Have you had an MRI? did you freak out?

[nini]

It was ALL I could do to not lose my mind this morning having an MRI on my knee - and I wasn't even all the way in the stinking tube!!!

God help me if I ever have to go all the way into one of those.. I wouldn't be able to do it :cry:


how did you manage not to panic?

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. I used to work confined space rescue

I actually just closed my eyes and relaxed

My husband was a submariner, he fell asleep

If your claustrofopia is that bad tell the doc, they shouuld give you something for it

[nini]

7. I didn't realize it was that bad..

I can take tight spaces for a few minutes or so , but for some reason this got to me.

NOW I know I guess. I'm actually amazed I was able to finish it.. my mind was working overtime talking myself into not panicking.

[GOPisEvil]

2. I had one once. They had headphones for me to listen to music.

I also closed my eyes.

That helped.

[nini]

8. no headphones... I was wondering about that

it would have helped.

[slutticus]

32. Headphones during an MRI?

Were they magnetically shielded? Hmmmmm....

I bet they were Bose. Bose rules all sound.

[plcdude]

3. shoulder scanned

and I was all the way in very comforting womb-like. Not a problem.

[IrateCitizen]

4. I fell asleep during mine

I had one on my shoulder a few years back. I felt a little out of sorts when they put me in there, but then I just closed my eyes and relaxed to the music they were playing for me.

Next thing I knew, I was being woken up by the techs telling me that it was all over.

[democrat in Tallahassee]

5. one word: xanax. I couldn't do it without it.

I think that is the tranquilizer; there's an antacid that sounds the same. At any rate, just take one (or maybe 2) and you'll be fine next time. (It's the drug Noelle Bush likes to take, I get mine at the same drug store she uses.)

[nini]

10. definitely will have to do that next time if there is a next time

I prefer staying healthy and injury free however :-)

[YellowRubberDuckie]

6. They now have open MRIs to fix this problem....

Some people lose their minds in small places. This is normal. I'm sorry you had a bad experience. But you might ask your Physician if the hospital has one or if they know an independent place that you could go for an open one. They're much more pleasant.
Duckie

[nini]

12. I heard that after the fact

I will definitely let the doc know ahead of time that if they can't get me in an open one it's a no go next time.

exploratory surgery would be less stressful in my mind :-)

[4morewars]

14. Long waiting list for these

and I understand why ! It was all I could do not to freak out when I had one for my head. I knew if i lost it we would have to start over, so i hung on and made it. A few weeks later i had another one anyway!!! But this one was worse, the AC was not working so i was sweating like a pig, plus the fuckin tech kept lying to me about the time remaining !!! He would say "5 more minutes" when in reality it was another half hour !!!!! If he had been honest I would have done better, not looking forward to getting out only to be told "5 more minutes" again. asshole

[nini]

17. 5 minutes.... I agree.. just tell the truth!

your experience sounds worse which for some odd reason makes me feel better :P

well, let's hope neither one of us needs one again!

[4morewars]

19. LOL

Well, I'm glad to be of service !!! At least we ruled out all the nasty things that can happen to one's brain !!! I had no idea !!! I finally went to a chiropractor, and he fixed me, I rarely get a migraine anymore.

[Bake]

31. I had an open MRI on my neck

And it was fine. I would definitely freak out in the tube. Just having this massive machine moving around inches from my head was bad enough, although tolerable. The tube, I just couldn't do it.

Bake

[LisaLynne]

9. I had to have them ...

... pull me out the first time. I didn't realize how small that tube was! But, I just took a deep breath and went back in and was fine. Anyway, I'm a big chicken, so I don't know why it didn't bother me.

[sleepyhead]

20. I had to be pulled out the first time too.

They doped me up with valium for the second try, gave me the headphones, and I was also lucky enough to have a great technician who came in and held my feet (sounds silly, but I was entirely inside the chamber with only my feet protruding and it really helped to have human contact).

