strenghtens me. Phil 4:13
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Yes, my neurologist told me to take 4 lorazepam half hour beore the procedure, freaked me out, I take 1/2 at bedtime....didn't really feel anything, little goofy, they did a local and injection to numb me...
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IBS-D, extreme pain and cramping - GERD - lactose/dairy intolerant, OCD, Fibromyalgia
DX: w/ Multiple Sclerosis 3/10
I can do all things through Christ who strenghtens me. Phil 4:13
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you'll get one pretty quickly. You won't be able to miss it, you'll know.
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Crohns, lactose intolerant
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