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    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of, and finding treatments for, complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

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spinal tap

  1. serafim

    Worried about my upcoming lumbar puncture. Has anyone had bad experiences? CSF leaks?

    So my new neuro wants me to get a LP to check for viral neuroinfections (i don’t see the point tbh bc i’m not displaying any signs of acute neuroinfection). I’m super worried about getting a CSF leak and that causing me further issues. I suspect I have spinal issues but there’s no way i could...
  2. Thebirdman333

    A short survery of those who have had a lumbar puncture/spinal tap done

    Getting one done soon and I with very severe MECFS am worried about possible leak and needing a blood patch but most importantly worried about a permanently lowering of the baseline I have atm or experiencing permanent side effects. This is a short 30 second poll. PLEASE ONLY FILL OUT IF YOU...
  3. M

    Utility of testing cerebrospinal fluid for pathogens, etc?

    Is there any use in getting a spinal tap to have spinal fluid tested to help determine root cause of illness. I have heard/read of different labs being able to test for things like Lyme, MS, glucose, protein, cell count, viruses, bacteria, fungus, parasites, all in spinal fluid. I have still be...