My doc wants me to get a standard spinal tap. I'm okay with that, except for what my doc told me to do after the procedure.

I was told that I need to be driven home by someone, lying in the car on my side, and then lie down in bed for 24 hours, and then after a day when it's time to get up, I have to put a pillow under me and lie there for an hour or two, then put another pillow under me and lie there for an hour or two, and keep doing this until I'm upright and can get out of bed and can walk around.

My doc is an elderly person, and I suspect perhaps speaking in terms of patients who are normally much older than I am. I'm 32, male.

Nowhere on the Internet so far have I found discussion of this much hassle following a spinal tap. What I have seen has been that after the procedure you have to lie there for a couple hours, and then just try to be careful, and lie down if you have a headache.

The issue is, I live alone, and I'd really rather just drive myself home and take it easy. I don't want to bring someone into this, and I don't want to lie in bed for 24 hours.

Can I just schedule the appointment, do the procedure, and then go home, my way? Is the doc trying to get me to be overly careful? Obviously I don't want to do any damage to my spinal cord or spine, either, so that's why I'm asking around rather than just planning on being a rebel without telling anyone.