Last year I needed another MRI and was lucky enough to have an open MRI. It was still very uncomfortable for me, because my head was inside and very close to the upper wall of the chamber, but Mr. Sleepyhead came with me and held my hand the whole time. Also, for some reason, this machine was much quieter. Not hearing those horrible grinding, clanking noises was a relief.

[Taverner]

I had 2

But I was calm the whole time...they had a walkman i could listen to...

[nosmokes]

11. i've had over 50

and being in the tube doesn't bother me, thankfully.

there are open MRI machines now, and while they aren't plentiful and they're booked fairly solid, if it's a real problem and you can travel 100 -200 miles that should be an option. a lousy option, to be sure, but an option.

[nini]

15. I would travel to get one of the open ones..

but I guess it depends on how critical it was.

[BootinUp]

13. I had my upper and lower back done but it was

Open MRI type of equipment. The knocking sound was a little annoying and I thought I could feel my body sort of vibrating, but it was probably just the table, heh. I just closed my eyes and thought about something else. :)

[LibLabUK]

16. The staff where I work do lots of MRIs...

If you give them advance warning they will usually accomodate you, by having one of our doctors prescribe something to help.

Quite often they sedate little kids who are too terrified to lie down let alone go into the tube.

[AngryAmish]

18. Do not go to an open MRI

The image quality is really poor when compared to a modern, high-power MRI. Or that is what radiologists tell me.

If you are freaking out, tell them and they will give you valium. Every MRI center has valium - or should. If you are not freaking out, ask for valium. valium makes everything better.

[Dudley_DUright]

21. Yes, I had a head scan done once

and it was not too bad, but being a scientist I was more fascinated with the big superconducting magnet than worried about being in a confined space.

[sffreeways]

22. AHHHHHHHH !

I have to have one tomorrow night. I have them regularly. I have MS, MRI's are s.o.p.

I take valium and snooze.

I'm small, only 5'3 about 125 lbs so it's not bad but I've always wondered what it's like for big people. It must be pretty close for a big guy. If I were any bigger I would definately have a problem.

[NashVegas]

23. No, But The Noise Was Annoying as All Hell

clank clank clank clank


and the price, too.

[Atlas Mugged]

24. I've had five in the last year

The first one completely freaked me out! I didn't "panic" or anything, but when I opened my eyes (big mistake) I was beyond startled. Ever since then I ask for a towel to put over my eyes. No problem. I kind of enjoy the sounds - very techno beat kind of thing.

[auburngrad82]

25. I had a bad fall from a horse last year and had two MRIs

It's a very tight space but you can close your eyes and listen to the music over the intercom. The hardest part for me was being perfectly still.

[liontamer]

26. yes and no

but I work with mri's. You get used to it. The trick is to close your eyes as you're sliding in. Once you're in it's actually quite cozy. I have a hard time not falling asleep.

[jljamison]

27. Just remember

all the MRI is doing is flipping magnetic fields around to measure water density. Thats it. Nothing to worry about.

Just be glad you're not having a PET scan - they inject you with radioactive biochemicals. Make you GLOW!

[Misunderestimator]

28. Yes... and yes... it was a bit uncomfortable

I had one because of my back... It's the hardest thing to do, when someone tells you not to move... to not move. The worst part was that I was (stupidly) chewing a piece of gum when I went... I put it between my teeth and gums, and then panicked because it got stuck there since my mouth was dry, and I couldn't do much to get it unstuck, because I couldn't use a finger to press against the outside of my cheek and somehow couldn't get it dislodged with my tongue. Weird how THAT made me panic.

Why do they TAKE so long? Shit... all those little clicks and beeps drive you crazy, and you have no idea when it's going to end.

[nini]

30. LOL I'll remember not to chew gum next time

:-)

[Nikia]

29. I closed my eyes the entire time.

Otherwise, I probably would have had a problem.

[MisterP]

33. my sister had a semi-open MRI (mostly over and under, with some side)

of her head; didn't freak. I perfectly simulated the machine without ever having heard it: "Chung-cha chung-cha chung-cha...whum whum whum whum." We passed by the news vans for the Ann Hjelle story (she was the cougar-chewed biker recovering at the hospital near the medical center)